The following standards have been taken from the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McRel) standards.

The students will:

• Compare events in the text and reviews of the text with their and other readers' experiences.
• Use elements of the text to defend their responses and interpretations.
• Recognize the theme (general observation about life or human nature) within a text.
• Analyze the relevance of setting and time frame to the text's meaning.
• Identify time and point of view, as well as basic conflicts, in the text.
• Analyze characteristics of the text, including structure, word choices, and intended audience.
• Evaluate the credibility of information sources and determine the writer's motives.
• Analyze the text to evaluate the logical argument and common persuasive techniques.

Social Studies Standards:

The students will:

• Examine civil rights issues in John Howard Griffin's autobiographical Black Like Me, including segregation and lynching.
• Explain actions taken by people from racial, ethnic, and religious groups to expand economic opportunities and political rights in American society.
• Identify and analyze methods for expanding the right to participate in the democratic process, including lobbying, protesting, bringing cases before the courts, and amending the U.S. Constitution.