Teaching Cora Unashamed, by Langston Hughes

M2 (Spring 2005)

There are many different ways to approach this story. I would probably start with language, perhaps putting the first paragraph on an overhead and deconstructing it with the class to see what they can deduce about the story from just the first 100 words.

The first thing I would ask might be: What kind of a place does this seem to be? How do we know? This should generate some general discussion about the descriptions. Then I would ask them to drill down further into the choices the author made.

Among the things I would ask them to consider are:

• Why does he begin with the name of the town?
• Do you know that it’s the name of a town right away – when do you figure it out?
• What would be lost/gained by beginning “The place called Melton” “They lived in Melton” or “Melton, Iowa,” and then continuing on with the rest of the first line?
• What’s the first thing we learn about Melton –before we even learn whether it is a person, animal, place, or thing? Why do you think Hughes chose “miserable” as the first thing to tell us? What expectations does it encourage in the reader?
• What about the name Melton anyway? What does it make you think of? Why do you think he chose it?

Then I would ask them to make some predictions (each of which would have to be defended from the text and expanded from their personal perception of that text):

• What types of people live here?
• Is this a town with rich and poor, or only poor?
• What might people who live here do for a living?
• Is this going to be a story with a happy ending?
• Does anyone want to suggest what the story might be about?

Given the racist language in the next paragraph, and the oblivious racism displayed throughout the story, I would probably spend a little time talking about the state of race relations in America in the 1930s, the time in which the story seems to have been set. (Later on we will look at the clues the author gives about time, place, etc. as he sets the scene.) Some information about the crash and the depression and the overall economic situation would also be relevant – not a huge history lesson, but some context in which to place the story so the students in 2005 can understand the way people talked to each other (not approve, not accept, not like, just comprehend so they can get to the story itself). I would make sure they understood the way that poverty and obligation can take over a young person’s life so that Cora would not seem so foreign to them.

Then I would let them loose on the next 12 paragraphs, breaking them into groups so they could each work on only three or four paragraphs and having them begin by reading their assigned portion aloud and discussing what’s going on in the most basic sense. Next they would work together to discover the secrets in the text, using the types of questions we used on the first paragraph. I would walk around the room answering questions and offering suggestions. Finally they would come up with their predictions for what kind of story this is turning out to be, who else they might meet, and what might happen.

The entire first 12 paragraphs would then be put on the overhead (not all at once) and each group would read their section, share their findings and lead a class discussion to see if there were any other ideas out there. Each group would share their predictions before the next group began.

If this works well, it will take up the entire class period. I might assign the rest of part 1 for homework. That would take us from Cora having a lover to Cora returning to work after the death of her daughter.

Next class would begin with some general discussion about what they think is happening, how the author paints the pictures they saw – why did Joe smell like horses? Was this a good thing? How do they know it’s important (mentioned twice, as are big hands and gray eyes).

Some discussion about the way unmarried women who got pregnant were treated at that time in US history would be appropriate so they can understand the full effect of her not trying to hide it. What does it mean to be humble before something? To be shameless? Are they contradictory? How did Cora manage both? Why is that important? What is Hughes telling us about her – does it fit the images they have of her so far (why or why not)?

I’d like to take them through to the funeral in groups and then gather together and, after a review and sharing similar to the previous day, do the funeral scene to the end of the story together – either that day or the next, depending on time (not for homework).

As a follow up assignment I would have them choose a paragraph, line, phrase, repeated word, or even single word in the story and examine it closely. The essay would be about the way the author used that specific language to make his specific point, to paint that particular picture or add that exact shading to a character or situation and what the student thinks about it – was it effective, what would the effect of even a minor change be (if anything), etc. Perhaps I would then do some type of peer review exercise, asking them to look at each other’s work with the same attention to detail.