A Gathering of Old Men Papers & Assignment Topics

Essay Topics/Writing Assignments

These 20 essay questions can be used as essay questions on a test, or as stand-alone essay topics for a take-home or in-class writing assignment. Students should have a full understanding of the text in order to answer these questions. They ask for a thorough analysis of the text.

1. Explain the relationships between the black and white people in this town. Why don't they change after slavery and after civil rights? Why is this town so far behind the times? Explain what is happening in this story between the people who are light-skinned blacks and the people who are dark-skinned blacks. What about the whites and the Cajuns? How do they all view each other? Who is "looking down" on whom?

2. Miss Merle is waiting for a decade for the Major to notice her. She has her...
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