Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Beautiful Struggle, Chapter 1

[The Beautiful Struggle]

In chapter 1 of The Beautiful Struggle, Ta-Nehisi Coates makes several references to historical figures such as Patrice Lumumba and Denmark Vesey, and activities like COINTELPRO and the S&L scandal to help propel the story forward.

Of the subjects he covered, what was one that intrigued you and why? Please provide a page number.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

The subjects covered in chapter one of "The Beautiful Struggle" that intrigued me were the fathers dedication to his many children (p 19 and 19), and the narrator's description of the Crack Age, and the environment that personified it (p 27 & 28). I really appreciate that in the midst of a terrible environment, the father sanctioned his families home as a haven of peace, discipline, and knowledge. It interested me that the author decided to focus on the good people in the "hood" of the Crack Age, and not just the bad.

Jeremiah B. said...

The thing that intrigued me in chapter one was the relationship Ta-Nehisi Coates's father had to the black community. On top of working at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at a college for gifted black students, he dedicated his time to bring old books by black authors back to press to show blacks what "they weren't supposed to see" (page 13).

Joey N. said...

Two subjects that intrigued me in chapter one of "The Beautiful Struggle" were the narrator's description of pro wrestling(p.5) and the narrator's description of his brother's negative comments about their clothing choice (p.9).These subjects intrigued me because my dad was a fan of pro wrestling and Run D.M.C and I can remember hearing stories about Dusty "The Dream" Rhodes and how Adidas were the best type of shoes.

Collis T. said...


The theme of the first chapter that I found most prevalent was the idea of the African American dichotomy. Coates describes from his own characters perspective. In life there are often many perspectives but as a young black man when one is faced with the allure of a more exciting yet exceedingly immoral and dangerous path(pg.27) in comparison to another which though more noble and overall beneficial to ones demographic too many choose the former.

Unknown said...

A few things that were interesting was how the author seemed to write poetically. His style of writing was interesting. His diction was very urban. For example, Coate uses phrases like "my brother Big Bill was strapped"(28). Because I understand urban slang, it wasn't hard for me to understand; however, I kept wondering what about those who have no idea what the author is saying! Personally, I did not enjoy the chapter overall.
-B.Nigeda

Jerred Z. said...

The book is a great read because it talks about situations that some black people had to deal with. Not everyone has an easy life. Some people have to go through rough times like living in the hood.

Starting at the very beginning it tells how Coates and his brother were jumped by a group of guys(page 1).

Unknown said...

The part of the first chapter that intrigued me the most was the conversation between Bill and Ta-Nehisi's father about the fake gold Bill had purchased (p. 11-12). This part of chapter one caught my attention the most because instead of their father yelling and disciplining Bill in the traditional way, he decided to teach him a lesson that would change the way he thought of gold and fancy jewelry for the rest of his life. To me this form of punishment worked better in the long run.

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Unknown said...

I personally think the theme is culture and also cultural identity and socioeconomic norms also come in to play.