TONI MORRISON born February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio grandfather was born a slave her family lost their land and were forced to work in the mines and mills of the industrialized North

Lorain, Ohio

attended Howard University and later Cornell has taught at several universities is divorced and has two sons 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

HER NOVELS The Bluest Eye 1972 Sula 1974 Song Of Solomon 1977 Beloved 1987

a work of historical fiction a ghost story a jigsaw puzzle a work of historical fiction ? a mystery

… one of the best books for young adults written in the 1980s… … more suited for advanced students due to the complexity of the plot and the mature subject matter

While reading Focus: The plot / the different characters 1. Keep a reading log in which questions are written and crossed out when they have been answered through the reading or in discussion with another reader.

While reading 2. Develop a time line of the events in the story. Discuss it with the other group members. 3. Keep a list of characters and explain their relationships. Discuss and complete this list with the class. 4. Make a list of words ad phrases you have found particularly appealing or impressive and share these with the class.

After reading Write responses to ‘Beloved’ in which you express your thoughts and feelings about the novel as a whole. - approximately 15 lines 2. Share the written responses in class. Explore similar and different responses of group members, trying to understand what made different readers respond as they do.

And finally ABRAHAM LINCOLN … "Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VIII, "Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment" (March 17, 1865), p. 361. "I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, "Speech at Chicago, Illinois" (July 10, 1858), p. 502.