Lesson 5

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • Beloved, Toni Morrison, Vintage Books, 2004

• • “Who is Margaret Garner?,” Unknown, Ohio Memory, 2012

• • PBS NewsHour: “Toni Morrison on Capturing a Mother’s ‘Compulsion’ to Nurture in ‘Beloved’,” Toni Morrison, PBS, 1987

Optional

• • “‘The Slave Mother, a Tale of Ohio,’ by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper,” Hendley Badcock, Shenandoah, 1854

Materials

Tools

• Beloved: Section 2 Diagnostic Checklist

• Character Note-Taking Tool

• Video Note-Taking Tool

Reference Guides

• Narratives Reference Guide
• Theme Reference Guide

Question Sets

• Beloved: Section 2 Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• Beloved: Section 2 Diagnostic Checklist

• Character Note-Taking Tool

• Beloved: Section 2 Question Set

• Video Note-Taking Tool

Activity 1: Discuss

We will discuss what we learned from our homework reading of pages 174–186.

You learned about Sethe’s past in your reading of pages 174-186. While it is impossible to fully comprehend the events that unfolded on these pages, discussion of the events and its backstory will help you gain perspective and unpack complex themes being developed in the novel.

In your Learning Log, respond to the following question:

1. What key piece of information do you learn from pages 174-186?

Take a few minutes to jot down your questions and reactions to this information. If you like, share your reaction with the class, and make a list of questions to address as a class.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will independently read pages 187–194. We will then analyze Morrison’s decision to unfold a main event in three ways: as a flashback, as a story told by Stamp Paid, and as a story told by Sethe.

Step 1

Independently, read pages 186-195. As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What is happening in these pages?

   1. What characters are involved?

   2. Is this a flashback or a story?

2. What questions can you add to your list?

3. Which of your questions have been answered?

4. What new questions do you have?

Step 2

Revisit the class lists of questions and reactions and compare with your responses from the reading:

1. What additional questions need to be added to the class list?

2. What questions did you find answers to that need to be updated on the class list?

3. Are there any additional reactions that should be added to the class list?

Step 3

Discuss the following questions:

1. Pages 174-180 are told as a flashback. Pages 181-186 are told as a story from Stamp Paid to Paul D. Pages 187-195 are told as a story from Sethe to Paul D. What is the effect of unfolding the scene in three ways (flashback, storytelling, and narrator shift)? Did your perspective of the event change from one set of pages to the other? If so, how?

2. "That ain’t her mouth." Why do you think Paul D. keeps saying this in pages 181-186?

3. "Or maybe I couldn’t love em proper in Kentucky because they wasn’t mine to love" (p. 190). How does the quotation connect to the historical experiences of an enslaved mother?

4. Extending on your response from Question 3, how is the idea of freedom explored on page 191?

5. What theme or themes can you identify as being developed? What details from pages 174-195 can support the development of this theme or these themes?

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

We will read the informational article “Who Is Margaret Garner” and relate the information from the article to Sethe’s decision.

Step 1

Independently, read and annotate the article "Who Is Margaret Garner?" and respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

1. What crime did Margaret Garner commit?

2. Analyze Garner’s decision to commit the crime and compare it to Sethe’s decision to commit the same crime.

3. Describe the reactions of others to Garner’s crime.

4. Describe the Fugitive Slave Law and the Fugitive Slave Act and their impact on Garner’s future. Compare this to Sethe’s punishment for her crime. Why do you think Morrison chose a different fate for Sethe than Garner?

5. Revisit the following quotation from the article: "What must have been the sufferings of a woman, who would rather take the lives of her children with her own hands than that they should live to go back to that condition in which she had passed all her days." Connect this with Sethe’s discussion of her decision on pages 187-195. Use textual evidence to support your analysis.

6. We know the name "Garner" from the novel. Describe the Garners of Beloved. Do you think Morrison intentionally chose this name for these characters? Why or why not?

Step 2

After reading, discuss as a class the responses to the questions above. Then, discuss the following questions:

1. What questions from our class list can you answer?

2. What questions need to be added?

Activity 4: Listen – Discuss

We will listen to an interview with Toni Morrison and focus on her discussion of Sethe’s decision in relation to “A Mother’s Compulsion To Nurture.” we will evaluate Morrison’s development of motherhood as a theme in Beloved.

