THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK + STUDY GUIDE

Published in 1903, The Souls of Black Folk is a powerful and hard-hitting view of sociology, race and American history. It became the cornerstone of the civil rights movement and when Du Bois attended the first National Negro Conference in 1909, he was already well-known as a proponent of full and unconditional equality for African Americans. In the following year, he became one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In fact, the word “colored” was suggested by Du Bois instead of “black” to include people of color everywhere in the world. Du Bois was appointed Director of Publicity and Research of the NAACP and his main duty was to edit and bring out NAACP's monthly journal The Crisis. The journal also served as a vehicle for his thoughts on socialism, black activism, unionization, inter-racial marriage, women's rights and combating racism in all spheres of life.

The Souls of Black Folk is a series of essays on different subjects. The theories and ideas contained in it went on to become the key concepts that guided strategy and programs for civil rights protests in America. In this work, Du Bois discards Booker T Washington's concepts of “accommodation” of white supremacy and propounds that this would only lead to further oppression of African Americans. He also felt that human rights are to be enjoyed by all and neither “given” not “taken” and it is below a human being's dignity to beg for rights.

The publication of The Souls of Black Folk book had an immediate and devastating effect in that it polarized the movement into two distinctly different groups. The more conservative and less confrontational approach advocated by Washington was rejected by those who found Du Bois' more aggressive ideas better suited to their thinking. The writing style is extremely lyrical and poetic, with interesting turns of phrase. The ideas are thought provoking and stimulating, while presenting the reader with little known facts about African American history and sociology.

The contents of this app include:
● The Forethought
● Chapter I. Of Our Spiritual Strivings
● Chapter II. Of the Dawn of Freedom
● Chapter III. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others
● Chapter IV. Of the Meaning of Progress
● Chapter V. Of the Wings of Atalanta
● Chapter VI. Of the Training of Black Men
● Chapter VII. Of the Black Belt
● Chapter VIII. Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece
● Chapter IX. Of the Sons of Master and Man
● Chapter X. Of the Faith of the Fathers
● Chapter XI. Of the Passing of the First-Born
● Chapter XII. Of Alexander Crummell
● Chapter XIII. Of the Coming of John
● Chapter XIV. Of the Sorrow Songs
● The Afterthought
● Study Guide Introduction
● Plot Summary
● Summary and Analysis of all chapters
● Theme Analysis: Slavery vs Freedom
● Theme Analysis: Material vs Psychological Racism
● Theme Analysis: Education
● Theme Analysis: Leadership
● Theme Analysis: Exclusion vs Belonging
● Character Analysis: W.E.B. Du Bois
● Character Analysis: Booker T. Washington
● Character Analysis: Josie
● Character Analysis: Burghardt Du Bois
● Character Analysis: Alexander Crummell
● Character Analysis: John Jones
● Sample Essay #1 - 3

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