The Parker Inheritance

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What does “nadir” mean? Why is the end of the 19th century through the beginning of the 20th century called the “nadir” of Black history in the US? What was life like for Black people living in Southern states like South Carolina during this time?

Teaching Suggestion: The novel takes place predominantly in modern times, but much of its action results from events that took place during the early part of the 20th century. Depending on their backgrounds, students’ knowledge of this time and place will vary considerably. The resources listed below offer students high-quality, accurate information to use when responding to this prompt. After they respond, you might ask why they think this period is not usually focused on in much detail in discussions of American history and what knowing more about it brings to their understanding of the later—and the much-better known—civil rights era.

• This article from Black Past, by Phylisha Agbor-Taylor, gives an overview of Black history in South Carolina up until 1920.
• This article from the National Humanities Center, by Professor Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, offers an extensive discussion of Black history from 1890-1920 (Note: You may want to offer an abridged version of this article, depending on your students’ reading levels.)

2. When was the civil rights era? What was life like for Black people living in Southern states like South Carolina at this time?

Teaching Suggestion: Students are likely to know more about the civil rights era, and they may not need to preview the resources listed below before answering this prompt. As you consider their answers, however, you might use the first of these resources to fill in any gaps in their knowledge. The second resource is intended to offer students insight into how this pivotal era continues to impact people living in South Carolina today.

• This page, hosted by the state of South Carolina, has excellent resources for understanding the civil rights era in this state.
• This 10-minute video about the Freedom Walkway is a memorial to the work of South Carolina’s Friendship 9.

Short Activity

Create a “Top Five Things You Should Know” poster containing five facts about Black history in the American South during the nadir years and five facts about Black history in the American South during the civil rights era. Use both images and text to inform people your own age about these two important eras in US history.

Teaching Suggestion: Although internet access will be helpful in completing this activity, students can also complete it based on the information in the resources that follow the Short Answer prompts above. You may wish to offer students some guidance on how to choose respectful images, especially if students will post their work for their peers to see. Viewing one another’s work can function as a springboard for discussion about which facts seem most important and why. This encourages students to think critically about how the “story” of history is composed.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with anxiety and related conditions may struggle to choose the most important facts; you might reassure them that there is not really a “correct” response—they should simply choose the facts that seem most important to them. Students with visual impairments may not be able to complete the assignment as written, so you might offer these students the opportunity to compose slightly longer lists of facts in lieu of creating a visual display.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

The stories we learn about history are a kind of “inheritance.” In your opinion, how should history be taught so that each generation has the richest possible intellectual inheritance? What is your reasoning for your answer?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt deliberately does not specify whether students should focus on methodology or on content, so that students are free to contribute ideas from either or both approaches. Once they have had a chance to either write or discuss their answers, you might follow up by explicitly connecting this topic to the book they are about to read. You could ask them what role fiction can play in passing on history and encouraging people to think critically about how the past impacts the present.