Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
"If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it."
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Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison: I taught this book every year that I taught World Literature (which is all but one year of my teaching career). I can honestly say that it is my favorite novel that I ever used - BUT, it was not always so. When I first started teaching, I had taken over the class (Journalism/World Literature) from another teacher. I asked him for advice about which books to teach and Song of Solomon was one of his recommendations. Because the first year of teaching is so busy, so chaotic - I didn't have a chance to read the book in advance - and so, I found myself reading the book as my students were.
I was soon shocked to find that I absolutely hated the book - it made no sense to me and I felt very awkward as a white man teaching this book about the black experience. I vowed to never teach it again. Well - the second year of teaching was nearly as impossible as the first. We came to the end of the year - and I didn't have a book or the needed lessons developed and so I very reluctantly returned to Song of Solomon. To my complete and utter amazement - I loved it. I loved it and the students did too! It is a book that requires a second reading to really get the most out of it and blossomed for me. I also found that by giving the students enough structure and direction - I could get them to that joyous second reading - their first time around. The book is an absolute wonder. It is the perfect book for seniors - it is about letting go and it is about finding out what you truly love - and then pursuing it, while holding tight to the place you came from.
Song of Solomon Bookmark with Reading Schedule: (Docx PDF) Like most of my bookmarks - there is a front (with due dates) and a back (with things to look for and the name of the poems we started the novel with.
There are poems here about flying, about names, about race, and about justice. There is so much in Toni Morrison's masterpiece - and the poems that are chosen to be read and discussed before we jump into the novel - have never been so important. I want to give the students a "second reading" of this book, while they are doing their first. These poems will help do just that by introducing ideas, themes, and concepts that will give the students a lot to think about and connect as they are doing their reading. The harsh truths and magical realism in this book require a leap of faith by the readers that is almost as challenging as the leap that the protagonist makes at the end of the book.
For all effects and purposes, this is our last Opening Discussion of a novel in my World Literature Class. The year flies by and it's impossible to see where the time goes - but there you have it. There is a kind of "meta" nature to this lesson. I will go over the idea of this chapter (specifically the first 15 pages of this chapter) as a kind of "overture". As in a Musical Overture, these pages will introduce us to the characters, ideas, and themes that will be present throughout the novel. I mentioned in the intro to this book that I wanted to give my students a "second" reading though this is only their first.
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