Study Guide for Chesnutt stories

"The Goophered Grapevine"

1) How does the speaker think about farming?  In what terms ("register") does he discuss it in the first paragraph and the last two paragraphs?  What terms would Uncle Julius use?
2) Who tricks whom in this story?  (There is more than one answer to this question.)
3) Who, if anyone, comes out ahead at the end of the story?
4) How does the speaker’s wife function in the story?

"Listening to ‘The Goophered Grapevine’"

1) In the first part of his essay, Slote contrasts Chesnutt’s story and the California raisin commercial, arguing that "When juxtaposed to the singleness of the commercials’ purpose, the subversive play of Chesnutt’s dialect stories emerges quite clearly" (688-9)  Explain how this works.
2) In the second part of his essay, Slote suggests that "the closest equivalent to our claymation creators, conjuring on behalf of the owners of the fields, is not Aunt Peggy but Chesnutt himself" (689).  Why?
3) How does Slote use the music industry parallel on p. 690?  What is his point?
4) What are "the decentering habits of Chesnutt’s fiction" (691)?
5) Wjhat do you think of Slote’s suggestions for teaching the story on pp. 693-4?

"Po’ Sandy"

1) How does Chesnutt develop ideas of ownership, people as property, labor as product, and people as objects in this story?
2) Who, if anyone, believes Uncle Julius’ story?  What is its effect?

"Sis’ Becky’s Pickaninny"

1) How does "Kunnel Pen’leton" come off in this story?  What sort of language is used to describe him?  In what tone?  How can you tell?
2) How and why does Uncle Julius’ rabbit’s foot end up in "my wife’s" pocket?
3) What do you think of the story’s happy ending?
4) What does "my wife" mean when she says the story bears the stamp of truth?