Study Questions for "The Souls of Black Folk" (W.E.B. DuBois) (pub. 1931; written 1903)

1.       What authors seem to have influenced DuBois’s writing? What evidence do you see in the text.

2.       What does DuBois mean when he asks “Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in my own house?” (65).

3.       What was the “revolution of 1876” to which DuBois refers (67)?

4.       How does DuBois’s use of metaphor enrich his message? What are some examples of metaphor in the piece?

5.       What do the concepts, “self-consciousness” and “double-consciousness” mean (65)? According to DuBois, are they symbiotic?

6.       What paradoxes do African Americans face in terms of their identity and place in American culture according to DuBois?