47 pages • 1 hour read
Toni MorrisonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.
Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions
Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the play over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.
1. The story is structured around five encounters between Twyla and Roberta, starting when they are eight years old.
2. “Recitatif” is told completely from Twyla’s point of view.
3. Initially, Maggie does not seem like an important character in the story, but she becomes the focus by the end.
Full Essay Assignments
Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.
1. Though race is a major conflict in this story, Morrison does not explicitly reveal the race of any of her characters. How does Morrison use subtle signals about class to imply the presence of race tension, and how does this tactic challenge the reader’s own perception of how they project their identifications with race onto literature?
2. The orchard beyond the orphanage is a place where the apple trees are first described as "empty and crooked like beggar women" (244) but transform into blossoms, "heavy and white" (248). Why do you think this orchard haunts Twyla's dreams? What is its significance?
3. Motherhood is a powerful symbol in this story. Who are the various matriarchal figures in this story, and what different types of mothering are represented? How does Morrison use motherhood as a metaphor?
By Toni Morrison