Sing, Unburied, Sing

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Sing, Unburied, Sing and the Legacy of Slavery”

In this activity, students will watch the documentary 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, which explores the connections between slavery, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration in the United States. Students will then engage in a discussion that connects the documentary to specific details from the novel. (Content Warning: This documentary contains images of lynching.)

In Sing, Unburied, Sing the criminal justice system and the prison industrial complex play important roles in shaping many characters’ experiences and emphasize the traumatic legacy and realities of slavery and institutional racism. Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th explores the connections between slavery, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration in the United States and provides important historical and social context to understanding the contemporary characters and themes in Sing, Unburied, Sing. You will watch 13th and then engage in a structured discussion with your peers before creating a visual representation of the connections between the film and the novel.

As you watch the film, consider these questions:

• What is the link between racism and incarceration? In other words, how did slavery evolve into the institutional racism of Jim Crow, and how did that bleed into the institutional racism of America’s prison system?
• How has mass incarceration created a false narrative about Black Americans, and specifically Black men?
• How is an understanding of this history helpful in understanding America’s present?
• How does this understanding provide important context for the novel? Consider characters, plot, setting, and theme.

After the film, discuss with your peers how watching the film impacted your understanding of the unit theme of The Violent Legacies of Racism and Poverty. After the discussion, choose a character, plot line, setting, or theme from Sing, Unburied, Sing that connects to what you learned from watching 13th and create a visual representation to show your learning. Your visual representation may be a slideshow, a poster, a piece of original artwork, a collage, etc.

Teaching Suggestion: The film contains images of lynching that some students may find difficult to watch—you may consider giving students a content warning prior to viewing the documentary. Additionally, it may be helpful to pause the film two or three times during viewing to allow students to gather their thoughts and process with their peers. As you pause, consider asking students to check in verbally with a peer to talk out their thoughts, specifically about how they are seeing connections between the documentary and the novel.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who need support with organizing their thoughts, consider providing a graphic organizer for note-taking while watching the film. This graphic organizer might contain the unit’s main themes and a small list of major characters, setting locations, etc. You may also want to present them with academic discussion sentence starters (“I disagree with _____ because…,” “In my opinion…,” “At first I thought _____, but now I think _______,” etc.) to stimulate ideas.

Paired Text Extension:

This activity can connect to the real-life story recounted in Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson, one of the contributors to 13th. This book tells the story of his own experience with the Equal Justice Initiative as a young defense attorney who worked to exonerate Walter McMillian, an innocent Black man who had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The Equal Justice Initiative website has links to the book and the movie that it inspired, starring Michael B. Jordan.

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.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Ghosts, specifically those of Given and Richie, play an important role in Sing, Unburied, Sing.

• What function do these ghosts serve in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Analyze the significance of Given’s and Richie’s presence. Why are they there? What is their relationship to other characters? Cite at least three direct quotes from the novel to support your thoughts.
• In your concluding sentences, connect your thoughts to one of the unit’s main themes.

2. Jojo and Kayla share a unique and strong relationship. 

• How does their relationship support the development of the theme Caretaking and Selfless Love? (topic sentence)
• Analyze the dynamics of Jojo and Kayla’s relationship. How do they each give and receive love and care from each other? Cite at least three direct quotes from the novel to support your ideas.
• In your concluding sentences, consider what aspects of Jojo and Kayla’s life circumstances may have contributed to the development of their special bond.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the significance of song and singing in the novel. What does it symbolize? How is singing presented through and perceived by different characters? What meaning does the novel’s title hold? Analyze how singing helps strengthen the development of one of the unit’s themes. As you compose your essay, incorporate three quoted passages to support your discussion points.

2. Analyze Ward’s use of multiple first-person perspectives to structure the novel. The chapters rotate between Jojo’s, Leonie’s, and Richie’s perspectives. How do these various perspectives help emphasize the novel’s messages? What is significant about the stories told by each character, and how are certain themes developed more fully by the use of multiple perspectives? As you compose your essay, incorporate evidence from each of the three perspectives to strengthen your points of discussion.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What best describes Pop’s response to Jojo’s vomiting while they slaughter the goat?