Step 1

Listen to approximately three minutes of a video interview in which Toni Morrison comments on the inspiration behind a theme of her novel.

As you listen, use the following guiding questions and a Video Note-Taking Tool to take notes:

1. What is the main topic or central idea of the interview?

2. How does Morrison discuss Sethe’s and Margaret Garner’s actions? What reasoning does she give for their decisions?

3. What theme inspired Morrison when writing Beloved?

Step 2

With a partner or small group, discuss and respond to the following in your Learning Log:

1. What questions from our class list have been answered?

   1. What do you now understand about Sethe’s actions that you didn’t before you listened to this interview?

   2. How have your reactions to Sethe’s actions changed (if they have) as a result of listening to Morrison’s decision to include this event in her novel?

2. What questions need to be added to the class list?

3. What is a potential theme of the novel that you can identify based on Morrison’s interview? Has the class already identified this as a potential theme for the novel?

4. With all three sources in mind—Beloved, "Who is Margaret Garner?" and the interview with Toni Morrison—synthesize what message these sources are sending about motherhood for the enslaved.

   1. Does the definition of motherhood differ for an enslaved mother?

   2. Morrison says that parents who are enslaved essentially cannot be parents because they are denied that right. Consider this in your response.

5. Revisit the quote, "To get to a place where you could love anything you chose—not need permission for desire—well now, that was freedom” (p. 191). Connect this quotation to Morrison’s interview, particularly her discussion of an enslaved mother’s rights to her children. What does freedom really mean with this perspective?

6. Finally, be sure to update your Character Note-Taking Tool on Sethe in light of analysis of these sources.

Step 3

With reference to the responses discussed to the questions posed previously in this lesson and with consideration of the three sources—Beloved, "Who is Margaret Garner?" and the interview with Toni Morrison—write an analytical response to the following question:

1. Does a mother’s compulsion to nurture change with circumstance?

Activity 5: Read – Write

We will read the poem, “The Slave Mother, A Tale Of Ohio” to gain additional perspective and synthesize the theme of enslaved motherhood within Beloved, Toni Morrison’s interview, and the “Who Is Margaret Garner?” article. We will also evaluate the structure of the poem and its effect on the reader.

Step 1

Read the poem "The Slave Mother, a Tale of Ohio." As you read, consider the following guiding questions:

1. Evaluate and discuss the structure of the poem and its effect on the reader.

   1. How many lines per stanza?

   2. Is there a rhyming mechanism? If so, identify the rhyme pattern.

   3. Select one stanza from the poem and analyze the punctuation of each line. What effect does the punctuation have on you as the reader?

   4. How does the structure of this poem differ from the poem "Cometh Lady Button-Eyes"? How do these changes affect you as the reader?

      1. Consider the effect of punctuation on tone and mood.

      2. Consider the effect of stanza organization on interpretation of content.

      3. Consider the effect of rhyming and diction on the flow of the poem.

2. Evaluate and discuss the content of the poem.

   1. What event is being described?

   2. How does this poem relate to the theme of motherhood we highlighted in Beloved?

   3. How does this poem relate to the theme of dehumanization of slavery?

3. Closely read this stanza and identify the message being sent by the speaker:

   He is not hers, although she bore

   For him a mother’s pains;

   He is not hers, although her blood

   Is coursing through his veins!

Step 2

After you read the poem, update the entry in your Learning Logcompleted in the previous activity (in which you synthesized the theme of motherhood with the guiding question: "Does a mother’s compulsion to nurture change with circumstance?"). Add this poem to your synthesis.

Activity 6: Write

For homework, we will plan our narrative vignette by brainstorming ideas for characters, setting, and flashback episodes.

Review the Section 2 Diagnostic prompt.

Select an individual photograph or image from a provided set to use as a springboard for your writing.

For homework, use your selected photo or image to brainstorm the character or characters of your vignette, the setting, and possible ideas for a flashback episode that involves at least one of your characters. You will have an opportunity to expand your vignette into a well-developed narrative should you incorporate this task into your Culminating Task narrative.

Write your ideas in your Learning Log and be prepared to discuss them with peers.

Consult the Narratives Reference Guide if needed and also adhere to your Section 2 Diagnostic Checklist when planning.