Sing, Unburied, Sing

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

What kinds of insights do book reviews provide for people interested in reading a new book? Does it matter who gets to review new books? How does the attached review of Sing, Unburied, Sing help the reader anticipate the purpose and message of Ward’s novel?

Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful to instruct students to engage in a think-pair-share after reading the review, and then participate in a class-wide sharing of ideas in a “chalk talk.”

• “In ‘Sing, Unburied, Sing,’ a Haunted Road Trip to Prison” - This review from The New York Times speaks to some of its thematic aspects and grounds the novel in Ward’s other literary works and was written by former US Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith.

Short Activity

In many ways, writers write what they know. How do Jesmyn Ward’s own experiences as well as her observations of the world influence her work as a novelist?

Teaching Suggestion: You may consider highlighting the unit’s four themes and encouraging students to identify these themes within the article. It may be helpful to facilitate a discussion of how this helps students better understand Ward as a writer.   

• Ward’s essay “On Witness and Respair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic” from Vanity Fair covers her husband’s death in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and connects to the theme Caretaking and Selfless Love.

Personal Connection Prompt

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

What do you know about the United States prison system? What are conditions like for average American prisoners? How is the prison system shown in the news? How is it represented in books, movies, or television?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider encouraging students to discuss in small groups before facilitating a full-class discussion. You may also consider sharing the following resource(s) with students to supplement their own thoughts.

• “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023” - This webpage explores America’s complicated prison system. While the page is lengthy, the charts and graphics it includes can often speak for themselves and may be useful for students even without the surrounding text. 
• “Prison Conditions” - This page from the Equal Justice Initiative describes the conditions of America’s prisons and the impact that has on not just incarcerated people but society as a whole.