What was it like to be a black civil rights worker in Mississippi during the 1960s

History 271

Devine

Fall 2004

Paper Assignment #3 – Coming of Age in Mississippi

Reading: Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi, Chapters 1-4; 10-12; 18-end.

The Coming of Age paper is due Tuesday November 16th. Papers must be FOUR COMPLETE PAGES with one-inch margins. See the “On Writing Papers…” section of the syllabus for further information on the paper assignment. The syllabus is available on line at:

http://www.csun.edu/~twd61312/271syl2004.htm

You may do this paper assignment OR wait and do your paper on Nelson George’s Hip-Hop America. (This paper will be due after Thanksgiving break). Check your schedule and see which due date is better for you. Remember that you also have the option of doing both papers and I will count the higher grade.

Answer ONE (1) of the following questions:

1. What was it like to be a black civil rights worker in Mississippi during the 1960s?

[Hint: This question gives you a wide berth. It is up to you how you want to go about answering it. Some more specific questions that might help guide your thinking include: How would you describe the environment in which you worked? What challenges and problems might you have faced? What kinds of strategies did you need to pursue to advance your agenda? How did the local white and black communities respond to you? What was the most difficult aspect of your life? To answer fully, you will need to draw extensively from specific evidence in Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi.]

2. At the end of the book, as the civil rights workers on their way to Washington sing, “We Shall Overcome,” Anne thinks to herself, “I wonder. I really wonder.” Why is she so skeptical? Given what she has gone through, is her skepticism justified?

[Hint: To answer this question, you should review Anne’s experiences in the Movement – both positive and negative – and explain how and why they might have led her to express skepticism. In your thesis statement in the first paragraph of your paper, you should say clearly why Anne is skeptical and why you believe (or don’t believe) she is right to feel this way.]