The Colored Museum

Miss Pat has described the future rewards of pain. How does Aunt Ethel’s recipe celebrate the pain of the past in her creation of Black identity?

The characters in “The Photo Session” say they live free from contradiction. What do you think they mean?

Is Junie Robinson a hero for saving his friends from experiencing and inflicting future pain?

How does Miss Roj let us know she is referring to the AIDS epidemic when she speaks of studying “the life habits of a deteriorating society” (15)?

What wig should the Woman wear when she leaves go to break up with her boyfriend?

Does the emotional catharsis that we experience when watching/reading a play, film, or book diminish our ability to recognize the social significance of the work?

Can we still hold on to the ideas of our youth while being successful in the adult world? Provide examples in your own future or current career.

Is identity something that is bestowed upon us by those around us or do we create our own sense of self?