Langston Hughes on Scottsboro

1
Langston Hughes on Scottsboro

• Citing specific evidence
• Synthesizing three pieces of poetry
• Making generalizations
• Crafting a well supported paragraph

2
Justice

• That Justice is a blind goddessIs a thing to
  which we black are wiseHer bandage hides two
  festering soresThat once perhaps were eyes. 

• What does it mean to say that justice is blind?
• Why does Hughes call Justice a blind goddess?
  Address both words.
• What is his tone with regards to justice?
• What is his point?

3
The Town of Scottsboro

• The Town of ScottsboroScottsboro's just a little
  placeNo shame is write across its face --Its
  courts too weak to stand against a mob,Its
  people's heart, too small to hold a sob.

• Why does he suggest that Scottsboro has no shame
  write across its face?
• Who is the mob?
• What does he mean by hold a sob?
• What is he saying about the town?

4

• Scottsboro8 BLACK BOYS IN A SOUTHERN JAILWORLD,
  TURN PALE!
• 8 black boys and one white lie.Is it much to
  die?
• Is it much to die when immortal feetMarch with
  you down Time's street,When beyond steel bars
  sound the deathless drumsLike a mighty
  heart-beat as they come?
• Who comes?
• Christ,Who fought alone
• John Broan.
• That mad mobThat tore the Bastile downStone by
  stone.
• Moses.
• Jeanne d'Arc.
• Dessalines.
• Nat Turner.
• Fighters for the free.
• Lenin with the flag blood red.
• (Not dead! Not dead!None of those is dead.)
• Gandhi.
• Sandino.
• Evangelista, too.
• To walk with you --
• 8 BLACK BOYS IN A SOUTHERN JAILWORLD, TURN PALE!

• John Broan-Abolitionist who led Bleeding Kansas
  rebellion
• Bastile---French prison stormed in French Revol.
• Jeanne de Arc-Joan of Arc-martyr executed by
  England
• Desalines-Founding father of Haiti-stirred slave
  rebellion caused by French Revol.-created strict
  rules to prevent white dominance
• Nat Turner-led slave rebellions
• Lenin-led Bolshevik Revolution-founder of
  Communist party
• Ghandi-pacifist-led Indian independence movement
  through nonviolent civil disobedience
• Sandino-Nicaraguan Revolutionary
• Evangelista-led Philippine Revolution

5
Scottsboro

• What does it mean to be immoral?
• Who does Hughes say are the immoral ones who
  March with you down Times street?
• Are these people immoral?
• These people are in fact dead, so what does he
  mean by Not dead! Not dead! None of these is
  dead?
• To whom is Hughes addressing in his poem?
• What is the meaning of pale?
• What do you think he means by WORLD, TURN PALE?

6
Evaluating Effectiveness

• Using textual evidence from the poems, how
  effective is Hughes in portraying the incidents
  surrounding the Scottsboro trial?
• Please type your paragraph over the weekend and
  turn in on Monday.