“Exploring The Great

Migration and Racism

in Crumbs from the
Table of Joy”

Lic. Julia Fernández Armendariz

Lic. Victoria Llera
Analysing a play

*Context
*Genre
*Themes
*Characters
*Language and action
*Devices
*Structure
How should I analyse an extract from a play?
To begin with, read the passage through, thoroughly. Read it once more.

Identify who is speaking, and to whom, along with any other characters who may be present. If you can locate
exactly where this scene takes place within the play, even better. Consider which events have just occurred - to
which they may be reacting, or affected by - and to where the passage is going to lead (which will allow you to look
out for dramatic irony and foreshadowing).

Can you identify any prominent themes of the play that are developed in this passage, and if so, how are they
advanced/deepened? Equally, how is the main plot or any subplots developed in the passage? Think 'why does
this conversation/action take place? Why did the playwright include this scene, with these characters, in this
location?' Is action taking place, or is it being conveyed indirectly, e.g. through descriptive speech? What effect
does this have on the reader/audience's reaction to the events of the play?

Is the passage in verse, or prose? How does the presence or absence of metre affect the tone of the speech? Are
sentences long and flowing, or short and abrupt? Is punctuation abundant or sparse? How do these details betray
the mood of the characters or of the scene?

Take a look at the language. Is a particular lexis used that stands out? For example, is there a lot of legal or
medical vocabulary? Does this vary between characters, and do they use different dialects? How does this affect
your opinion of each character? Are their voices imperative? Questioning? Casual, calm and friendly? How does
this affect the mood of the scene, and does it jar with the content of their speech?
Identify any uses of imagery, and analyse each in turn. Why did the playwright use this metaphor?
Why did they use this simile? Equally, be aware of phonic effects such as alliteration and the
effect that they have on the tone of a passage. Does the musical effect compliment or unhinge
the mood of the scene?
Note the stage directions. Are the actors uncomfortably close when speaking, or deliberately
distanced, or are they at ease with each other? Are they moving, or still? Consider how space
would be used in a performance of the scene, and how that would affect the audience's reception.
It may be relevant to consider how genre is manipulated or referred to in the scene - consider any
appeals to traditionally tragic or comedic forms, and how they are imitated or distorted by the
playwright, if present.
Finally, reflect on how your close reading has been influenced by your own interpretation of the
passage. Attempt to let go of any preconceptions you may have, and to approach the text from a
perspective that is alternate or somehow opposite to your own. Repeat the process, and see what
else you can pick up on.
Lynn Nottage American playwright, born in
Brooklyn in 1964.

Received 2 Pullitzer Prizes for

Drama, for her plays Ruined and
Sweat.

Her work often focuses on the

Black working-class communities in
the USA.
 African American Literature / Black Literature

Created by black people

all over the world.
Created in the US by people of African descent.

Started with “Slave Narratives” in 19th Century.

Flowering during the Harlem Renaissance.

It explores issues like lack of freedom and equality for blacks in the US,
racism, religion, slavery, a sense of home, segregation, migration.
 Crumbs from the Table of Joy
-Play written and performed for the first time in 1995.

-It originally premiered in Off-Broadway on their programme for teen audiences.

-It is considered a “memory play” (a play in which a lead character narrates the events
of the play, which are drawn from the character's memory. Examples of this genre include
The Glass Menagerie and Philadelphia, Here I Come).

-Set in Brooklyn, in 1950.

-Nottage has said: “The 1950s was such a moment in American history in which I felt so
much change...everything I had seen was in black and white. And I wanted to make it
colorful. So I started writing Crumbs from the Table of Joy to try to understand that era”
(2016)
Why choosing Crumbs from the Table of Joy?

-It’s a coming-of-age story.

-Explores interesting and important topics such as racism, marginality,
discrimination, prejudice and family relationships.
-Allows for contextual historical exploration.
-It’s short and fast-paced.
-It has simple language.
-... why else??
Book Covers and Theatre Posters
 Sometimes a crumb falls
Title: From the tables of joy,

Sometimes a bone
Poem “Luck” (1947)
by Langston Hughes Is flung.

