Praying for Sheetrock

Compare and contrast Alston’s approach to politics and racial progress with the approach of Curry and/or Thorpe. Use 3-4 quotes to illustrate your point.  

How do structural racism and Sheriff Poppell’s “good old boys club” work together to halt progress for the black community in McIntosh? Use 3-4 specific quotes, anecdotes, or characters to make your case.  

The tension between Sheriff Poppell and Alston drives the book’s central conflict. Both characters are threatened by one another, but for different reasons. Discuss the foundation of the conflict between these two characters and how it evolves throughout the book. Use 3-4 specific quotes to support your essay.  

Alston’s character arc could perhaps best be described as “rags to riches and back again.” Using at least three key plot points from the book, describe how Alston’s character arc unfolds, and discuss what his evolution says about the nature of power.  

The author introduces characters in a manner common to literary nonfiction, which entails extensive description of clothing, mannerisms, dialect, and appearance. Pick 2-3 characters from the book. In your essay, discuss how Greene selects details about each person to help the reader better visualize and empathize with the character, as well as understand the character’s role.  

Faith is a central tenet underlying Praying for Sheetrock. Compare the faith that the black people of McIntosh hold in God to the faith of the white lawyers in the Constitution, and discuss how both types of faith give their believers power. Use 2-4 quotes, anecdotes, or characters to support your argument.

Black people in McIntosh have little in the way of financial stability or even civil rights, but they have a lot in terms of community support. How does this community support enable black McIntosh to survive and establish a unique black Southern culture in McIntosh? Use 3-4 specific examples to illustrate your argument. 

White and black McIntosh lead very different lives, and yet, the white community maintains that they have no qualms with their black neighbors. How does Greene first set up this myth of racial harmony, and how does she later puncture this myth? Use 3-4 specific quotes, anecdotes, or characters from the book to demonstrate your point.