A) Annoyed

B) Merciful

C) Angry

D) Pitiful

2. Why does Pop tell Leonie that she needs to say goodbye to Mama before she leaves to get Michael from prison?

A) Because Mama doesn’t support the trip

B) Because Pop hopes it will change Leonie’s mind

C) Because Mama is on the verge of death

D) Because Pop thinks it will help Mama

3. Which family member gives Jojo a talk about sex?

A) Pop

B) Leonie

C) Michael

D) Mam

4. Which of the following passages best describes Leonie’s emotions as she is trying to stop Kayla’s vomiting in Chapter 4?

A) “This is the kind of world it is. The kind of world that gives you a blackberry plant, a doughy memory, and a child that can’t keep nothing down.”

B) “I kneel and lean back on my haunches. The day pulses like a flush vein. Wipe my eyes, smear dirt across my face, and make myself blind.”

C) “Nope. Owner won’t stock nothing like that. He say only the basics. But you’d be surprised how many people come through here carsick.”

D) “He rubs her back and she rubs his, and I stand there, watching my children comfort each other. I could reach out and touch them both, but I don’t.”

5. Read this excerpt from Chapter 5: “[Kayla’s] skull feels thin against my bones, against the stone where my ribs meet, her skull easy to break as a ceramic bowl.”

What does the author emphasize about Jojo in this excerpt?

A) His paternal instincts toward Kayla

B) His disturbing inner dialogue

C) His creativity and imagination

D) His resentment toward Leonie

6. What best describes Pop’s role in Richie’s life while at Parchman?

A) Adversary

B) Overseer

C) Protector

D) Sympathizer

7. Why does Leonie take over driving for Michael?

A) He can’t see well enough and it’s getting dark.

B) He doesn’t have a license and they pass the police.

C) He is under the influence and is beginning to pass out.

D) He has a headache and the pain is increasing.

8. What important commonality does Jojo realize he shares with Kayla in Chapter 8?

A) They both distrust Leonie’s herbal remedy.

B) They both have an affinity for animals.

C) They both get carsick on long car rides.

D) They both can hear things that go unsaid.

9. What happens to the bird who is accompanying Richie at the end of Chapter 9?

A) It flies away without Richie.

B) It falls from the air and dies.

C) It turns back into a snake.

D) It dissolves into the sky.

10. What does Big Joseph’s reaction to seeing Leonie, Jojo, and Kayla show about him?

A) He is welcoming.

B) He is racist.

C) He is sympathetic.

D) He is angry.

11. What best describes the shift in Richie’s feelings when he finally sees Pop?

A) He changes from excited to sad.

B) He changes from cautious to joyful.

C) He changes from wounded to forgiving.

D) He changes from hopeful to bitter.

12. Read the following passage from Chapter 12: “A great mouth opens in me and wails; I am an empty stomach.”

Which figurative language does Ward use in this sentence?

A) Simile

B) Allusion

C) Metaphor

D) Hyperbole

13. What best describes the emotion that motivated Pop to kill Richie?

A) Desperation

B) Anger

C) Bitterness

D) Gratitude

14. Which of the following lines describes Leonie’s feelings after Mam dies?

A) “I’m a book and he can read every word.”

B) “There’s too much blank sky where a tree once stood.”

C) “His head swings on his neck like a pendulum.”

D) “She did it. She couldn’t bear that pain.”

15. What does Kayla give to the ghosts at the end of the novel?

A) Forgiveness

B) Love

C) Purpose

D) Peace

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. Analyze the significance of Leonie’s dream about the raft while asleep in the car. What does this dream show about her character?

2. What does the shift in Richie’s emotions when he finally sees Pop again show about Richie’s own trauma?