Notes
A.
Within the reading of the play, the setting takes place in the south in Fort Neal, Louisiana and took place during the time of World War II. The south was known for slavery and segregated. The time period within the play was in the year of 1944.
B.
1) The people in the pictures on the wall are President FDR and Joe Louis.
2)FDR was the third party second president of the United States. HE served from March 4, 1993-April 12, 1945. President Roosevelt was the president during WWII and the Great Depression. Although he tried to keep the U.S. military out of the war, they went to war after the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan.
PVT. Joe Louis was an African American boxer who fought in one of the most remembered matches against the German boxer, Max Schmeling. The first match he lost, but the second he won was soon an inspiration after he joined the army.
3) FDR and Joe Louis were both important enough to have their pictures on the wall because both were very looked up to. FDR was the president and so many people hoped he'd end the war in a victory. While Joe Louis's inspirational words encouraged other Americans to enlist in the army.
4) Both FDR and Joe Louis were famous at the time. They were both popular during the WWII era, and that is how you know that's the time period that the play takes place.
C.
During the time of 1944, the south was known for segregation. Segregation is known as the act of forceful separation between racial groups. An example would be segregating the whites from the African Americans.
D.
Black Soldiers: Waters, Wilkie, Cobbs, Smalls, Peterson, Ellis, Louis Henson, Davenport, Memphis
White Soldiers: Captain Taylor
Mostly all of the white soldiers have a higher rank than the black soldiers. The black soldier who has the commanding rank would be Davenport.
E.
Major Characters: Captain Davenport is one of the main characters so far. He is an African American alumni from Howard University and is currently a lawyer working as a military policeman over the colored troops. Davenport was placed at 343rd military Police Corps Unit in Fort Neal, Louisiana becuase the segregated army couldn't find the another place for him. Also, he was also placed there to solve a murder case. I think he will play a major role in this story due to the fact that he faces discrimination, but still takes his job very seriously despite the racist environment he has been placed in.
Sergeant Waters is another African American character that gets killed early on in the story so not much is known about him yet. He is important to the action of the play because his death starts the investigation on the soldiers which reveal more about them, which also makes him the catalyst because his death is what starts the investigation that allows Captain Davenport to probe deeper. Davenport is the protagonist of the story so far because the story at this point revolves around him and his investigation.
