Mosley, Devil in a Blue Dress, Chs 16 end
Discussion Questions:
1. Why does Mr. Carters racism (p. 166) bother Easy the most? Do you agree that Carters behavior is racist? Why or why not?
2. Think about structure for a moment (go back and look at Fiction Elements for a refresher, if that helps!). What is the opening conflict? What additional conflicts help to create the rising action? Wheres the turning point or climax? How about the falling action? What parts of this book start to resolve the conflicts raised in the first part? What is the final resolutionand remember, this all connects to the central conflict in the book, which will be Easy v. himself, Easy v. another, OR Easy v. environment. While all three might be present, one will be dominant and thats the one you want to use to help you figure this question out!
3. Why is the interaction at the Champion Plant so important for Easys growth as a character? Where else in the story do you see Easy growing/developing and in what ways? At what moments in the novel does he say or do something that show him becoming a different man than the one he was at the beginning of the book?
4. What do you think of Carter? What kind of person is he? Be sure to use some examples from the text to illustrate your points.
5. Easy talks about a voice that he hears. What is he talking about? Can you give me an example of this from the text?
6. Daphne calls Easy and asks him for a favor. What does she want and what happens? How do you feel about Daphne after seeing her actions?
7. What kind of a person was Richard?
8. Why does Easy call Mouse, especially given how we know he feels about him?
9. Easy gets taken to the police station. What happens? What kind of people are the cops? At the police station, he notes green Oleander leaves, a line of black ants and the tiny corpse of a mouse. Why do you think Mosley includes these three images?
10. Outside the police station, Easy meets Mr. Teran. Why kind of man is he? How do you know? Who is in the car with him? What does Teran want?
11. Who has what kind of power in this novel? (This directly connects to one of the essay questions!) Lets at least start by identifying different kinds of power that the characters use. To start you off, money is clearly one kind of powerwho has it and who doesnt is really important. What other kinds do you see?
12. Who killed whom? (Its a long and gory list!) And why?
13. Fiction Elements talked about foils. Does Easy have a foil in this novel? If so, who, and why do you think that person is his foil?
15. What is the crime in this novel? And by that, I mean the crime that sets everything in motion. D4g deep.
15. Whats up with Daphne?? How does she end of being symbolic of an entire culture?
16. What about Joppys character should clue us into his guilt?
No Al please
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