1. “What’s in a Name?”
Henry Louis Gates

2. Warm Up Think about your name (or nickname that you go by).
What does it say about you?
How does it help to define your identity?
How would you change if your name changed?

3. Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Born in Keyser, West Virginia in 1950; grew up in Piedmont
Literary critic, historian, and professor at Harvard University
Advocate and rights activist for African-Americans
Essay “What’s in a Name?” appeared in Dissent in 1989.

4. “What’s in a Name?” Read the essay on your own.
Annotate however you would normally.
You have 10 minutes to read it INDIVIDUALLY.

5. Purpose of Annotating Many see it as waste of time...
Understand and analyze a text, no matter the format, audience, or purpose
Your annotations should lead you to/allow you to answer the following:
What is the writer’s general subject?
What is the writer’s main point?
Does the writer have a particular audience in mind?
Does the writer have a particular purpose in reaching that audience?
What tone does the writer use in addressing the audience?
What rhetorical devices does the writer use to help create and identify 1-5?

6. Using Your Annotations...
Discuss with those around you what you found.
This is your chance to add something that you might have missed!
Suggestion: Use a new color/implement for what you add.

7. Analyzing Gates’ Essay
In paragraph 1. Gates wonders why he forgot about the exchange between his father and Mr. Wilson. Why do you think he forgot about it?
What does Gates mean when he says, “it was ‘one of those things,’ as my Mom would put it” (12)?
Why does Gates’ family turn to discussions of “black superstars” after a “painful moment of silence” (12)?
Explain Gates’ purpose for beginning the narration with the two quotes he selected. How do you suppose he intended his audience to react to these quotes?
What is Gates’ purpose in writing this narrative? What effect does he want this narrative to have on his audience? (Identify, too, who his audience is.)
Why do you think Gates supplies such specificity in his selection of details in paragraphs 2 and 3? What effect does he hope to have on the audience?