TheCaseforReparations

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

What does Ta-Nehisi Coates repeat in this short description of the article?
A

Why does he use this repetition what is the effect it creates?

In this context, the word compounding means making worse or getting worse. Why does that word fit with
his use of repetition?

Translate this passage from the Bible into your own words. (Dont just write one main ideatry to make your
translation about as long as the original, with all the major ideas.) B

These quotes are allusions: a passage in one piece of writing that refers to or quotes a different book. What
is the effect of these allusions? Why do you think the author chose to include them? C
Is the author saying that it would be good or bad to live under the blind decree of justice?
How can you tell? (Look at the transition word.) D

Justice is often drawn as a blindfolded woman with a scale. What is justice supposed to
be blind to?

This paragraph is the thesis, the main idea, of the article so far. Rewrite the underlined section in your own
words.

Why does the author say that Ross was beginning to understand himself as an American? Does the word
American have a positive or negative connotation in this sentence?

How a normal mortgage works: the bank loans me money to buy a house. I share ownership with the bank
until I have paid them back the original amount and all the interest. If I cant afford the payments anymore,
the bank will take the house, but they have to buy my part from me. So, if Ive paid for about a quarter of the
E
house, they have to pay me a quarter of what the house is worth before they kick me out and sell the house.

How is Clyde Rosss contract worse than this how is it less fair? Include one quote from the text.
What are the two ways in which the government is partially to blame for Clyde Rosss bad
contract? Include two quotes from the text.
F

Why does Ta-Nehisi Coates use short, simple sentences here? What is the emotional effect?
G

What is the authors tone in this section? (Imagine Coates were speaking to you, face-to-face. How do you
imagine he would be talking? How can you tell?)

Find three other places where Coates uses short, simple sentences to talk about an emotional topic. Write those
sentences here, and then rewrite the sentences to make them longer and more complicated. How do the tone
and emotion of the sentences change?
 Use the article to fill in this chart. Use a combination of paraphrasing and direct quotes.

Specific General
Events in Clyde Rosss life Inferences and quotes about a larger group
Coates writes, Rosss parents owned and It was possible for black families in the South
farmed a 40 acre tract of land, flush with cows, to have a good livingat least for a while.
hogs, and mules.