42 pages • 1-hour read
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali
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Essay Topics
What is the effect of Myers’s decision to treat Ali explicitly as a legendary figure, passing over the less romantic aspects of his biography?
How does Myers use foreshadowing when recounting Ali’s childhood that gives early insights into the legend he would become? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Myers offers rare criticism of Ali with regard to his cruel taunting of Joe Frazier. What literary techniques does he use when expressing criticism?
What perspectives does the text offer on the politics of the Nation of Islam?
What perspectives does the text offer on the Vietnam War? Include quotations from the book to support your response.
How does Myers use setting in the biography? Give at least two textual examples to strengthen your answer.
How do the secondary figures in the text relate to the theme of Black Is Beautiful? Make reference to at least two specific secondary figures in your response.
Given that this biography is another form of media relaying Ali’s story, what is the text’s relationship to media?
How does Ali’s development of Parkinson’s disease later in life fit into the overall arc of the biography?
What is the significance of the text’s title, The Greatest? In what ways could Ali be considered “great”?
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