Study Guide: The Measure of a Man

XIII. Chapter Eleven: The Measure Of A Man

A. General Comprehension

Working with a partner, answer these questions.

  1. How did a performance by actress Anna DeVere Smith inspire Sidney Poitier?  What sad realization did he come to?  What decision did he make?  What “old theatrical impulse”  came back to him as “a reassuring surprise” (235)?

  2. What does Poitier mean when he writes that “an actor should repeatedly seek to have his measure taken by challenges inherent in his craft” (234)?

  3. How were Poitier’s “cautious side” and “wild side” (237) in conflict?  Which “side” won?  Why?

  4. Whom did Poitier contact for his one-man show?  What information does he give us about this individual’s biography?

  5. What was the reaction to the first script submitted?  What realization did Poitier and his writer come to about the source material? 

  6. What happened to Charley Blackwell? 

  7. What does Poitier still dream of doing even today?