WebQuest: Exploring the life and work of Henry Louis
Gates, Jr.
By David O. Hoffman
Overview: In this WebQuest, you will
learn about our 2007 Writer-in-Resident Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the dynamic
period of change in
Quest 1: Learn
about Henry Louis Gates.
Who is Henry Louis Gates? Review his biography on
Gale. Finally, you may also enjoy this
brief summation of his life
and works.
Read about
his birthplace of
Now answer the following questions regarding Quest 1.
1. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is a scholar as well
as a writer of memoirs. Characterize his
scholarship.
2. Describe the influence of
Quest 2: Set the
stage for reading Gates’ Colored People.
Read about
some of the many historical events surrounding the period of the memoir.
Study Integration
of schools with the Brown
v. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision. Review this extensive site regarding the Birmingham
Bombings. Read about the Selma to Montgomery
March, a march for voting rights.
See Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a
Listen to
King’s words at the Martin Luther King, Jr. site in
View this
abbreviated timeline
of events for the Vietnam War. Visit
this amazing Vietnam resource that
contains images, stories, timelines, and much more that will give you a great
foundation on the period.
Read about
the Black
Power movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Look at these thumbnail images and quote from
the movement at http://www.hippy.com/article-209.html.
Now answer the following questions regarding Quest 2.
1. How do the Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court decision, the bombings, and the marches change people’s attitudes
about African American’s in the South?
2. What does the Vietnam War have to do with
Gates’ story?
3. How does the Black Power movement change the
race discussion in
Quest 3: Learn about Gates’ Colored People.
Be sure to
read Gates’ Colored
People, a book in which he brilliantly focuses on the present and past
in his experiences as being a “colored” boy in Piedmont—a vanishing experience
as he writes the memoir. Take a look at
the Library
Journal Review’s critique of the book.
Finally, study Andrew
DuBois’ longer review of Gates’ memoir.
You may also
find this interview
with Gates to be helpful; he offers extensive information pertaining to his
memoir, Colored People.
Before you
begin the memoir, look at the “as you read” questions at the AHWIR website;
click on “Colored People Assignment”
at http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/Gates/resources.html.
Now answer the following questions regarding Quest 3.
1. What should you notice about the narrative
structure or format of Colored People
as you read the book?
2. What part will the Gates’ family likely play
in his “coming of age” story?
3. What do you think will surprise you about
African American life in
4. What themes should you look for as you read?
Quest 4:
Additional Resources and Links for Teachers
Note: A few of
the links below may contain material that, while relative and historical, may
be inappropriate for young students.
Here are
valuable resources,
lesson plans, and WebQuests for teachers regarding the Civil Rights
Movement.
Lesson plans
on celebrating the
work of Martin Luther King.
Here is the link to the Gates’ AHWIR website http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/Gates/; click on other teaching tools, the AHWIR interview
with Dr. Gates, and the literary essay on Gates’ writing and scholarship.
Here is the link to the Gates’ AHWIR website http://www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/Gates/; click on other teaching tools, the AHWIR interview
with Dr. Gates, and the literary essay on Gates’ writing and scholarship.