Questions for analyzing Best Intentions
Your book report should be approximately 10 pages long
Start with a brief summary of the story then answer each question below. Provide at least three quotations from the book to support each of your answers to the starred questions*.
*Compare and contrast the environment between Harlem where Eddie grew up and the New England town where he attended prep school. Discuss the schools, residential locations and neighborhoods.
*Identity the characteristics of Eddy’s family and the families at Exeter. Chapter 4 in Cherlin should be useful to you.
*What are the social institutions examined in the book? How do these institutions impact on the institution of family?
Anson speaks about individual racism and institutional racism. Individual racism is the racism that is expressed by one person’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. Institutional racism is embedded in the structure of an institution. To illustrate, an example of institutional racism (or classism) would be whether or not a bus company has a route from an inner city to a suburban line. The individual bus driver may not be a racist, but the policy of the company is racist and is an instance of institutional racism. Look for three examples in the book where institutional racism is operating.
*Who are the central characters in this story? What are their socio-demographic characteristics?
If Anson were a sociologist instead of a journalist, what sociological perspective (eg. Conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, structural functionalism) do you think he would be using in this book? Why?
Do you think Edmund Perry was guilty of trying to mug the police officer? If so, why do you think he would risk such a thing? If not, why not?
What is the significance of the tile Best Intentions?
Who is the author? What are his credentials? Why was he so interested in this story?
Adapted from Anne Smith Hastings and Bahira Sherif Instructor's Manual to accompany Public and Private Families
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