Native Son by Richard Wright is about a young Black man who accidentally kills a white woman in 1930s Chicago. The novel explores the impact of racism on Bigger Thomas and the broader society. ​

Reading & Writing Workshop: Exploring Racial and Social Justice Through Native Son using a Literary Focus.
Introduction / Setup
Richard Wright’s Native Son follows Bigger Thomas, a young Black man in 1930s Chicago, as his life spirals after a violent act born from fear and systemic oppression. The novel blends naturalism and social critique, using symbols, motifs, irony, and characterization to force readers to confront race, class, and justice in America.
General Instructions:

• Divide the reading into three parts (following Wright’s structure): Fear, Flight, Fate.
• Assign groups one part each for summary and close analysis.
• Use a Literary Thinking Guide to track characters, symbols, motifs, and narrative techniques.
• After each section, complete a writing task that focuses on one or more literary elements.

Workshop Objective
Students will analyze Wright’s literary craft — focusing on naturalism, symbolism, motif, irony, theme, and characterization — to understand how he critiques systemic racism and societal hypocrisy. Students will produce analytical and creative responses that demonstrate mastery of literary terms and interpretive skills.

Session-by-Session Plan
Session 1: Naturalism and Environment (Part One: Fear)

• Objective: Examine how Bigger’s environment shapes his choices, connecting to literary naturalism.
• Key Terms: Naturalism, setting, determinism, conflict (internal/external).
• Reading Focus: Fear (Book One).
• Writing Prompt: Write a one-page analysis showing how Wright uses setting (Chicago’s South Side, poverty, systemic oppression) to frame Bigger’s fate. Then write a short scene of your own in naturalistic style, where the environment pressures a character’s decision.

Session 2: Symbolism and Motifs (Part Two: Flight)

• Objective: Analyze how Wright uses recurring images (the rat, snow, blindness, whiteness) to deepen themes.
• Key Terms: Symbolism, motif, imagery, foreshadowing.
• Reading Focus: Flight (Book Two).
• Writing Prompt: Choose one recurring symbol (the rat, snow, blindness, fire) and write a two-paragraph analysis explaining how Wright uses it to represent fear, guilt, or systemic oppression. Then create your own modern symbolic image for a social conflict.

Session 3: Irony, Satire, and Social Critique (Part Three: Fate)

• Objective: Examine Wright’s use of irony and courtroom rhetoric to critique racial injustice.
• Key Terms: Irony, satire, rhetoric, point of view, theme.
• Reading Focus: Fate (Book Three).
• Writing Prompt: Write a mock courtroom speech — either for the defense or the prosecution — that uses irony to reveal hypocrisy in the justice system. Include at least two rhetorical devices (e.g., repetition, parallelism, irony).

Session 4: Theme, Characterization, and Resolution

• Objective: Connect Bigger’s development and downfall to the novel’s larger themes.
• Key Terms: Theme, characterization, resolution, existentialism, tragic hero.
• Reading Focus: Final chapters of Fate and Max’s summation.
• Writing Prompt: Write a thematic essay (2–3 paragraphs) explaining how Bigger embodies one of Wright’s central themes (fear, systemic oppression, identity, or fate). Use at least three literary terms (e.g., motif, irony, characterization) in your response.

Key Literary Anchors
​Students should track the following literary elements throughout the novel:

1. Narration & Style — third-person limited, Bigger’s psychological interiority.
2. Symbols — the rat, snow, blindness, the furnace, whiteness/blackness.
3. Motifs — fear, flight, violence, media sensationalism.
4. Naturalism — Bigger’s environment, poverty, systemic racism as determinism.
5. Irony & Satire — the justice system, the press, white liberalism.
6. Themes — race, fear, systemic oppression, identity, fate.
7. Characterization — Bigger as both individual and symbolic figure; Max vs. Dalton as contrasting moral voices.​

