First Impression/Setting the Tone

Answer one of the following four prompts on I am Not Sidney Poitier.

Due Feb. 26^th by 11:59pm.  200-400 words.

The novel begins with the following:

“I am the ill-starred fruit of a hysterical pregnancy, and surprisingly, odd though I might be, I am not hysterical myself.  I’m rather calm, in fact; some might say waveless.  I am tall and dark and look for the world like Mr. Sidney Poitier, something my poor disturbed and now deceased mother could not have known when I was born, when she named me Not Sidney Poitier.  I was born after two years of hysterical generation, and who knows what happens in a mind when expectant, anticipative for so long.  Two years.  At least this was the story told to me” (3).

Having read the first few chapters of the novel, what role does this opener serve to situate/anchor the book, or does its unmooring qualities remove the possibility of any such anchoring?  What genre/type of story does such an opening promise?  Where else in media (books, tv, film, etc) have you seen such a move?  Is this indicative of the possibility for magical realism or just the ramblings of an unreliable narrator?  Discuss.

The Role of Mentors

Due Feb. 26^th by 11:59pm.  200-400 words.

Not Sidney has a series of would-be-mentors in Betty (the raving socialist addicted to fast food), Ted Turner, Raymond (karate instructor), Percival Everett (college professor who teaches a course in nothing/meaninglessness), the ghost of his mother, and perhaps even the teachings of Mesmer.  How does the mentor/mentee relationship work in this novel, and what might Everett be saying about such relationships?

Ted’s “Jingles”

Due Feb. 26^th by 11:59pm.  200-400 words.

On pages 11-13, Ted discusses his plan to air the same “old crappy shows […] again and again until they sit in people’s heads like jingles” (12).  He then goes on to make a pretty profound statement about the political impact of television (of course he ends it with nonsense, but there is profundity in the middle).  What is Ted trying to do to the political power dynamic of network television, and what would rendering this media into nothing more than jingles do to the brains of those that consumed them?  In other words, what is Everett saying about television in the postmodern age?

Not Sidney’s Imprisonment in a Rural Georgia Work Gang/Thanksgiving With his Girlfriend’s Family

Due Feb. 26^th by 11:59pm.  200-400 words.

Everett’s never been one to shy away from issues of race in America.  About 20 years ago, Everett was supposed to speak at the South Carolina state house, but refused due to the presence of the Confederate Flag.  He’s also written satirical books such as “A History of the African American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond” and “Erasure” which lampoons what he terms “ghetto pop fiction” such as Push by Sapphire.  In this novel, as well, issues of race are at the front and center, especially in Chapters 2 and 4 (where he’s imprisoned and forced to work in a labor camp for “driving while black,” has a 19^th century slave narrative dream toward the end of ch. 2, and then experiences the more subtle racism of his girlfriend’s parents—who find his skin too dark, but change their reaction when they find out he’s rich).  Analyze these scenes and what Everett might be saying about race in America through them.