Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What kinds of insights do book reviews provide for people interested in reading a new book? Does it matter who gets to review new books? How does the attached review of Sing, Unburied, Sing help the reader anticipate the purpose and message of Ward’s novel?

Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful to instruct students to engage in a think-pair-share after reading the review, and then participate in a class-wide sharing of ideas in a “chalk talk.”

• “In ‘Sing, Unburied, Sing,’ a Haunted Road Trip to Prison” - This review from The New York Times speaks to some of its thematic aspects and grounds the novel in Ward’s other literary works and was written by former US Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith.

Short Activity

In many ways, writers write what they know. How do Jesmyn Ward’s own experiences as well as her observations of the world influence her work as a novelist?

Teaching Suggestion: You may consider highlighting the unit’s four themes and encouraging students to identify these themes within the article.