Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY: “More Writers Observe”

Chapter 8, “A Writer Observes,” recounts Myers’s efforts to write about day-to-day life in Harlem. This was something he initially found challenging because his neighborhood seemed too familiar—not “special” enough—to inspire literature; however, Harlem would eventually become the setting for some of Myers’s most famous works.

For this activity, think about the sights, sounds, people, and places you associate with your own neighborhood and jot down some quick impressions of these; feel free to note not only physical characteristics but also the thoughts or feelings those characteristics call to mind. Then choose one aspect of your neighborhood and write a paragraph describing it in greater detail, paying attention to devices like imagery and metaphor/simile.

Teaching Suggestion: Myers’s difficulty seeing Harlem as a literary subject stems partly from his limited exposure to American (and especially African American) writers. While students today will likely have encountered a broader range of reading material, they may still see their everyday lives as too “ordinary” to write about. Besides stretching students’ creative muscles, this activity can prompt reflection on the relationships between language, community, and personal identity.