Write down all of the critical questions you hope to answer ahead of time. Then, record your conclusions—along with the supporting text—as you progress through the reading. The table has sample questions you can use, or you can delete them and use your own. Be sure to include questions that relate to character development and theme analysis.

What is most likely the speaker’s reason to open with this? in approaching this problem, we cannot turn the clock back to 1868, when the [fourteenth] amendment was adopted, or even to 1896, when plessy v. ferguson was written. we must consider public education in the light of its full development and its present place in american life throughout the nation. only in this way can it be determined if segregation in public schools deprives these plaintiffs of the equal protection of the laws.