IDENTITY: BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME Student Handout 2: Between the World and MeInstructions: Read the excerpt from the Atlantic Magazine article “Letter to My Son” by Ta-Nahisi Coates, from his book Between the World and Me. Work in small groups to respond to the following questions. (If you need more space, use may the back of this handout or your own paper.) What is the “design” that Coates refers to in the first paragraph? Coates describes his experience at Howard University: “I saw everything I knew of my black self multiplied out into seemingly endless variations.” What did he mean by this? How did this community compare to the neighborhood he came from? Why were those “variations” significant to him? Coates explains, “And so I came to Howard toting a new and different history, myth really, which inverted all the stories of the people who believed themselves to be white.” What is the “myth” that Coates brought with him to Howard University? What happened to his “different history” during his time in college? What does Coates mean when he says, “I was black because of history and heritage” when he refers to “people who believed themselves to be white”? What is he saying about racial identity? Do you agree? Why or why not? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/tanehisi-coates-between-the-world-and-me/397619/ Arts & Humanities English ENG 101