AGENDA:
EQ: WHAT IS FIRST PERSON NARRATION AND WHY DID JORDAN CHOOSE TO USE IT FOR MUDBOUND WITH 6 DIFFERENT VOICES?
THINK, PAIR, SHARE:
Having read the first four chapters of
Mudbound, work with a partner to answer the following questions and discuss your answers.
Level 1 questions
Close Reading for text details
1. How are Jamie and Henry related?
2. What is Jamie doing at the beginning of the
book
?
3. Why is Jamie rushing in what he is doing at the beginning of the
book?
4. How deep does Henry dig the grave at the beginning of the
book?
5. Why does Henry dig so deep at the beginning of the book?
6. Who is Henry digging a grave for at the beginning of the book?
7. How is the coffin described at the beginning of the book?
8. What did Laura decide on her 30th birthday?
9. What is Henry's last name?
10. What is Henry's occupation?
11. Who introduced Laura and Henry?
12. Who encouraged Henry to pursue Laura?
13. Why did Henry leave town while courting Laura?
14. What did Henry do when he returned to town while courting Laura?
15. How did Laura describe Jamie when she met him?
16. How much older than Jamie is Henry?
17. When did Laura meet most of Henry's family?
18. How did Laura describe Henry's family when she met them?
19. Where was Laura married?
20. How long did Laura have bliss in her marriage?
What can you infer from your answers about the characters and their relationships?
What kind of foreshadowing of the plot can you infer from what Laura says on the bottom of pg. 13-the top of pg. 14?
Level 2 questions Interpretation of Literary Strategy
Discuss some of the reasons for choosing this kind of first person narration.
How does seeing
these events through many different character's eyes affect the
story? How does this kind of narration make you feel as a reader? Do you
like it? Do you think it will enhance the plot? Why or why not? What do
all the different viewpoints do to the narrative? Why is this not
through the eyes of one main character?
POST A COMMENT OF YOUR OBSERVATIONS AS A TEAM CITING EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT TO SUPPORT YOUR CLAIMS.
Style
Point of View
The novel is written in the first person point of view. The narrating
character changes from section to section with the writer alerting the
reader to the change in narrating character by placing the character's
name at the beginning of the chapter section.
The use of the first person point of view is an intimate choice,
allowing the writer to speak directly to the reader through the voice of
her characters. In most first person point of view novels, the
narrating character is the main character of the novel and the entire
novel is told through that character's eyes. However, in this novel the
writer uses all the major characters in her novel as her narrating
characters, giving the reader a well-rounded story while still keeping
the intimacy of the first person point of view. It is a new and unique
way to use the first person point of view and is handled with great
skill.
Setting
The majority of the novel takes place at Mudbound, a moderate sized farm
on the Mississippi Delta. The farm is primitive, lacking some of the
basic comforts such as electricity and running water. The farm is
constantly covered in mud from the frequent storms that pass over the
area and dust when the rains are kept at bay. As a part of the south in
the1940s, the setting of the novel is also a hotbed of racial tensions,
leaving the black characters of the novel in danger of the lawlessness
of the time toward blacks.
The setting of this novel is important because the time and place sets
up some of the tensions that propel the plot. The uncomfortable
accommodations of the farm create a situation that allows Laura to feel
neglected by her husband and opens her to an inappropriate relationship
with her brother-in-law. At the same time, the setting also places a
great burden on the Jackson family, a black tenant family on Mudbound
who face many obstacles in their attempts to raise a family and live a
comfortable life. With the return of their son from the war, these
obstacles grow substantially as he finds himself a target of racial
hatred. For these reasons, the setting of the novel is deeply essential
to the tensions that drive the plot to its climax.
Language and Meaning
The language of the novel is basic English. The author has created
characters who are living in a time period and place that has its own
unique uses of language. The author does not delve deeply into the slang
that characterizes this time period, but she does use some basic
grammar choices that makes the characters come to life and feel
authentic to their time period.
The language of this novel is basic, simple English that is not filled
with too many difficult words or phrases or unique grammar and
spellings. However, some of the language is a little more complicated
than the reader might expect in order to reflect the high education
level of two of the main characters. The writer does not slip into
stereotypes to express the thoughts and opinions of some of the main
characters, moving slightly away from authenticity, but making her novel
easy for the average reader to enjoy.
Structure
The novel is divided into three parts. Each part is filled with sections
that tell a story from the narrative point of view of more than six
characters. These characters tell their story in the first person point
of view, each giving their own vision of a series of events that lead to
tragedy for two families. The story is told in the past tense,
beginning in the present and moving into the past to explain how the
characters got to that point in their lives.
The novel contains multiple plots, including one main plot and multiple
subplots. The main plot tells the story of how the Jackson and McAllan
families became involved in the maiming of one young man. Some of the
subplots describe the relationships between all the main characters, the
romance between Laura and Jamie, and the difficulties Pappy causes for
all those around him. Each plot comes to a satisfying conclusion at the
end of the novel.
