49 pages • 1 hour read
Danzy SennaColored Television
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
The novel begins with an epigraph from Pogo Possum, “We have met the enemy and he is us” (vii). How does this epigraph relate to the themes of Colored Television?
Lenny Gibson and Hampton Ford represent different approaches to creative work as Black men. Compare and contrast their perspectives and experiences using examples from the text. How do they embody divergent perspectives regarding Balancing Artistic Integrity and Financial Security?
Analyze Senna’s depiction of racist terms to describe biracial people. What is the purpose of this language? What does it suggest about the characters who use it?
A review of Colored Television by Madeline Leung Coleman in Vulture criticized the novel for taking “for granted Jane’s belief that biracial Black people suffer a special marginalization” (Leung Coleman, Madeline. “Danzy Senna Can’t Stop Thinking in Black and White.” Vulture, 2024). Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not? How does Senna represent Jane’s “special marginalization” as a biracial woman in the novel?
The novel highlights the ways that systemic racism manifests in television entertainment. Additionally, it emphasizes how systemic racism can lead to internalized racism. How do Jane Gibson and Hampton Ford demonstrate internalized racism in their actions or beliefs? Cite textual evidence to support your answer.
What does Finn’s belief that he comes from another planet symbolize? How might it relate to his racial identity? How does Jane understand and sympathize with his extraterrestrial belief?
Is Jane more of an idealist or a pessimist? How does her idealism or pessimism change throughout the novel?
Senna’s husband, Percival Everett, published a novel in 2001 called Erasure about a Black novelist-professor who writes a satire of stereotypical “Black” books only for it to be taken seriously as a critical success. How do Erasure’s themes and plot points compare to those found in Colored Television? How do these novels handle The Commodification of Racial Identity differently?
What is a Craftsman home? Why is it so important to Jane Gibson? What does it represent? Why is her acquisition of one at the end of the novel significant to her character arc?
