Реферат: Black Boy Book Report Essay Research Paper

relations are headed for. A very grim future.

II. Concepts

a. Culture. A shared way of life: The beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects shared by a

particular people. Richard Wright shows the behavior of blacks around whites. Never looking

them directly in the eye, getting out of their way when a white came by on the street or at work.

Always be obedient around whites. He shows this on page 218 when talking to his friend about

how he acts in front of whites.

b. Stratification. A system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. The

stratification of Richard Wrights society is one that puts black below that of whites and possibly

even animals. Wright uses an example of stratification on page 43 when he talks of western

civilization and how blacks were kept out.

c. Norms. Rules that guide behavior. Richard grew up with norms like no cursing or using the

lords name in vein. Some rules that were given to blacks by whites are, blacks must say sir when

addressing a white, they must never look a white in the eye when speaking. Stealing is a norm that

Richard shows a different outlook on. (P. 240.)

d. Values. Standards by which members of a culture distinguish the desirable from the

undesirable. One value that Americans possessed is the pursuit of material wealth. Page 321

explains what Wright see wrong with this.

e. Mores. Norms that have great moral significance. Murder is an example of a mores. It is a more

in any time period. Murder among and of blacks was often over looked in Wrights time. He

explains this on page 269, how a black man was lynched and there was no one arrested form

murder.

f. Folkways. Norms that have little moral significance. The way people are expected to dress.

Wright at an early age wants to conform to the way his school mates dress by buying long pants.

(P. 160)

g. Socialization. Lifelong social experience by which individuals develop human potential and

learn the pattern of their culture. Socialization through family and peers were the most important

to Wright. Page 91 shows Wright and his peers and how they live in a separated society. Pages 54

and 55 shows how Wrights mother explained the differences of black and white.