How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Finally, when he felt that he had inspected enough mouths and hands, he gave the school a ten-minute lecture on nutrition. Beans were good, he said. [. . .] And exercise was good. In other words, hard work was good for the young body. Picking cotton, gathering potatoes, pulling onions, working in the garden—all of that was good exercise for a growing boy or girl. (7.63)
Dr. Joseph, the school superintendent, seems to worry more about whether the students are strong and healthy than whether they are learning anything at school. That shows that the expectation for black students was that they would go work in the fields, not become educated, professional members of society.
Quote #5
"You were supposed to say, 'You were looking out the window, Mr. Wiggins,' not 'You was looking out the window, Mr. Wiggins.' Get back in that corner and face the wall and stay there." (8.10)
We like Mr. Wiggins well enough, but we've gotta say that his teaching methods are a little on the draconian side. He seems to have just given up; instead of teaching his students or explaining and giving them the chance to practice their new skills, he sticks them in the corner where they're surely not going to improve.
Quote #6
They are acting exactly as the old men did earlier. They are fifty years younger, maybe more, but doing the same thing those old men did who never attended school a day in their lives. Is it just a vicious circle? Am I doing anything? (8.31)
Now we're really getting to the root of Grant's frustrations. He has been standing before the groups of students year after year, trying to drill something into their heads, but he doesn't see any effect on how they behave and what they become. No wonder he's such a grouch.