Between the World and Me

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the play over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Coates repeatedly refers to the Black body, using this dehumanizing term for his own life and the life of his fellow Black people.

• Why does Coates use this clinical, dehumanizing language? (topic sentence)
• What does it mean to think of the world as physical and rooted in violence against the body?
• What is Coates saying about the nature of the Black experience in America?

2. Coates describes the destruction of Black bodies as part of America’s heritage.

• What does it mean that American history is built on the backs of Black bodies? (topic sentence)
• In what ways is this assertion true, and where does Coates see the evidence of it?
• What does this ultimately mean for Coates about the Dream?

3. When Coates arrives in Paris, he sees the way that his homeland has shaped his worldview.

• What is different about Coates’ experiences abroad versus his experiences at home? (topic sentence)
• How does this affect him and his outlook while he’s abroad?
• What does this say about the effect culture has on a person?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Ta-Nehisi Coates rarely refers to white people, choosing instead to refer to people who believe they are white. How does this distinction inform the way Coates writes about race, and what does it have to do with the Dream he repeatedly says is an illusion built on racist ideas? Be sure to include specific evidence from the text to support your argument.

2. Coates refers to the illusion of equality as “the Dream,” echoing Martin Luther King’s most famous speech. How is this book in dialogue with King’s ideas of equality and whether or not they have been achieved for Black people in the last half century? What is Coates saying by using King’s language to describe what he sees as a racist power structure? Be sure to draw specific comparisons to the text of King’s speech and this book.

3. Coates encourages his son to live with the difficult contradictions of America’s relationship to Black bodies. Why is the struggle so integral to what he wants to impart to his son? What hope does Coates have for his son as a young Black man in America?