The Souls of Black Folk (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781416500414)

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With a dash of the Victorian and Enlightenment influences that peppered Du Bois's impassioned yet formal prose, the largely autobiographical chapters of The Souls of Black Folks take the reader through the momentous and moody maze of Afro-American life after the Emancipation Proclamation: from poverty, the neo-slavery of the sharecropper, illiteracy, miseducation, and lynching, to the heights of humanity reached by the spiritual "sorrow songs" that birthed gospel music and the blues. The capstone of The Souls of Black Folk is Du Bois's haunting, eloquent description of the concept of the black psyche's "double consciousness," which he described as "a peculiar sensation...One ever feels this twoness--an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author's personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research.

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Author: W. E. B. DuBois
ISBN-10: 1416500413
ISBN-13: 9781416500414
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Language: English
Published: 08/01/2005
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.34lbs
Size: 6.76h x 4.24w x 0.84d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 9.6
Point Value: 15
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 157695 / Souls of Black Folk


Review Citation(s):
Ingram Paperback Advance 07/01/2005 pg. 62