X. Chapter Eight: Legacies
A. General Comprehension
Working with a partner, answer these questions.
1. What happened to Sidney Poitier and agent Marty Baum in Acapulco? What thoughts ran through Poitier’s mind throughout this experience? Type Here
2. How has the “poverty syndrome” (173) shaped Poitier’s personal habits? Type Here
3. “But the one constant is that you can’t go back. Well, you might be able to manage if you were forced to, but you won’t ever elect to go back” (174). How does Poitier describe his return trip to Cat Island, which proved to him that after only eight years he had become accustomed to an easier life in the United States? Type Here
4. How did his father make sure that his life would come to an end? What kind of will did he leave? Type Here
5. What legacy did his father leave about the “importance of his role as a father” (176)? Type Here
6. According to Sidney Poitier, what is the difference between children of his generation and baby boomers and baby boomers’ children? Type Here
7. What was special about Poitier’s mother? Type Here
8. Why did his father’s teaching about “the true measure of a man” weigh heavily on him when he separated from his wife Juanita? What kind of advice did his friend Harry Belafonte give him at the time? Type Here
9. How did his relationship with his daughter Beverly go through many changes after his divorce? What does she do now? Type Here
10. How did Mr. Fox serve as Poitier’s model for the teacher in To Sir, with Love? Type Here
11. In what ways are Poitier’s brother Cyril and his wife models of his father’s legacy? How does Poitier use his story of this couple to criticize our current society? Type Here
12. How did Mr. Fox serve as Poitier’s model for the teacher in To Sir, with Love? Type Here