Dave believes that a gun will make him a man. What are other objects that signify manhood in contemporary culture? Choose one such object and compare it to the gun in "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." What do these two objects say about what it means to be a man in each time and place?

Do some research about the economic situation of black farm laborers in the early twentiethcentury South. How was the situation of such laborers similar to and different from the institution of slavery that had been abolished half a century earlier? How does this comparison enhance your understanding of the story?

At the end of the story Dave jumps aboard a train heading north. The story takes place during a period when huge numbers of African Americans were migrating north for a variety of social and...