To some people

Love is given,

To others
American writer (1901-1967)
Leader of “Harlem Renaissance” Only heaven.
The Crumps/Crumbs
ERNESTINE: I don’t like the way that bottle got you talking. Why you
getting on me, Sister? I worked so hard on this dress. You think that
the only important thing is your uptown politics. You may have
more spirit and heart than I do. But some of us don’t have ideas
that big. Some of us are struggling for little things, like graduating
from high school.

(Ernestine picks up Godfrey’s jacket. She reaches

into the pocket and produces a handful of crumbs.)
ERNESTINE (To Gerte): I hate you! You did this!
(Pulls Gerte away from Godfrey) I hate you!
Historical and
Thematic The Second Red Scare

Context The Great Migration

The American Dream
USA 1950s
Cross-curricular activities: Literature
Work with Arthur Miller’s plays:

McCarthyism and The Red Scare Immigration The American Dream

 USA 1950s
-Recovery from WWII (USA as a world economic
power. Low inflation).
-Beginning of Cold War (Korean War and beginning
of Vietnam War)
-Great population growth: “Baby Boom”.
-Ideological clash between capitalism and
communism.
-Cuban Revolution.
-Beginning of Space Race (Launch of Sputnik 1)
-Golden age of TV (movie and radio audiences
dropped. Everyone had a TV).
The Second
Red Scare
1947-1957
*It occurred after World War II and is known as "McCarthyism" after its best-known
advocate, Senator Joseph McCarthy.

* It entailed an increased and widespread fear of communist espionage that was

consequent of the increasing tension in the Cold War.

*McCarthy conducted character investigations of "American communists" (actual and

alleged), and their roles in (real and imaginary) espionage, propaganda, and subversion
favoring the Soviet Union.

*In 1954 Congress passed the “Communist Control Act of 1954” which prevented
members of the communist party in America from holding office in labor unions and other
labor organizations.
McCarthyism and The Red Scare
Cross-curricular activities: History IGCSE:
Analyse the following sources:
The Great
Migration
1910-1970
*Movement of six million African Americans out of the rural Southern States to Northern and
Western ones.

*It was caused primarily by the poor economic conditions for African American people, as
well as the prevalent racial segregation and discrimination in the Southern states where Jim
Crow laws were upheld.

*Migrants moved to the then-largest cities in the United States (New York City, Chicago,
Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.).
There, African Americans established influential communities of their own

*There is a First Great Migration (1910–40), which saw about 1.6 million people move from
mostly rural areas in the South to northern industrial cities, and a Second Great Migration
(1940–70), which began after the Great Depression and brought at least 5 million people to
the North and West.
Cross-Curricular activities: Geography

Find out and discuss issues pertaining:

-Demographics and migration patterns
-Landscapes (Urban vs. Rural)
-Economic activities and challenges
-Diasporic communities
-Cultural changes

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/great-migration

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/long-lasting-legacy-
great-migration-180960118/
The American
Dream
*The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals
(democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom includes the
opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the
family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.
*The term was coined by writer James Truslow Adams in 1931, saying that "life
should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each
according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of
birth.
*The American Dream is rooted in the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims
that "all men are created equal" with the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness." Also, the U.S. Constitution promotes similar freedom, in the Preamble:
to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity".
Cross-curricular activities: philosophy/social sciences
Discuss the promises and pitfalls of the American Dream, its evolution
and current perspectives.
How (un)attainable is it? / How much of a fallacy is it?
“The Four American Dreams”: Dream of Abundance, Dream of Democracy,
Dream of Freedom of Choice and Dream of Novelty.
 Circularity:

