Objectives

• Analyse how Morrison uses Robert Smith's flight and Milkman's birth in Chapter 1 to establish the novel's mythic register and its central preoccupation with freedom.
• Explain how Morrison constructs the Dead family's domestic dysfunction in Chapters 2–5 to dramatise the cost of assimilation and emotional repression.
• Analyse Guitar's justification of the Seven Days in Chapter 7 as a counter-discourse to Macon Dead II's capitalist individualism.
• Trace how Morrison uses the children's ring-song in Chapters 13–15 to transform Milkman's quest from material to ancestral, and evaluate what this shift reveals about cultural memory.
• Write a fully evidenced analytical paragraph — using embedded quotation and precise language analysis — on any one of the novel's central themes: identity, freedom, or community.

The sequence

1. Lesson 1: Robert Smith's Wings and the Myth of Flight: Chapter 1

   60 min · ch. 1, 2

   Do now

   On the board: 'Robert Smith, insurance agent, put up a note stating he plans to fly from the roof of Mercy Hospital to Lake Superior at 3 p.m.' If you had the chance to talk to Robert Smith before he jumped, what three questions would you ask him? You have four minutes — please work quietly.

   Teacher input

   Model a close reading of the opening paragraph of Chapter 1 — 'The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance agent promised to fly from Mercy to the other side of Lake Superior at three o'clock.' Focus on Morrison's choice to begin with a promise instead of an action. Highlight how 'promised' infuses the sentence with both contractual and mythic significance, and examine how 'Mercy' serves as an ironic proper noun. Additionally, analyze how the crowd's response of 'Requests for patience' frames Black aspiration as a spectacle. Demonstrate the progression: pinpoint the word, identify the technique, and clarify its impact on the reader's perception of freedom.

   Independent task

   Students should revisit the last paragraph of Chapter 1 where Ruth goes into labor while Smith falls — 'as she rose from the ground, her water broke' — and compose one analytical paragraph (following the PEEL structure displayed on the board) that addresses: How does Morrison juxtapose Smith's fall with Milkman's birth to illustrate the inseparability of freedom and life? Students need to include at least two quotations and identify one language technique. The paragraph is due at the end of the lesson.

   Exit ticket

   On a sticky note: write one word Morrison uses in Chapter 1 that has both a literal and a symbolic significance. In one sentence, explain the symbolic significance.

2. Lesson 2: The Dead Family Name: Domestic Dysfunction in Chapters 2–5

   60 min · ch. 2, 3, 4, 5

   Do now

   The Dead family resides on 'Not Doctor Street.' List all the oddities about that name. What does it suggest about how the community interacts with official authority? You have four minutes — refrain from discussing for now.

   Teacher input

   Model a reading of the rent-collection scene in Chapter 3, focusing on Macon's instruction to Milkman: "Own things. And let the things you own own other things." Notice how the imperative mood, along with the repeated use of "own," embodies Macon's belief that identity is tied to property, creating a closed loop where ownership dictates selfhood. In contrast, look at Pilate's house in Chapter 4, where Morrison emphasizes that Pilate "had no navel" and "needed no one." Explore how Morrison employs the body as a symbol: Macon's identity is shaped by what he possesses, while Pilate's identity is defined by what she lacks, suggesting her independence from material needs.

   Independent task

   Students are presented with two short extracts side by side: (A) Macon's speech about property from Chapter 3 and (B) the description of Pilate's earring — 'her own name inscribed on the brass' — from Chapter 4. They will write a comparative paragraph addressing the question: How does Morrison use Macon and Pilate to illustrate two contrasting relationships with identity? Students must reference both extracts, include quotations, and incorporate one contextual point about the post-Civil Rights era. The completed paragraph will be submitted.

   Exit ticket

   'Pilate's lack of a navel suggests that Morrison wants the reader to understand identity as something fluid and constructed because it challenges the notion of fixed origins.'

3. Lesson 3: The Seven Days: Guitar's Logic and the Language of Retribution — Chapter 7

   60 min · ch. 6, 7, 8, 9

   Do now

   On the board is a line from Chapter 7 by Guitar: 'It's not about hating white people. It's about loving us.' Read it twice. Do you find this argument convincing? Share your initial thoughts in three sentences. There’s no right answer — just be honest with yourself.

   Teacher input

   Model a detailed analysis of Guitar's explanation of the Seven Days in Chapter 7 — particularly the part where he states 'somebody has to take responsibility' and outlines the group's rule of symmetrical killing. Pay special attention to Morrison's choice of the term 'responsibility' — a word typically linked to civic virtue — when applied to murder. Examine how Guitar's language draws on themes of duty and love to recast violence as a form of care, and consider how Morrison complicates the reader’s response by providing Guitar with the novel's most logically coherent speech. This represents Morrison's deliberate withholding of authorial judgment — an essential narrative strategy.

   Independent task

   Students will write a 150-word analytical response to the question: How does Morrison portray Guitar's membership in the Seven Days as both understandable and troubling in Chapter 7? In their responses, they must directly quote Guitar's justification, analyze a specific word or phrase for its connotations, and explain what Guitar's ideology reveals about the limitations of Macon Dead II's individualism as an alternative. Responses will be collected and peer-marked in the following lesson.

   Exit ticket

   Macon Dead II reacts to racism with resignation and a desire to fit in, whereas Guitar responds with anger and a determination to fight back against injustice.

