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- Toward the end of the play, Grace says, "Something ain't right here. I shouldn't have come back up in this house.
- " What exactly 'ain't right?'
- August Wilson says,
- "I think the question that Blacks have been asking since the Emancipation Proclamation is whether we should continue to develop our own cultural values separately or integrate into American society and adopt it values. We're trying to figure out how we're going to play this game, how we†re going to fit into American society. And there are some who say, let's just integrate, and others who say that the values of their grandparents and rituals of social intercourse they developed and passed on are valuable and not worth giving up for someone eles's idea of how to live in the world."
- How is this issue of keeping ones values versus integrating into dominate culture dramatized in the play?
- From Berniece's point of view, her brother Boy Willie wants to sell off a part of his history to get what he wants (his land). Is she right about this, or is there another way interpret Boy Willie's plan?
- Whose play is it? Who is the only character in the play who actually goes through any significant changes?
- Why doesn't Berniece tell Maretha about the carvings on the piano?
- Why is Boy Willie concerned about whether or not Maretha can play the piano?
- Why does Wilson have Boy Willie arrive late at night?
What is the significance of Wining Boy telling about giving up the piano?
- What besides the piano does Berneice want to hold onto?Does Berneice ever marry Avery? How does August Wilson deliberately undercut Avery?
- Doeker has, in effect, a train philosophy. What is the significance of this philosophy?
- Boy Willie is fascinated at Winning Boy's testimonial that he actually stood at the "spot." What is the significance of this?
- When Doaker tells the story about Yellow Dog, it's very obvious that the names of people in the past are the same as those of the present. What is this significant, and what is especially significant about the reversal of Willie Boy, and Boy Willie?
- What's the significance of Doaker himself telling the long story about how the ghosts of Yellow Dog came to be?
- What is the significance of Boy Willie telling Maretha about how Yellow Dog got its' name?
- What's the significance of Boy Willie saying "no sense in getting killed over fifty dollars worth of wood?"
- What's significant about the fact that Doaker is ironing his pants?
- What's the implicit idea inherent in Wining Boy selling Lymon his old suit?
- What's the significance that Berneice is taking a bath when Avery asks her to marry him?
- Why does Boy Willie emphasize that the bible says an "eye for an eye."
- What's significant about Doaker saying that you have to buy today's women a present?
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