Reading and Writing Workshop:  Exploring Racial and Social Justice Through Primary Sources
General Instructions:
Begin by reading Native Son either in groups or as a class. If group reading the work, divide it into sections and assign each group a section.  As groups, they will read their section, write a summary of each chapter, and then each group reports on their chapters. As students read, they should complete the Historical Thinking Guide. After reading and reporting on the entire work, the workshop might consist of a single session or more. The goal is to engage participants in an exploration of the life and times of characters through primary sources, and writing exercises that foster a deeper understanding of concepts such as migration, cultural exchange, conflict, and resilience. ​
Objective: Participants will analyze historical events from Native Son using public domain primary resources and create original creative writing pieces inspired by these events.
Session 1: The Great Migration and Urban Life in Chicago

• Reading Material:
  • The Negro in Chicago: A Study of Race Relations and a Race Riot (1922)
    • Link: https://archive.org/details/negroinchicagost00chic
  • Excerpts from Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City by St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton
    • Link: https://www.loc.gov/item/45034395/
• Writing Prompt: Write a first-person narrative from the perspective of a Black family migrating to Chicago in the 1930s.

Session 2: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919

• Reading Material:
  • Report of the Chicago Commission on Race Relations (1922)
    • Link: https://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-google
  • Newspaper articles from the Chicago Defender
    • Link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025743/
• Writing Prompt: Create a fictionalized newspaper article covering the 1919 riots as if you were a journalist at the time.

Session 3: The Great Depression and Its Impact on Black Americans

• Reading Material:
  • Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection (1939–1941)
    • Link: https://www.loc.gov/collections/todd-and-sonkin-migrant-workers-from-1939-to-1941/
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address (1933)
    • Link: https://www.loc.gov/resource/afc1986022.afc1986022_ms2201/?sp=4
• Writing Prompt: Write a diary entry from the perspective of an unemployed Black worker during the Great Depression.

Session 4: The Scottsboro Trials and Racial Injustice

• Reading Material:
  • The Scottsboro Boys Trials: Trial Transcripts and Court Records
    • Link: https://www.loc.gov/item/2005686295/
  • NAACP pamphlets on racial injustice (1930s)
    • Link: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/naacp-pamphlets-1920-1929
• Writing Prompt: Write a courtroom monologue from the perspective of a defense attorney representing one of the Scottsboro Boys.

Session 5: Media Representation and Stereotypes

• Reading Material:
  • Birth of a Nation (1915) – Understanding its racist impact
    • Link: https://www.loc.gov/item/97501724/
  • Articles from the Pittsburgh Courier critiquing racial stereotypes
    • Link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84031792/
• Writing Prompt: Write a letter to a newspaper editor in the 1930s protesting the portrayal of Black men in films and media.

Session 6: Capital Punishment and Racial Bias

• Reading Material:
  • The Case of Willie McGee (1951) – NAACP documents
    • Link: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-era.html
  • U.S. Supreme Court case Powell v. Alabama (1932) – Scottsboro legal precedent
    • Link: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/287/45/
• Writing Prompt: Write a persuasive essay arguing against racial bias in the death penalty using historical examples.

Workshop Outcomes

• Participants will gain historical context for Native Son.
• Participants will develop creative and analytical writing skills.
• By engaging with primary sources, participants will better understand racial and social justice issues.

​Historical Events Referenced in Native Son

1. The Great Migration (1916–1970) – Millions of African Americans moved from the rural South to urban areas in the North, including Chicago, where the novel is set.
2. Chicago Race Riots of 1919 – A significant racial conflict that shaped the segregated environment in which Bigger Thomas lives.
3. The Great Depression (1929–1939) – Economic hardships that exacerbated racial and class inequalities in urban America.
4. Jim Crow Segregation (Late 19th–1960s) – Systemic racism in housing, employment, and law enforcement.
5. Communist Party Influence in 1930s America – The novel references leftist politics, particularly through the character of Jan Erlone, a member of the Communist Party.
6. The Scottsboro Trials (1931–1937) – A series of cases in which nine Black teenagers were falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama, paralleling Bigger’s wrongful rape accusation.
7. Racial Stereotyping and Media Representation – The novel critiques how Black men were portrayed as criminals in newspapers and films of the era.
8. Capital Punishment and Racial Bias in the U.S. Justice System – Bigger’s trial mirrors real-life cases where Black defendants faced harsher sentences due to systemic racism.