PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

The author begins with a preface, which explains how he came to write his autobiography and who he thanks for his help. This is followed by seventeen chapters, which chronologically relate his rise from a life as slave to his triumph in the areas of education and public speaking. He ends.......

THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS

Importance of an education

Throughout the narrative, the main idea expressed is always the importance of an education. Booker learned this when he was denied it as a slave and later from the example of General Armstrong. However, in his mind, it wasn’t enough to just study books and learn facts and idea. It was also important to learn a trade. He believed that if every black citizen conducted himself modestly and worked hard to learn a trade better than anyone else, he.........

The dignity of work

Another theme, the dignity of work, emphasizes how education and learning a trade go hand-in-hand. Tuskegee would not admit an student who was not willing to work at learning a trade at the same time as he devoted himself to academic and spiritual pursuits. That’s why purchasing the.........

The net of slavery

Booker often refers in his narrative to the net of slavery. As an institution of American society, slavery impacted negatively on both blacks and whites. It kept black people in actual bondage for hundreds of years and made it inordinately difficult for them to become contributing members of ........

The relationships between whites and blacks

A part of the net of slavery was the idea of the relationships between whites and blacks. Booker knew that there was a long road ahead for his people, because old attitudes die hard. That’s why he devoted himself to convincing both races that learning to live and work together was..........

Success was measured by the obstacles overcome to achieve it, not in what was attained in the end

The last important theme involves success. Booker felt that success was measured by the obstacles overcome to achieve it, not in what was attained in the end. He emphasized this repeatedly to his students and to his audiences wherever he spoke. He saw a man’s character in terms..........

AUTHOR’S STYLE

The author’s style is to present life’s story in a very straightforward, simple manner and allow the reader to come to his own conclusions about him. He feels in this way that he can reach anyone who would read it with his philosophies about race, education and hard work. It was written........

RISING ACTION

The rising action begins with chapter one when the reader is introduced to Booker T. Washington through the narrative of what he.......

FALLING ACTION

The falling action involves the events after the Atlanta Exposition including his trip to Europe and the visit of President McKinley to Tuskegee.

POINT OF VIEW

The point of view is first person as it is told from the perspective of Booker himself.

The complete study guide is currently available as a downloadable PDF, RTF, or MS Word DOC file from the PinkMonkey MonkeyNotes download store. The complete study guide contains summaries and notes for all of the chapters; detailed analysis of the themes, plot structure, and characters; important quotations and analysis; analysis of symbolism, motifs, and metaphors; a key facts summary; detailed analysis of the use of foreshadowing and irony; a multiple-choice quiz, and suggested book report ideas and essay topics.

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