Praying for Sheetrocks
Research Paper #1 question #2
Melissa Fay Greene did a phenomenal job writing her nonfiction novel Praying for Sheetrock. When writing the book she avoided using regular novel writing methods and chooses to use techniques other than novelistic. Doing so she made sure readers wouldn’t think that she imagined or made up the history she recounts in the novel. She used techniques such as using background stories, repetition, and narrative tension to keep the readers engaged and hooked. One thing that’s great about the novel is that Green’s language characterizes the characters just as one would imagine from McIntosh County. Her use of dialect makes the reader feel as if they are watching a movie.
In Praying for Sheetrock, Greene talks about McIntosh County’s struggles through the Civil Rights Movement. The people living in this poor county had daily struggles regarding the color of skin. The country was very segregated with whites that over powered the blacks with constant racism. Even the police didn’t do anything about it. In the book Doug Moss says, “there were a lot of wild hogs in McIntosh County at that time. You get in more trouble shooting one of these wild hogs than shooting one of the Negroes in McIntosh County” (Greene 78). This shows how much the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Department acted upon racism. Greene shows how devastating the conditions of the black community of McIntosh were. They survived by working menial jobs in Darien, fishing in rivers, and farming. While living without pluming, telephones, hot water, paved roads, electricity, gas, and air conditioning (Greene 20). On the other hand white people owned all the businesses, and filled every elected, appointed, salaried, and professional office positions (p. 21).
Things were different after the Civil Rights Movement hit McIntosh after a white deputy shot a black man in the mouth and threw him in jail without treating the wound. The blacks of McIntosh were outraged after hearing the news
Melissa Fay Greene did a phenomenal job writing her nonfiction novel Praying for Sheetrock. When writing the book she avoided using regular novel writing methods and chooses to use techniques other than novelistic. Doing so she made sure readers wouldn’t think that she imagined or made up the history she recounts in the novel. She used techniques such as using background stories, repetition, and narrative tension to keep the readers engaged and hooked. One thing that’s great about the novel is that Green’s language characterizes the characters just as one would imagine from McIntosh County. Her use of dialect makes the reader feel as if they are watching a movie.
In Praying for Sheetrock, Greene talks about McIntosh County’s struggles through the Civil Rights Movement. The people living in this poor county had daily struggles regarding the color of skin. The country was very segregated with whites that over powered the blacks with constant racism. Even the police didn’t do anything about it. In the book Doug Moss says, “there were a lot of wild hogs in McIntosh County at that time. You get in more trouble shooting one of these wild hogs than shooting one of the Negroes in McIntosh County” (Greene 78). This shows how much the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Department acted upon racism. Greene shows how devastating the conditions of the black community of McIntosh were. They survived by working menial jobs in Darien, fishing in rivers, and farming. While living without pluming, telephones, hot water, paved roads, electricity, gas, and air conditioning (Greene 20). On the other hand white people owned all the businesses, and filled every elected, appointed, salaried, and professional office positions (p. 21).
Things were different after the Civil Rights Movement hit McIntosh after a white deputy shot a black man in the mouth and threw him in jail without treating the wound. The blacks of McIntosh were outraged after hearing the news