Sula Study Guide
Sula Reading Guide
IB Lang. & Lit. Part 4 Sula is a novel about two childhood friends, Nel and Sula, set in a small town of Medallion, Ohio. Through the girls’ story, we are exposed to the complexities of modern life. To read this novel effectively, you must suspend judgment. Look at what the author is trying to say, read metaphorically, instead of literally. Because the novel is so short (174 pages) you need to read carefully.
Discussion questions:
1. Sula is in many ways a study of opposites (think about characters, setting, and themes) Find an example where Morrison explores these opposites- how do they play off each other? What is the author trying to say? 2. Also consider how men are portrayed in the novel. Think about male characters, like Boy Boy, Tar Baby, Plum, Chicken Little, Shadrack, and Ajax. Do they have any similarities? 3. How does race affect our understanding of Sula? What are some of the complexities of how race is represented? 4. After reading Things Fall Apart, can you see any thematic similarities between the two? How has Morrison, an African American author, been influenced by African themes? 5. Sula is full of powerful descriptive language. Choose your favorite, and posting it in your discussion response, analyze it briefly, looking at style (and referencing the text specifically!)
Study Questions
Part 1: Prologue: What role does racism play Sula? What evidence do we have of African Americans suffering at the hands of whites? Why is the name of “the Bottom” ironic? Racism plays a leading role in Sula. In the first few pages it becomes very apparent that African Americans suffer at the hand of whites. In the first pages Morrison goes onto explain how “the Bottom” was a cruel joke played on a black slave who asked for some land; the white man said “Oh, no! See those hills? That’s bottom land, rich and fertile…but when god looks down, it's the bottom of heaven- best land there is.”
IB Lang. & Lit. Part 4 Sula is a novel about two childhood friends, Nel and Sula, set in a small town of Medallion, Ohio. Through the girls’ story, we are exposed to the complexities of modern life. To read this novel effectively, you must suspend judgment. Look at what the author is trying to say, read metaphorically, instead of literally. Because the novel is so short (174 pages) you need to read carefully.
Discussion questions:
1. Sula is in many ways a study of opposites (think about characters, setting, and themes) Find an example where Morrison explores these opposites- how do they play off each other? What is the author trying to say? 2. Also consider how men are portrayed in the novel. Think about male characters, like Boy Boy, Tar Baby, Plum, Chicken Little, Shadrack, and Ajax. Do they have any similarities? 3. How does race affect our understanding of Sula? What are some of the complexities of how race is represented? 4. After reading Things Fall Apart, can you see any thematic similarities between the two? How has Morrison, an African American author, been influenced by African themes? 5. Sula is full of powerful descriptive language. Choose your favorite, and posting it in your discussion response, analyze it briefly, looking at style (and referencing the text specifically!)
Study Questions
Part 1: Prologue: What role does racism play Sula? What evidence do we have of African Americans suffering at the hands of whites? Why is the name of “the Bottom” ironic? Racism plays a leading role in Sula. In the first few pages it becomes very apparent that African Americans suffer at the hand of whites. In the first pages Morrison goes onto explain how “the Bottom” was a cruel joke played on a black slave who asked for some land; the white man said “Oh, no! See those hills? That’s bottom land, rich and fertile…but when god looks down, it's the bottom of heaven- best land there is.”