Chapters 7-10 Summary and Analysis

In chapter 7, Arlene was the smartest girl in the class. One day, Arlene and another girl, Mary Anne, discovered both their mother's were becoming doctors. Mary Anne was white. Both children were from the same social background, yet Mrs. Paley found herself deeply pleased with Arlene's intelligence and found herself questioning this pleasure. Two other black girls in that class were from a lower economic background and would often speak ethnic speech. This implied to Mrs. Paley that the girls were not of the same intelligence of Arlene and Mary Anne until she learned one of the girls' sister was the smartest in her own class. This information made Mrs. Paley not only take a closer look at her own personal economic prejudices, but to realize that ethnic speech had little to do with the intelligence of the speaker...