All Over but the Shoutin'

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Reading Up on Bragg’s Prize-Winning Reportage”

In this activity, students will work in small groups to read and present on the reporting that won Bragg the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.

In the 1996 Pulitzer Prize Award for Feature Writing, Rick Bragg was praised for his “elegantly written stories about contemporary America.” In this Activity, you will read articles that the jury selected as exemplary work and compare their themes to those of All Over but the Shoutin’. 

• First, review the page for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Feature Writing, which was awarded to Rick Bragg. 
• Discuss in groups which article(s) each member will read. Assign articles and schedules for reading. Each member of the group should read at least one article.
• After reading, discuss in your group how at least one of the three themes—Poverty, Fighting and Violence, and/or War and Damaged Lives—played a role in your article.
• Brainstorm ideas about your presentation. Which theme or themes would you like to focus on? Which details from your articles are most relevant?
• Discuss how to present your findings. Would you like to organize the information in your presentation by theme, subject matter, or another method?

Present your findings to your peers, then listen to and reflect on the remaining presentations. What patterns emerged? Did the other presentations inspire you or spark any new ideas? Share your findings in written responses.

Teaching Suggestion: This article gives students a broader understanding of newspaper reportage and Bragg’s writing in particular. Additionally, it informs them of the importance of the Pulitzer Prize and its jury selection process. In All Over but the Shoutin’, Bragg mentions writing several of these stories, specifically “Terror in Oklahoma City,” “A Killer’s Only Confidant,” and “All She Has.” You may want to refer the students back to the parts of the book where he addresses those stories to reinforce the themes present in both the book and the articles. In his memoir, Bragg states that many people tell him that “All She Has—$150,000—Is Going to a University” is the best thing he ever wrote, and it is a good place to start.  

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who need more pre-writing scaffolding, consider reading “All She Has—$150,000—Is Going to a University” together and annotating the text as a class for evidence of Poverty. After compiling a class list, consider opening a discussion of times when Bragg recalls feeling evidence of Poverty himself. At that point, students should be more prepared to begin their assignment. You may also want to assign the readings to different students; you could then come together and create a large graphic organizer charting all five articles and all three themes. Students could fill a matrix identifying which articles addressed which themes, thereby assisting the entire group. 

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Bragg presents his mother, Margaret, as a symbol of sacrifice and loyalty in an unforgiving world. 

• What sacrifices did Margaret make that had the most impact on Bragg’s life? (topic sentence)
• In the body of your essay, choose 2-3 sacrifices that Margaret made for her son or acts of loyalty she demonstrated that positively impacted Bragg’s life. 
• In the concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on the importance of family and positive role models in challenging circumstances.

2. Bragg believes that by reporting on the lives of those who had experienced painful losses, he can make a difference in the world.

• Who does Bragg choose to write about and why? (topic sentence)
• Choose 2-3 topics he covered and analyze how his choices and articles demonstrated the difference he hoped to see in the world. 
• In the concluding sentence or sentences, state which of Bragg’s projects was most successful in touching its readers and explore the reasoning behind this success. 

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. In his book, Rick Bragg makes broad assumptions about a lot of different people—Southerners, Northerners, poor people, rich people, Ivy Leaguers, reporters, poachers, and many others. Find some of the specific claims he makes about these people and assess whether he is fair or unfair in the assumptions he makes about them. Does he have any other rhetorical purposes for making such broad claims? Discuss. 

2. In the Prologue, Bragg states, “This is not an important book.” Do you believe this statement? More importantly, do you believe that Bragg believes this statement? Does Bragg’s habit of downplaying his own story in favor of his goals as an author or against them? Cite textual evidence in your answer. 

3. Consider the way Bragg describes the people, places, and/or events in his life. How reliable is he as a narrator? What influences his perspective, and how honest is he with himself when it comes to reflecting on the choices he and others have made? Explain.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What effect does the inheritance that Bragg receives from his father have on the rest of his life?

A) It encourages his enthusiasm for shooting and outdoor sports.

B) It fosters his curiosity for and love of the written word.

C) It creates bitterness for the life he never got to enjoy.

D) It allows him the opportunity to apply to be a Nieman Fellow.

2.  Which of the text’s main ideas is established with the image of the redbirds at the beginning of the narrative?

A) Some people seek out senseless violence.

B) Freedom only comes to those who pursue it.

C) Deep secrets exist in every family.

D) There is some of nature’s beauty in all of us.

3. Which statement best describes the fate of Sam, Bragg’s older brother?

A) He becomes a prize-winning journalist.  

B) He follows his father’s path to alcoholism and despair.

C) He has short relationships with women but cannot commit to one.

D) He works hard to maintain a steady way of life.

4. Which words best describe Margaret (Momma) Bragg?

A) Calm, cooperative, and happy

B) Respectful, patient, and gentle

C) Self-sacrificing, courageous, and religious

D) Scholarly, rational, and perceptive

5. Which best describes Bragg’s time reporting in Miami?

A) An exciting but dangerous time he was lucky to survive

B) A tedious but necessary stint where he covered high school football

C) A difficult time when he had to prove himself among elites

D) A period where he received the greatest acclaim of his career

6. Which of the following does the author struggle with throughout his memoir?

A) Dependence on alcohol

B) Fear of relationships

C) Inability to hold a job

D) Trouble with the law

7. How does Bragg feel after the alligator hunting expedition?

A) Confident

B) Confused

C) Embarrassed

D) Fulfilled

8. How does Bragg adapt to writing his brand of “misery” stories in New York City?

A) He has a hard time finding stories in an unfamiliar environment.

B) He has difficulty earning the trust of his subjects because he is obviously an outsider.

C) He has a wide selection of stories to choose from and no problem finding subjects.

D) He finds that the violence of New York overwhelms him and keeps him from writing.

9. Which statement best describes Bill Kovach?

A) Bragg’s uncle who hires him to do manual labor

B) A colleague at Harvard whom Bragg threatens to fight

C) A fellow writer and journalist who takes Bragg on an alligator hunt

D) A New York Times editor who becomes a mentor

10. What did Bragg make a habit of lying to his mother about? 

A) The amount of danger he faced as a reporter

B) The pain of poverty he experienced as a child

C) The true outcomes of his brothers’ lives

D) The inheritance he received from his father

11. What place does Bragg describe when he says, upon his return there, “Not much had changed in three years. The cruelties are still off the scale of sanity” (255)?

A) Appalachia

B) Haiti

C) Miami

D) Los Angeles

12. What mistake did Bragg make in covering the story of the two missing children in South Carolina?

A) He failed to check his sources.

B) He failed to be appropriately suspicious.

C) He missed an important deadline.

D) He helped a criminal escape.

13. Which otherwise happy scene in Bragg’s life is characterized by Fighting and Violence?

A) Bragg’s wife tells him—falsely, it turns out—that she is pregnant.

B) Bragg attends a panel interview to become a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.

C) Bragg’s brothers come to see the house he bought for his mother.

D) Bragg receives the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting for The New York Times.

14. What type of Bragg’s articles do his colleagues refer to as “misery” stories?

A) Articles about murders, poverty, and riots

B) Articles about high school football games

C) Articles that require him to travel to the Deep South

D) Articles about depression, alcoholism, and despair

15. How does Bragg’s mother express her spirituality?

A) By attending Catholic Mass each Sunday

B) By watching televised religious broadcasts

C) By singing in the choir of her church

D) By reading bible stories with her family

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Describe the first memory Bragg has of his mother. Why is this image so important to him?

2. Bragg says he was “lucky” not to end up living a life of poverty or incarceration. Do you agree that it was luck, or is there another reason behind his success?