Recitatif

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

• Ishiguro’s novel follows a trio of friends through their time together at an orphanage with a dark secret and in the years after leaving the orphanage.
• ties into themes of The Fluidity of Childhood Versus the Rigidity of Adulthood and The Search for the Mother
• Never Let Me Go on SuperSummary

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

• Irving’s controversial novel tells the story of a boy who grows up in an orphanage and, as an adult, helps unwed mothers deal with their unwanted pregnancies. This novel highlights the ways orphanages have been used for nefarious purposes.
• ties into themes of The Fluidity of Childhood Versus the Rigidity of Adulthood, The Search for the Mother, and Racial Codes in the Construction of Literature
• The Cider House Rules on SuperSummary

"The First Day" by Edward P. Jones

• This short story follows a girl on her first day of school. The girl’s mother is illiterate but determined to have her daughter go to school and learn all the things she doesn’t know.
• ties into themes of The Search for the Mother and Racial Codes in the Construction of Literature

Fire From the Rock by Sharon M. Draper

• a young adult novel about an African American girl navigating the town of Little Rock in the months leading up to the integration of the school system
• ties into themes of Racial Codes in the Construction of Literature

Other Student Resources

"Freedom's Legacy" with Ruby Bridges Hall

• an interview with Ruby Bridges, who was the first Black child to integrate an elementary school in the South
• ties into themes on Racial Codes in the Construction of Literature and The Fluidity of Childhood Versus the Rigidity of Adulthood

Teacher Resources

Toni Morrison Biography

• National Women’s History Museum’s biography of the author Toni Morrison

"Toni Morrison on Race" with Charlie Rose

• a clip from Toni Morrison’s interview with Charlie Rose, in which she responds to the role of “race” in literature