The Nickel Boys
Embedded Files
Reading Schedule: All reading and 3 journal pages should be complete by Tuesday, 4/22/25.
You will need to pace yourself (15 pgs per day minimum) and work on your journal pages independently. Journal pages will be due on 4/22 and I will check them as you write in class.
University of South Florida
Historical Inspirations
The setting of The Nickel Boys is inspired by the real life Dozier School in Marianna, Florida. An infamous "reform school" where recently were discovered dozens of unmarked graves and the bodies of boys who had been sent to the institution. Dozier was a segregated school, and both white and black boys were abused there. However, there are fewer records and accounts of the black students' experiences. Colson Whitehead was inspired to create his novel to tell the lesser known stories of the black boys who had suffered and even died at Dozier. He created Turner and Elwood to symbolize the boys, and also to symbolize both the capacity for hope and the hard scrabble pragmatism each of us needs to endure and survive the harsh realities of the world.
Thematic Ideas to Explore: As you read, create a journal page for each section. On your page, collect moments/quotes to bring to Seminar that exemplify a few of the themes listed. ALL students will be expected to contribute specific commentary from the reading. Click the arrow for THEME CHOICES.
Thematic Ideas to Explore: As you read, create a journal page for each section. On your page, collect moments/quotes to bring to Seminar that exemplify a few of the themes listed. ALL students will be expected to contribute specific commentary from the reading. Click the arrow for THEME CHOICES.
The American Experiment Exposed
The Long Term Effect of Childhood Trauma
The Power of Unity and Friendship
Historical Erasure and Secrecy
Personal Dignity
Coming of Age/Loss of Innocence
Power Balance and Fear as a Control Method
Upward Mobility and Economic Cycles
Follow the link here or click on the image to visit the PBS Learning page for the Brown vs. Board of Education videos & lessons. Use these to inform your understanding of Elwood, his grandmother, and the power balance of the time.
Fun Town
Fun Town
<--- Click the image to hear Dr. King's "Fun Town" speech on the album Martin Luther King Jr at Zion Hill that features prominently in The Nickel Boys. Then click the link for Scott Morris' guest column in The Commercial Appeal. Consider how FUN TOWN is symbolic in the novel.
Poetry Connection:
Read Adrienne Rich's "What Kind of Times Are These" and make note of the connections to The Nickel Boys. You might copy the poem out into your journal along with quotes from the novel, or create artwork linking the two thematically. Be creative!
Essential Question
How does fiction based on true historical events help us to better understand and empathize with the real people who lived through them? How can storytelling be a powerful avenue for creating change through awareness?
The Official White House Boys Website provides information, interviews, stories, historical images, etc. Hear the voices of men who spent time at the Dozier School- the historical counterpart of Nickel Academy. Visit the site and learn more about the TRUE events that the book seeks to embody.
FRQ2/3 Practice
FRQ2/3 Practice
FRQ2: Ask yourself-
What is the tone of the passage?
How does the narrative voice contribute to the tone?
What detail words/phrases are loaded (connotation)? How so?
What theme(s) can you connect to the passage?
FRQ3: Apply to The Nickel Boys-
1972. In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or the opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you explain how it functions in this way.
5 Scenes to a THEME
5 Scenes to a THEME
Choose 1 of the FRQ3 Prompts that matches The Nickel Boys topically. Example: Scene of Violence and its impact on theme
Then create a 5 Scenes to a Theme mini-poster illustrating how 5 moments/objects/characters/quotes etc connect to your prompt topic and theme(s).
Explore the ongoing issues around the Dozier School discoveries and Colson Whitehead's novel at the links below-
New graves (video and article):
Compensation plan (article):
James Anderson, 73, of Floral City, was 14 when he attended the Okeechobee School (like Dozier and Nickel). He told the News Service he suffered beatings from staff members, who also “turned a blind eye” to bullying from other boys.
“I wish I could say, and I can’t say this, I wish I could say that what they did to me, then, is responsible for all the failures in my life. I can't say that. I can say this. I went there a very angry young person, and I left there full of rage. It was like pouring gasoline on the fire. That's what they did,” Anderson said.
Movie and Trailer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.722214ef-154d-4355-aa94-c215dd21d0db?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb
Poetry Connection: Danez Smith's "Dinosaurs in the Hood" is a powerful spoken word poem that would have an interesting conversation with The Nickel Boys. I especially love the ending of the poem. Read it here and listen to the live version at the YouTube link. What do you think?
Perfect Fit Prompt
Look through the last two years' prompt sets and choose the perfect prompt for The Nickel Boys. Why did you make this choice?
FICTION AS A VEHICLE FOR UNDERSTANDING HISTORY
Dreamland Burning
Dreamland Burning
Click the image to learn more about another historical fiction novel based on true events, Dreamland Burning. Like The Nickel Boys, a hidden grave and a real crime underpin the story.
Tulsa Race Massacre
Tulsa Race Massacre
Click the newspaper image to learn about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre which is the historical context for Dreamland Burning. This page is at the Tulsa Historical Society.
The YouTube video is an announcement by then Asst Atty General Kristin Clarke in 2024, about the DOJ's findings from the investigation into the massacre undertaken pursuant to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act.
What is an ELEGY?
"Emmitt Till: A Poem of Sorrow and Hope"- NPR, Aug 29, 2005
Explaining Emmett Till's murder to children in 1955 wasn't easy. Even today, it's still hard to find the right words when teaching young people about Till's brutal death.
In 1955, 14-year-old Till was visiting relatives in a small Mississippi town when he was accused of giving a white woman a "wolf whistle" outside a market. Her husband and his half-brother pulled Till from the house where he was staying, drove him to the banks of the Tallahatchie River and shot him in the head. Despite eyewitness testimony, an all-white jury acquitted the two men of murder. Outrage over Till's death helped to mobilize the civil rights movement. Marilyn Nelson, the poet laureate of Connecticut, has written a narrative poem, A Wreath for Emmett Till, especially for young readers. Nelson spoke with Farai Chideya about her provocative poem, and about the lingering effect Till's murder still has had on the American psyche.
Hear the full interview and explore additional resources here.
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