Helaine Schupack is a gifted tutor highly valued by many in the Brown University community, and Donald Korb has requested she see Cedric. When Cedric finally agrees to a meeting on the first Friday in November, he is late and apologetic. Cedric shows Helaine two papers he's writing for his classes: the first is a reaction to the Richard Wright short story "Fire and Cloud", the second is about his family educational tree for the History of Education class. In the latter he describes his parents' educational backgrounds as well as his own aspirations and how it ties into his Christian upbringing. Helaine offers minor corrections but is emotionally moved by Cedric's writing. That evening, she muses that Cedric will be allowed to write in this manner in his first semester because his ability to overcome oppression is admirable, but also realizes that it does not fit the dispassionate academic style required for college writing in general.
Cedric and Robert modify their rule regarding who gets to play his music, agreeing that going to the bathroom doesn't count as an opportunity to change the music. A week before, Cedric moved his CD player to his side of the room; Rob then brought back two stereos after visiting home that weekend. However, another fight erupts: Cedric watches television loudly while Rob listens to his music, Rob responds by turning up his stereo, then Cedric turns up his own stereo to match Rob's. The two face off against each other then run away, Cedric seeking the help of East Andrews counselor Rachel Edy. The solution she comes up with is headphones for Rob to listen to his music.
Towards the end of November, Zayd asks Cedric to go with him to College Hill to hang out at the mall. Zayd talks about growing up in New York, being one of the few white kids in a Harlem public school, and getting beaten up by black kids. Cedric is amazed that Zayd didn't grow up to hate black people, while Zayd remains astonished by his friend's brutally frank opinions and questions. They discuss Clarence Thomas as well as Cami and Camoun, two French girls Zayd knows back home. When Zayd confides that he wishes to see both girls over the upcoming Thanksgiving break, Cedric tells him that he's developing bad practices in the way he breaks people's trust. Zayd then talks about going hunting, which is a family tradition his parents abhor, and Cedric is amused as guns reminds him of D.C.
For Thanksgiving, Cedric is invited to the Boston home of Donald Korb, his personal benefactor. This is only the second time Cedric meets Korb, and he does not expect it to be a huge gathering of Korb's family and friends, all of whom pay special attention to him. Cedric calls home to speak to his mother, who reminds him to watch what others do during dinner so he doesn't commit any etiquette mistakes. There are two tables for the meal, and Cedric sits next to Donald's daughter Cindy, along with the other younger members of the family.
During the break between dinner and dessert, Cedric speaks with Donald's Aunt Miriam, a ninety-two-year-old woman who was one of the first women to graduate from New York University Law School. Cedric warms to Miriam, who notes that he must miss his mother, as well as questioning an earlier claim he'd made during dinner about having three majors. Aunt Miriam then encourages Cedric by confiding that "saying things can sometimes make them happen." Cedric plans to sleep at Harvard with friends from the MIT program; when it is time for Donald Korb to drive him to Cambridge, Miriam whispers to Cedric that he'll be fine and gives him a hug. Once at Harvard, Cedric cannot find the dorm where Mark and Belinda McIntosh are staying. When he finally finds his destination, he's frustrated and uses the word "nigger" when greeting Mark.
At the end of the semester, Professor Tom James meets with Franklin Cruz during office hours to discuss an independent study project. James admires how polished a student Franklin is, able to use his ethnicity when needed but also to fit in well with the mainstream of academic life; as someone who has written several books on the education of minorities, he finds this process fascinating. Towards the end of office hours, Cedric drops by to get a signature for a class next semester, Fieldwork and Seminar in High School Education. The contrast between Franklin and Cedric is jarring for James, as it's clear that Cedric keeps too much of his past to transition smoothly into Brown. James offers encouragement to Cedric, who is largely unmoved by the attempt.
The chapter opens with a narrative tangent on tutor Helaine Schupack, who understands the double-edged
sword of Cedric's academic situation. On the one hand, he clearly lacks the intellectual distance to create the
kind of analytic work expected of him. On the other hand, what he does create are intimate, revelatory essays
that play into higher education's bias towards authentic experiences, especially of marginalized individuals such
as himself. Schupack knows that such expression has a limited shelf life for a young scholar, however, and
seeks to guide Cedric along the right path. At the end of the chapter, Professor Tom James considers the same
thing, but in broader sociological terms.
Cedric's Thanksgiving experience broadens his perspective in two distinct ways. First, the dinner with Donald
Korb and his family makes him privy to the life of highly affluent white people. Second, he receives heartfelt
encouragement from another academic trailblazer, Aunt Miriam. The surreal nature of this dinner is such that he
is desperate to return to "his" people - the McIntoshes art Harvard - and uses the term "nigger" when in any
other situation he would resist the term. In this context, however, it's a cry for help and the desire to be back in
his comfort zone.
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Cite this page:
Mescallado, Ray. "TheBestNotes on A Hope in the Unseen".
TheBestNotes.com.
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