One Friday Morning

“One Friday Morning” appeared in 1941, more than a generation before the civil rights movement in the 1960s. How does Nancy Lee’s dilemma and her resolution explore The Importance of Activism? Has America fulfilled Nancy Lee’s hope in the closing paragraphs that only with both races can America live up to its own ideals?

The story juxtaposes art and reality. Using the detailed description of Nancy Lee’s painting, how does the story explore the interplay between the ideal and the real? What is the role of a visionary artist in a society or a culture that has deep and significant moral and ethical flaws? Draw on contemporary filmmakers or singers or writers to make your case.

Miss O’Shay is an important secondary character, offering Nancy Lee the wisdom to never surrender to hate. How is her speech complicated by her own racial identity? Does it matter than Miss O’Shay is white? How would the story be different had that speech been delivered by, say, Nancy Lee’s mother or if Miss O’Shay was Black? Cite specific examples from the story to support your argument.

Consider Hughes’s choice for the story’s title. Why might Hughes have selected it? How does the title contribute, directly or indirectly, to the story’s thematic interest in The Reality of Discrimination?

Research the Great Migration, the socio-economic event that serves as the backdrop for Hughes’s story. What motivated millions of Black families to head North in the early decades of the 20th century? Review the remarks in Nancy Lee’s speech. How does the Great Migration fit within Hughes’s exploration of the difference between the ideal and the real?

Research the history behind the idea of the American Dream. How does the American Dream both motivate and frustrate Nancy Lee? How do her attempts to grapple with the American Dream contribute to the story’s thematic exploration of The Resilience of the Human Spirit?

Consider the story’s ending in which Nancy Lee recites the Pledge of Allegiance with her white classmates. What other endings Hughes might have used? What is gained (or lost) by providing this more hopeful ending?

Given the emotional landscape of the story, a first-person narration might have been used, but Hughes opts to share Nancy Lee’s story in a limited third person. What is gained (or lost) by this choice? Cite specific examples from the text to support your argument.