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Lesson 2

We will continue to analyze the tone and mood created in Beloved, specifically relating to the recollection of characters’ pasts. We will also explore the concept of repression and relate it to the content and thematic development of the novel. We will evaluate Sigmund Freud’s theory on the uncanny and draw connections to Toni Morrison’s choice to include an element of hauntedness in the novel.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I synthesize information from Beloved and an excerpt from Sigmund Frued’s “The Uncanny” to create new understanding?

  • Can I make inferences and use evidence to support understanding of pages 86–124 of Beloved?

  • Can I analyze the behaviors and underlying motivations of the characters in the novel and consider how these behaviors and motivations contribute to moral dilemmas that influence the plot and theme?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Beloved, Toni Morrison, Vintage Books, 2004
  • Unit Reader
    • Excerpt from “The Uncanny,” Sigmund Freud, Jeanette Laredo, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License and powered by Press Books, 1919

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will discuss the Analyzing Relationships Tool that we completed in the previous lesson for our reading of pages 76- 86. we will also revisit the guiding questions from the homework.

Step 1

Work with a new partner to discuss your Analyzing Relationships Tool and discuss the following questions:

  1. What key details did you record in response to the guiding question: How does Sethe respond to recollections of her past? What findings did you and your partner have in common? What differences did you have?

  2. How did each of you respond to the "Analyze Relationships" prompt of the tool? What findings did you and your partner have in common? What differences did you have?

  3. How did each of you respond to the "Explain Effects" prompt of the tool? What commonalities did you have? What differences did you have?

  4. What did you learn from each others’ analyses?

In your Learning Log, write a response to Questions 2, 3, and 4. You will revisit your response in later lessons to inform your work.

Step 2

As a class, we will discuss the following questions from your homework:

  • Question 5: Pages 111-113 shift between present time "in the clearing" to Sethe’s recollection of her first "twenty-eight days" of unslaved life. Describe Sethe’s life during that time. What happens at the clearing while Sethe is remembering her past?

    • Extension question: In those 28 days, Sethe "claimed herself": "Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another” (pp. 111-112). What does this mean?

  • Question 6: Pages 119-123 are told through the eyes of Denver. In these pages, we learn about Denver’s past and her relationship with the baby ghost. Provide a brief description of who Denver was as a young girl compared to who she is now, at this point in the novel. What details about her past help you gain a better understanding of who she is now? Think about the relationships she has with others.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

As a class, we will read an excerpt from Sigmund Freud’s essay “The Uncanny” and define the terms repression and uncanny.

Step 1

As a class, read and annotate an excerpt from Sigmund Freud’s 1919 essay, "The Uncanny." We will annotate the text by highlighting, underlining, or circling information that we find interesting or relevant to our reading of Beloved. What information from this essay can we apply to deepen our comprehension of the novel?

We will discuss the following in order to unpack the meaning of the text:

  1. "If psychoanalytic theory is correct in maintaining that every affect belonging to an emotional impulse, whatever its kind, is transformed, if it is repressed, into anxiety, then among instances of frightening things there must be one class in which the frightening element can be shown to be something repressed which recurs" (Freud). What does this mean?

  2. "Whether what is uncanny was itself originally frightening or whether it carried some other affect" (Freud). Can we think of examples in which this may be true? For instance, if someone is afraid of a dog, is it because the being of a dog itself is frightening? Or is a dog frightening because of a repressed recurrence of the individual?

  3. Discuss Schelling’s definition of the uncanny, as "something which ought to have remained hidden but has come to light." What does this mean?

  4. According to Freud, why does death give rise to a fear of hauntedness?

Step 2

Freud’s essay attempts to define uncanny, and he uses the term repression in his discussion of the uncanny. In small groups, use your Vocabulary in Context Tool to define these terms. After you define these terms, add them to your Vocabulary Journal.

Step 3

Work with a partner or group to respond to the vocabulary exercises, as directed by your teacher.

Activity 3: Discuss – Write

We will use our Extending Understanding Tools to analyze the concept of repression presented in Freud’s essay, “The Uncanny,” and relate it to the characters’ reminiscence of the past from the homework assignment (pp. 76–124).

Step 1

Use the Extending Understanding Tool to evaluate the guiding question:

  1. How does Freud’s discussion of repression and the uncanny contribute to our comprehension of ideas presented in Beloved?

You will specifically work with pages 76-124 in Beloved for this activity.

The Extending Understanding Tool supports and guides a process for analyzing relationships among texts or sections of text, making text-based comparisons and developing a claim or posing a new text-specific question. Often, you will use it with a new text that you want to relate or compare to a previous text you have analyzed. As with the other Reading Closely Tools, it is usually used with a guiding or text-specific question that involves comparing texts or extending understanding from one text to another.

With a partner or small group, reference your annotations of Freud’s "The Uncanny," your Vocabulary in Context Tool, and your Analyzing Relationships Tool from pages 76-124 of Beloved to inform your discussion and completion of your Extending Understanding Tool.

Step 2

Use the tool in the following way:

  1. Write down the guiding question in the space provided at the top: How does Freud’s discussion of repression and the uncanny contribute to our understanding of ideas presented in Beloved? This question can help you focus your reading, or it might give your reading a specific purpose. It will usually be a question that builds on other questions you have considered and involves more than one text.

  2. The first row on the tool can serve two purposes:

    1. If you are working with one text, this is a space to compare ideas in the text or track how an idea or claim is developed within the text.

    2. If you are working with two or more texts, this is a space to compare ideas among them. The space can be used to compare how different authors convey similar themes or how different authors develop arguments. Notice that the directions state to explain and not just identify. This means you might have to include relevant facts or details to support your comparisons.

  3. The Analyze Relationships row asks you to identify how your thinking about the topic, texts, or claims have changed or expanded as a result of new information you read. This is not just a space to write the new information you gathered; it is a space to identify how or why this new information has shifted, refined, or confirmed your perspective.

  4. The final row invites you to synthesize this new information. When you synthesize something, you are putting all the pieces together and considering all of your information, then developing a new claim or question. You can write the claim or question in the space provided.

  5. You might repeat this process several times as you gather new information.

Activity 4: Read – Write

For homework, we will continue to work with the term repression as it relates to the characters’ interactions with their pasts. We will write a paragraph analysis showcasing our understanding of this topic.

In pages 76-124, we see glimpses of each character’s past through storytelling and flashback. For homework, using what you learned about the concept of repression, select a character below and write a one-paragraph analysis that answers the guiding questions:

  1. What role has repression played in this character’s life?

  2. What role does repression continue to play in this character’s life?

  3. What effects could repression have on this character? How might it impact the story?

Character Prompts:

  • Paul D.’s story (pp. 82-86)

  • Sethe’s story (pg. 92-100)

  • Denver’s story (pp. 119-124)

Include one citation in your response to support your analysis. Refer to your notes in your Character Note-Taking Tool and Learning Log to assist you.