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write a rhetorical analysis of the clothing the subject wears. How do their fashion choices create a persona 5
or persuade viewers?
4. Connections. Write an essay in which you compare Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama to a portrait
of another former First Lady. What does each painting convey about the role of First Lady in American
culture and politics?
5. Connections. Amy Sherald said of Michelle Obama, “She’s an archetype that a lot of women can relate
to — no matter shape, size, race or color. . . . We see our best selves in her.” Write an essay in which you Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
explore how this painting presents an archetype with universal appeal. Do you see your best self in this
portrait? Explain why or why not.
6. Multimodal. During her tenure as First Lady, Michelle Obama was one of the most photographed women
in the world. Choose at least 8 photographs of her taken between 2008 and 2016 and create a slideshow.
Explain in a narration or in writing how Sherald’s portrait works with or works against those images

Parts of this sample chapter have been purposely omitted. Please see full Table of Contents for more information.

Friday Black

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (b. 1991) grew up in and around New
York City, the son of immigrants from Ghana. He attended the State
University of New York at Albany and received a Masters of Fine Arts
(MFA) from Syracuse University, where he now teaches. Friday Black,
his first collection of stories, was published in 2018. Courtesy of Stefon Wells

KEY CONTEXT Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, has become a
tradition of American consumerism. It is the unofficial start of the Christmas
shopping season and often the busiest shopping day of the year. In recent years, many department stores
and malls have opened at midnight or earlier with extreme discounts on products, and consumers line up
waiting to grab goods before the deals sell out. Many years, shoppers are injured in stampedes or in fights.
In Adjei-Brenyah’s satirical story “Friday Black,” the frenzy of consumerism is a literal virus that infects
shoppers.

et to your sections!” Angela screams. so they could patch me up. Now I have a jagged
GRavenous humans howl. Our gate whines smile on my left arm. A sickle, half circle, my
and rattles as they shake and pull, their grubby lucky Friday scar. I hear Richard’s shoes flopping
fingers like worms through the grating. I sit toward me.
atop a tiny cabin roof made of hard plastic. My “You ready, big guy?” he asks. I open one eye
legs hang near the windows, and fleeces hang and look at him. I’ve never not been ready, so I
inside of it. I hold my reach, an eight-foot-long don’t say anything and close my eyes again. “I get
metal pole with a small plastic mouth at the it; I get it. Eye of the tiger! I like it,” Richard says.
end for grabbing hangers off the highest racks. I I nod slowly. He’s nervous. He’s a district manager,
also use my reach to smack down Friday heads. and this is the Prominent Mall. We’re the biggest
It’s my fourth Black Friday. On my first, a man store in his territory. We’re supposed to do a
from Connecticut bit a hole into my tricep. His million over the next thirty days. Most of it’s on me.
slobber hot. I left the sales floor for ten minutes The main gate creaks and groans.
53
Copyright © 2021 by Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
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