-Prologue (Fall)
Structure -Act I (Winter) 6 scenes
-Act II (Spring) 4 scenes
-Epilogue (Summer)
Fall: Winter:
it heralds the start of the end. several symbolic meanings all
centered on cold, darkness, and
Maturity - Change - preservation despair.
- reconnection - harvest Loneliness - end of life -
introspection- struggle - old age
Spring: Summer:
the time of new beginnings. season of optimism, hope, and
adventure
Rebirth - renewal - youth - warmth - adventure -
growth - spiritual rejuvenation nourishment - passion - love -
freedom
Characters
Godfrey Crump ➔ Concerned about his daughters’
well-being and needing to escape
The given name is temptations, he flees North.
derived from the ➔ Vulnerable to the influence of
Old French Father Divine, he devotes his life to
Godefroy, a name
composed of the attaining peace and avoiding evil
elements: the first ways.
being either god ➔ He worries about his daughters’
("god") or gōd
("good"); the future and keeps them inside the
second being fred flat in hopes that they will not be
("peace") derailed.
GODFREY: “I left Florida for a reason, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think,
couldn’t do nothing but go to work, make my dime and drink it down on
Friday night. Then I found something that gave me inspiration, gave me
strength to make a change. May not be like your change, revolution! Oh but
it do feel that big to me. It soothed my pain and that’s all I want right now. It
took all the strength I had to take these gals on a train out their wooden
doors and place ’em here in brick and concrete.”
Ernestine Crump ➔ Reserved, introverted young girl
who enjoys the movies and music.
A variant spelling of ➔ She’s skeptical about her father’s
the German Earnest, new religious ways, yet adopts a
meaning serious respectful attitude.
determined, ➔ She’s persuaded by her aunt’s
earnestness or revolutionary ideals, eventually
vigor, from the Old following in her footsteps.
German Ernust.
➔ Her dreams of a meaningful life are
embodied in her graduation dress.
ERNESTINE: Years from now I’ll read the Communist Manifesto, The Souls of
Black Folk and Black Skin, White Masks and find lmy dear Lily amongst the pages.
Still years from now I’ll remember my mother and the sweet-smelling humid
afternoons by the Florida waters, and then years from now I’ll ride the Freedom
Bus back down home, enraged and vigilant, years from now I’ll marry a civil
servant and argue about the Vietnam war, integration and the Black Panther
movement. Years from now I’ll send off one son to college in New England and I’ll
lose the other to drugs and sing loudly in the church choir. (Lifts her suitcase,
beaming) But today I’m just riffing and walking as far as these feet will take me.
Walking . . . riffing . . . riffing . . . riffing.
Ermina Crump ➔ Represents ideas of revolution and
rebellion from a young age, yet her
sense of guilt is incarnated in her
From Latin, fidgety leg, which reveals she has
meaning noble. not completely matured.
➔ Is more outgoing and defiant than
her sister.
➔ Is eager to complete her mother’s
wishes of helping Ernie get her
dreamed graduation dress.
(Ermina’s leg shakes violently.)
ERMINA: Leg will stop as soon as we get home. Don’t worry.
ERNESTINE: Ermina’s leg shook so violently on our bus ride home I thought it was
gonna come right off. We soaked it in ice and prayed. That night her leg almost fell
off.
ERMINA AND ERNESTINE: Please, Lord, forgive us for our sins, it was only this
once that we transgressed, but it was for a very important cause.
ERNESTINE (To audience): But that next day when we looked at the lace in the
light of our bedroom it was all worthwhile.
 ➔ Revolutionary: dresses the part by
wearing a white-woman’s suit
Aunt Lily Ann Green ➔ Independent thinker (can’t hold a
job)
Lily is an English name used in ➔ Presents herself as a member of
reference to the popular white, the communist party
showy flower. It signifies purity ➔ Refuses to marry, yet honors her
and innocence. Lilies are often promise of looking after her
used to represent the Virgin nieces.
Mary’s purity, and St. Joseph is ➔ She may be innocent to believe in
frequently pictured holding
the revolution as she is
lilies to represent his
relationship with Jesus’
disillusioned towards the end (Act
mother. II, Scene II): “The world gives
nothing, Ernie. It takes.”
➔ Alcohol consumption is a motif
around this character since it
increases as she progressively
becomes more disillusioned.
Lily: “Ya like my suit? (Ernestine nods.) I bought it on Fifth Avenue, sure did, to spite those white
gals. You know how they hate to see a Negro woman look better than they do. It’s my own little
subversive mission to out dress them whenever possible. Envy is my secret weapon, babies. If
ya learn anything from your Auntie let it be that.”

