Before you start a project, do you make sure you have everything you will need, or do you jump right in? If you’ve tried the second approach, you may have noticed that a lack of preparation can cause all kinds of problems. For instance, suppose you started making cookies and then discovered that you don’t have all the right ingredients. Or maybe you persuade your parents to take you shopping, but then realize you left your birthday money at home. Planning ahead can help you avoid disappointment in life, and this is true in collaborative discussions, too.
One of the best ways to prepare for discussing a novel is to think of some questions to ask the group. In general, your questions should require more than just a simple yes or no answer. After all, you want the group to discuss ideas in a way that is interesting and enlightening. One or two broad questions about the novel are fine, but most of your questions should focus on something more specific. Study the table below to learn some strategies for generating these kinds of questions.
Explore different character traits, including why those traits are important to the story, as well as what motivates characters to act in the ways they do. For example, you might ask: Why does Little Man throw the new school book down and stomp on it? What does this say about him?
When a novel has a realistic or historical setting, like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, it can be helpful to discuss what the story’s details say about the culture and beliefs of that time period. Think of questions that might help your group understand why the setting is significant. Here’s one set of questions that could lead to this kind of discussion: How did white people think about their African American neighbors during the time when the story happened? How did African Americans think about white people in the community?
By the time you participate in a collaborative discussion, you should have finished reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, so you should know its plot well. Therefore, your questions about plot should not focus on what happens in the story, but why events happen. For example, you might ask, Why does T.J. begin hanging around R.W. and Melvin even though they treat him badly?
The most familiar symbol for most Americans is probably the American flag, which generally represents freedom and patriotism. See if you can recall objects, words, or ideas that are mentioned more than once throughout the story and seem to have more meaning than other details. To explore possible symbols in the novel, you might ask What do you think the school bus symbolizes? What about the children’s attempt to disable it?
Put some of these strategies to use. Before you move on to the next part of the lesson, locate your file containing this module’s journal assignments. Paste the prompt below at the end of the document, and label the entry with this lesson’s title. Then type a response to the prompt.
Journal
Using the guidelines in this lesson, write down five questions about the novel—including at least one question each about the characters, the setting, the plot, and a possible symbol in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. You’ll have a chance to ask these questions—and share your own views—after this lesson.
When you have written a complete and detailed answer to the journal prompt, save the file so that you won’t lose any of your work.
