Background Information: Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American to gain national eminence as a poet. Born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, he was the son of ex-slaves. Although he lived to be only 33 years old, Dunbar was prolific, writing short stories, novels, plays, songs and essays, as well as the poetry for which he became well known. He was popular with black and white readers of his day, and his works are celebrated today by scholars and school children alike.
At the top of your paper write your purpose for reading the text: Are you reading to understand the author’s claim and evidence? To compare this text with another? To learn about and make inferences about important content? To clarify understanding about a larger concept?
Place quotation marks around the title, circle the author’s name, and underline the publication date. Write any predictions you have about the text based on this information near the top of the page.
Write the genre of the text in parenthesis next to the title. (Short story, essay, editorial, speech, political document, photograph, letter, scientific text, case study etc.)
NUMBER the paragraphs.
First Reading: Understanding what the text said…
Read the text slowly to comprehend what the text says explicitly (i.e. literally, directly). Place