Lily: “Go on say it, tongue won’t fall out. The communist party, amongst other things. (Ermina
giggles.) Oh you find that funny? I ain’t laughing. I suppose ya happy with what you got, a bit of
nothing. Sure I was happy at your age “a little pickaninny” selling hot cakes to the fishermen.
Taking pennies from poor people ain’t a job it’s a chore. This may be New York, but this still the
basement. Don’t none of those crackers want to share any bit of power with us. That’s what it’s
about. Red scare, should be called black scare.”

Lily: “You see Ernestine that’s your America. Negro sitting on his couch with blood dripping
down his face. White woman unscathed and the enemy not more than five years back. You can’t
bring order to this world. You can’t put up curtains and pot plants and have things change.”
 ➔ She’s recently arrived and finds
Gerte refuge in Godfrey as she’s literally
and symbolically at a loss.
➔ Being German and white put her
An Old German name
in the position of antagonist to
that means "strong
spear". It also means Lily from the onset.
warrior. ➔ She may be an instrumental
character that embodies the
complexities of racism in USA,
failing to understand the
vulnerability of the black
community.
GERTE. Can’t you forget our differences behind this closed door. When I see you I see no
color. I see Lily.
LILY. Well when I see ya I see a white woman, and when I look in the mirror I see a Negro
woman. All that in the confines in this here room. How about that? What do you see Ernie?
You see any differences between us?
ERNESTINE. Yeah.
LILY. There you go.
GERTE. May I say to you both, I have seen what happens when we permit our differences—
LILY. (Enraged.) Don’t lecture me about race. You are the last person on earth I’d look to for
guidance.
(...)
GERTE: So where are the warriors in your revolution now? Why don’t they help us? How are we
to lead our lives if we can’t go out for a . . . a picture show on a Saturday night.
LILY: Welcome to our world, Miss Eva. You ain’t supposed to, period! Stop! Thought you knew
about all these things, being from Germany and all.
(...)
GERTE: Why can’t they let us alone? What did we do? We were just sitting there going to the
pictures. We were just sitting there.
The Crumps:

Ernestine Gerte

Ermina Father Divine

Godfrey

Lily

How do they relate to the themes?

Themes

*Displacement and the psychological effects of change (Godfrey and daughters)

*Bridging cultural, political and generational divides (Lily and the rest)

*Grieving and bereavement and the role of faith in coping with loss (Godfrey and
daughters. Father Divine)

*Coming of age–progressing into womanhood (Ernestine and Ermina)

*Racism and segregation (The Crumbs and Lily)

*The (failure of) the American Dream (The Crumbs, Lily and Gerte)
 Symbols
- Ernestine’s white dress: growth / making her parents proud /
being worthy
- Lily’s outfits: eliminate differences between Blacks and
Whites.
- Godfrey’s papers /notepad: guidance/questions and doubts
- Harlem: the North / the place of revolution and equality?
- Straightening the girls’ hair: Lily pressing her ideas on them. It
could be a rite of passage.
- The Radio / Movies: escapism towards a fairer world. Race
also predominates in this field as Ernie envisions them white.
The Crumps
ERNESTINE: I don’t like the way that bottle got you talking. Why you
getting on me, Sister? I worked so hard on this dress. You think that
the only important thing is your uptown politics. You may have
more spirit and heart than I do. But some of us don’t have ideas
that big. Some of us are struggling for little things, like graduating
from high school.

(Ernestine picks up Godfrey’s jacket. She reaches

into the pocket and produces a handful of crumbs.)
ERNESTINE (To Gerte): I hate you! You did this!
(Pulls Gerte away from Godfrey) I hate you!
Past Papers: March 2023
Thank you for joining!