The Book-Of-The-Semester Project 2007 - 2008

1. Working with Quotations

About his near-death experience, Poitier writes:  “We love; we work; we raise our families.  Those are the areas of significance in our individual lives.  And love and work and family are the legacy we leave behind when our little moment in the sun is gone” (168).  Write an essay in which you show how you agree and/or disagree with Poitier.

2. Working with Quotations:  Defining “Home”

“[I]t may be that I’m always ‘at home.’  Thanks to the more fundamental legacy my parents gave me, I’m always at home because I’m the same person no matter where I am.  I’m the same person at some Hollywood dinner that I was when I was being hassled by the cops in Miami or sleeping in a pay toilet in New York.  It’s that consistent definition of self, I’m sure, that allowed me to get through the rough times, when others were more than happy to try to define me according to their own prejudices” (172).

What is your definition of “home,” and how has this definition assured the creation of your “definition of self?”

3.  Writing a Dialogue

In conversation with his daughter, Beverly, Sidney Poitier discussed the importance of a good education (183):

Beverly:  “Why do I have to do well in school?”
Poitier:  “Because it is essential to your adult life.”
Beverly:  “Well, I don’ t want to be a standout.  I don’t want to be better than anybody else.  Why do I have to be better?”
Poitier:  “A good education is a necessity for whatever lifestyle you decide to create for yourself.” 

Continue the dialogue:
Beverly:
Poitier:
Beverly:
Poitier:
ETC.