title: Life Narratives of African Americans in Iowa (IA) (Voices of America)
author: Charline J. Barnes
description: Dr. Charline J. Barnes is currently an associate professor of curriculum and instruction and director of the Reading Clinic at the University of Northern Iowa. She teaches courses on literacy and multicultural issues in education. She co-authored another Arcadia title, Iowa's Black Legacy, with Floyd Bumpers.
zlib_text: Reading Guide       Preview
  • An autobiography is a form of nonfic-
  tion in which the author tells his or 
  her own life story. In Black Boy, Wright
  describes growing up in the South in 
  the early 1900s and his disillusionment
  in the North in the 1920s and 1930s.
  Notice the insights that this first-person
  account offers about life in America 
  during this troubled period.
  • Conflict is a struggle between opposing
  forces. In his autobiography, Wright
  describes his external conflicts with
  people in his own family, as well as with
  social forces such as racism. He also
  describes his internal conflicts, his
  struggles to reconcile opposing ideas
  and feelings in his own mind. 
  • A literary work’s themes are the central
  insights the author conveys about life.
  Sometimes, these insights are stated
  directly. Other themes may be inferred
  from details in the narrative. As you
  read, ask yourself what insights Wright
  conveys about racism and injustice.
  • Figurative language includes imagina-
  tive compa