Feminism and Self-Respect in Sula

Lesson 13
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ELA

Unit 3

10th Grade

Lesson 13 of 21

Objective


Analyze how Morrison portrays Sula and Nel and their complex relationship as friends.

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Sula by Toni Morrison  — Part 1: pp. 59-62, 64-66, 79-86, 82-86

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

How does Morrison portray Sula and Nel and their complex relationship as friends?

Criteria for Success

  • Thesis: Responds to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible interpretation
  • Evidence: Includes multiple and varied evidence to support your line of reasoning
  • Commentary: Explains how your evidence supports your line of reasoning (reason or claim used to support a larger thesis)
  • Sophistication: Demonstrates sophistication of thought or develops a complex literary argument 

Sample Response

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Key Thinking


Annotation Focus

What lines, words, and phrases reveal Sula’s character?

What lines, words, and phrases reveal Nel’s character? 

What lines, words, and phrases reveal Sula and Nel’s complex relationship as friends?

Scaffolding Questions

Pages 59-62 (“They stood up...collapsed in tears”)

  • What details and word choice does Morrison use to describe Nel’s interactions with Chicken Little? What do these details and word choice reveal about her character? 
  • What details and word choice does Morrison use to describe Sula’s interactions with Chicken Little? What do these details and word choice reveal about her character? 
  • How does Sula’s interactions with Chicken Little compare with that of Nel’s? 
  • What happens to Chicken Little? Who or what is responsible? 

Pages 64-66 (“Nel and Sula did not...butterflies in the winter”)

  • How does Morrison describe how Sula behaves at Chicken Little’s funeral. What does this reveal about her attitude toward Chicken Little’s death? 
  • How does Morrison describe how Nel behaves at Chicken Little’s funeral. What does this reveal about her attitude toward Chicken Little’s death? 
  • What do Nel and Sula’s different emotions at the funeral reveal about them? 
  • In the beginning of the excerpt, the narrator tells us that Nel and Sula 
  • did not touch hands or look at each other during the funeral.” At the end of the excerpt, the narrator tells us that “the space that had sat between them in the pews had dissolved” and that “they held hands.” What does this suggest about Sula and Nel’s friendship?

Pages 83-86 (“The more he thought...thick with birds”) 

  • What diction and details does Morrison use to describe Nel, the woman that Jude chooses to marry? What do Morrison’s language choices reveal about Nel’s character?
  • Ultimately, why does Jude choose to marry Nel? 
  • The narrator tells us that “Nel’s response to Jude’s shame and anger selected her away from Sula. And greater than her friendship was this new feeling of being needed by someone who saw her singly.” What does the phrase “selected her away from Sula” mean? What does it suggest about the state of their friendship prior to Nel’s marriage with Jude? 
     

Discourse Questions

How does Morrison portray Nel and Sula and their complex relationship as friends?

How does Nel’s marriage impact their relationship?

Homework


Read and annotate Part 2 of Sula, pages 88-174.

  • Annotation Focus: 
    • How does Sula and Nel’s relationship evolve? 
    • What are your first impressions of Sula’s relationship with the community of the Bottom? 

Prepare for tomorrow’s Socratic Seminar by generating ideas and evidence in response to each question. 

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Standards


  • LO 1.3B — Analyze how the writer's use of stylistic elements contributes to a work of literature's effects and meaning.
  • RL.9-10.3 — Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Supporting Standards

LO 1.3A
LO 2.3A
LO 2.3B
LO 2.3C
RL.9-10.1
RL.9-10.2
SL.9-10.1
W.9-10.2
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Lesson 12

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Lesson 14

Lesson Map

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