Binti

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

1. Afrofuturism, as defined by UCLA Magazine, can be understood as “a wide-ranging social, political, and artistic movement that dares to imagine a world where African-descended peoples and their cultures play a central role in the creation of that world.” Can you think of some recent popular examples of Afrofuturistic media, whether in film, TV, or books? Why is Afrofuturism important?

Teaching Suggestion: One of the most popular examples of Afrofuturism in recent history is Marvel’s Black Panther franchise. You can opt to discuss this TIME article that discusses the participation of Black Panther in the Afrofuturism movement, and/or have students call out aspects of Black Panther that seem to merge African diasporic culture and an altered vision of the future. As for the importance of Afrofuturism, it may be beneficial to guide students to understand that Afrofuturism empowers African American readers to reimagine a future in which their community thrives, upending the historical reality in which African culture has widely been oppressed. Students can read more about the importance of Afrofuturism in Blerd’s “What Is Afrofuturism and Why Is It Important?”

• A comprehensive definition of Afrofuturism can be found at Grinnell College’s site for its class “Subcultures and Sociology.”
• Afrofuturism is further defined, in the context of Binti, in “Afrofuturism and Binti: A Different View of Black Future,” from FEM magazine.

2. The literary term bildungsroman was popularized by the German thinker Wilhelm Dilthey in 1905. Bildung is the German word for “education,” and Roman means “novel.” What is the meaning of this term? If you’re unfamiliar with it, can you guess what it means, given its etymology? What are some examples of bildungsroman?

Teaching Suggestion: A bildungsroman is a coming-of-age tale in which the young protagonist experiences growth and education as they move from childhood and/or innocence to adulthood. Some of the most classic examples of bildungsroman are The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Make sure that students come to understand, broadly, what this literary term refers to and how a modern Afrofuturistic series like Binti fits into that tradition.

• Students may read the dictionary definition of bildungsroman from Merriam-Webster.
• In this MasterClass article, the 4 phases typical to the structure of a bildungsroman (loss, journey, conflict and personal growth, and maturity) are defined.

Differentiation Suggestion: As a differentiation strategy for ELL, different learners, and any other students who might benefit from a more visual explanation, you can show them the video “What Is a Bildungsroman?” for a brief graphic overview of the term.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Consider something from your own childhood—be it a person, place, or cherished object—that you were reluctant to give up when you crossed the threshold from being a “kid” into young adulthood. Maybe you had a beloved stuffed animal that you didn’t want to part with, or perhaps you had to move from one home to another. Though you were sad to part with this person/place/thing, is there a way of viewing your loss as something that helped you grow or learn? Reflect upon your experience, focusing on the positive changes that resulted from your sacrifice.

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt will get students thinking about their own experiences with growth as the key to adapting and thriving in a new environment, which is related to the theme of Growth as the Key to Survival in the Binti novellas. Students should focus on the positive things that resulted from giving up something they thought they could not live without and evaluate how this personal evolution made them better equipped to thrive in young adulthood.