like water for chocolate

This is a sample of the questionnaire/registration sheet I gave my participants upon their arrival to the first book club session. To both get a sense of the type of readers my participants were and the reading environments they grew up in, I asked these questions:

THE BLACK LITERACY PROJECT REGISTRATION SHEET

You are invited to participate in a reading group that I’m starting in tandem to my coursework in AFR 406: Crafting Research. Over the semester we’ll read two texts (The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) and discuss them. To participate please fill out the information below.

Name:                                                               Date:                                         .

Major:                             Class:                             Age:                                     .                                            

Would you say that you enjoy reading? (yes/no). If so, how did you come to enjoy it? If no, what would it take for you to enjoy it more? What are the things that you like most or least about reading?

What books did you read in High School?

What is your favorite book or book series?

Who is your favorite author and why?

What books, if any, have changed your life?

Are there books that you read recently that you wished you read as a young teen?

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By signing here you are consenting to the use of information you provide in this sheet as well as excerpted materials/conversations/notes from our discussions in my coursework.

Signature:                                                     Date:                                         .

From these questions I hope to draw out their natural inclination to either fantasy novels, novels that take one outside of their known world, or realistic novels that depict a mirror of blackness for young readers.