Questions to Ponder

1. How does the approach of Coates’ book—i.e., the fact that it is in the form of a letter written to his son—affect its meaning and interpretation?  What other forms might it have taken, and with what different results for the reader(s)?
   
   
2. Do Coates’ points resonate with you?  Why or why not?  In what ways do his arguments challenge or extend recent media representations of social relations in the United States? 
   
   
3. What have been the formative experiences of your own adolescence so far?   Have they been connected to race? gender? class? religion? sexual orientation? something else?