4. Lesson 4: Solomon's Song: Decoding Heritage in Chapters 13–15

   60 min · ch. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

   Do now

   On the board, you'll find the children's song from Chapter 13: 'Jake the only son of Solomon / Come booba yalle, come booba tambee.' Take a moment to read it softly to yourself. Now, jot down your thoughts: what kind of text does this bring to mind? What hidden meanings might it contain? You have four minutes.

   Teacher input

   Model the moment in Chapter 14 when Milkman finally hears the song clearly during the coon hunt and starts to decode it — 'Sugarman done fly away / Sugarman done gone'. Illustrate how Morrison shifts from third-person narration to Milkman's inner thoughts at this point: the syntax becomes fragmented, the sentences shorten, and the prose reflects the act of decoding in real time. Show how 'fly away' resonates with Robert Smith's jump in Chapter 1, linking the novel's opening spectacle to its ancestral revelation — highlighting Morrison's structural use of motif throughout the entire novel.

   Independent task

   Students revisit the passage in Chapter 15 where Milkman, lying with Sweet, reflects on what he has learned: 'His great-grandfather, Macon Dead, also known as Jake, also known as…' They mark up the text for: (1) any words or phrases that link back to the novel's beginning, and (2) any changes in Milkman's tone compared to his voice in Chapter 3. Then, they write a paragraph addressing: How does Morrison illustrate through Milkman's realization in Chapters 14–15 that identity is shaped more by collective memory than by personal accomplishments? Both the annotated extract and the paragraph are submitted.

   Exit ticket

   In one sentence: Why is it significant that Milkman discovers his family history through a children's song instead of a document or a gravestone?

5. Lesson 5: Pilate's Death and Milkman's Leap: Synthesis in Chapters 16–18

   60 min · ch. 16, 17, 18

   Do now

   On the board: Pilate's last words in Chapter 18 are, "I wish I'd known more people. I would have loved them all." She has just been shot by Guitar. Write: What does this reveal about Morrison's values? You have four minutes.

   Teacher input

   Model a close reading of the final sentence in Chapter 18 of the novel: 'For now he knew what Shalimar knew: if you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.' Pay special attention to the conditional 'if' — Morrison leaves it open-ended whether Milkman flies or survives. This ambiguity is crucial: freedom in the novel is always contingent, a surrender rather than a triumph. Relate this to Robert Smith's 'promise' in Chapter 1 and Solomon's departure in Chapter 14 — Morrison creates a trilogy of flight that defies resolution, emphasizing that the myth is more significant than the outcome.

   Independent task

   Students are tasked with writing a timed essay response (around 350–450 words) to the prompt: 'In Song of Solomon, Morrison presents freedom as something that can only be achieved through loss.' To what extent do you agree? Students should reference at least three key moments from the novel — specifically, they should consider: Robert Smith (Ch.1), Hagar's death (Ch.16), and Pilate's death (Ch.18). This essay will serve as the draft for the summative assessment.

   Exit ticket

   Write the quotation from the novel that you believe best reflects Morrison's perspective on the cost of freedom. You have ninety seconds.

Activities

Assessment

• Exit ticket after Lesson 1: student identifies a word with literal and symbolic meaning from Chapter 1 — marker checks whether student can distinguish denotation from connotation in Morrison's specific diction.
• PEEL paragraph from Lesson 1 on Smith's fall and Milkman's birth — marker checks whether student embeds quotation rather than drops it, and whether the analysis addresses juxtaposition specifically.
• Comparative paragraph from Lesson 2 on Macon's property speech (Ch.3) and Pilate's earring (Ch.4) — marker checks whether student sustains comparison across both extracts and integrates one piece of relevant context.
• Lesson 3 analytical response on Guitar's Seven Days speech (Ch.7) — peer-marked in Lesson 4; marker checks whether student analyses connotation of a single word rather than paraphrasing Guitar's argument.
• Annotated extract plus paragraph from Lesson 4 on Milkman's recognition scene (Ch.15) — marker checks whether annotation identifies structural echoes to Ch.1 and whether paragraph distinguishes individual achievement from collective memory.

Standards covered

Common Core 11 12

• RL.11-12.1 — Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• RL.11-12.2 — Determine two or more themes of a text and analyse their development over the course of the text.
• RL.11-12.3 — Analyse the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story (e.g. where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
• RL.11-12.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyse the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
• RL.11-12.6 — Analyse a case in which grasping a point of view or cultural experience requires distinguishing what is directly stated from what is really meant.

AP Literature

• Literary Argumentation (LAN-1) — Develop a thesis that makes a defensible claim about the interpretation of a literary text.
• Figurative Language (FIG-1) — Explain the function of specific words and phrases in a literary text, including their connotative and figurative meanings.
• Narration (NAR-1) — Explain the function of point of view, narrative persona, and narrative structure in a literary text.
• Character (CHR-1) — Explain the function of contrasting characters in a literary text.
• Structure (STR-1) — Explain the function of a significant event or detail in a literary text and its relationship to the work as a whole.

AQA

• AO1 — Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression.
• AO2 — Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.
• AO3 — Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.
• AO4 — Explore connections across literary texts (applied here to structural echoes within the novel — Smith, Solomon, Milkman — and to the African American oral tradition).

Edexcel

• AO1 — Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology and coherent, accurate written expression.
• AO2 — Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology.
• AO3 — Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received (post-Civil Rights era, Black Power movement, African American folk tradition of the Flying African myth).
• AO5 — Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audiences (applied in the Hagar interior monologue activity).