Sula Overview

Sula Overview and Assignments

Chapter	Due Date	Assignment	Fishbowl Participants
Pages 3-6	March 22	Finish outside reading assignment
Pages 17-29 (1920)	April 1st by midnight (Sunday after Interim)	Blog Post
Pages 30-66 (1921-1922)	April 8th by midnight (last Sunday of Spring break)	Blog Post	Monina, Jason, Li, Kenny, Kris, Avie, Josh, Andrea, Natalie  on April 9
Pages 67-85 (1923-1927)	April 11th	Thought Piece	Dominic, Lu, Labrado, Allison, Evan, Matthew, Amber, Jing
Pages 90-111 (1937)	April 13th	Blog Post
Pages 112-137 (1939)	April 17th	Blog Post	Vicki, Jeremae, Haley, Rachel, Reinaldo, Maya, Ian, Desmond
Pages 138-149 (1940)	April 20th	Thought Piece	Danielle, Desmond, Jeremy, Dante, Jasmine, Margret, Llyke, Graham
Finish book (1941 and 1965)	April 25th	Thought Piece	Everyone

Assignments:

1. Blog Post: Please contribute to the blog with your thoughts, questions, and ideas. For each assignment, you must do AT LEAST TWO of the following:

A.     Respond to one of the guiding questions (I will post them on the blog for you).

B.      Send me an email with a thoughtful question, so I can post it on the blog.

C.      Build on someone else’s idea or politely disagree, with a thoughtful alternative opinion

Please be thoughtful, careful, and diplomatic about your comments. I will be checking the blog regularly and will be contributing as well. Each post should be about one body paragraph long.

2.      Thought Piece

THOUGHT PIECES are one-two page writing assignments designed to encourage you to consider what you think and why before you come to class. They are not meant to be revised (though they could become the basis for a more formal piece), and they receive credit but no formal grade (though I do assign them a point value out of 25 to reward your effort). You may be asked to read them aloud to the class. For thought pieces, you might begin by taking a line, a word, an incident, or an issue in the story and using it as an entry point into a discussion. You could ponder one of the guiding questions as well. You do not have to come to a major conclusion in a thought piece—you do not have to answer your question. You just have to think about it—on paper! Give it your all. This is your last chance to develop your analytic skills before the AP Exam!

3. Multiple Choice: We will be practicing multiple choice throughout the unit.

4. Essays: There will be at least one timed write.

Guiding Questions/Ideas:

1.      What is the significance of names and naming in the novel?

2.      Although Sula contains several male characters, the book is, in many ways, a novel that celebrates women.  Sula looms so large in the reader's mind because Morrison strips away the power tradition­ally given to men.  Examine the deficiencies of two male characters that suggest contrasting strengths in female charac­ters.

3.      Toni Morrison once said, "I know evil preoccupied me in Sula…"  Examine the nature of evil in Sula, especially as it occurs in the protagonist.  To what extent is Sula evil and how does she manifest this trait?  What are the sources of her evil and what is its ultimate significance in terms of her relationship with the Bottom residents?

4.      Death is a dominant theme in Sula. The text begins, "There was once a neighborhood," signifying that the community no longer exists (3). Morrison portrays death as an event that purifies, renews, and brings freedom to the deceased and/or their family and friends. Death is also an event that is often witnessed in the text; it is a spectacle that demands attention. Consider how this notion of death subverts more traditional depictions and why Morrison uses this strategy.

5. Add your own guiding question or idea here! There are so many to choose from, from motifs to the circular nature of life to Biblical allusions in the book. If you come up with a good question, email it or submit it to me and I will post it on the blog as a potential discussion question.