Jazz

• Genre: Fiction; historical
• Originally Published: 1992
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 980L; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 10 unnumbered, unnamed chapters; approximately 229 pages; approximately 3 hours on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: In 1926, Joe Trace, a cosmetics salesman, fatally shoots his young lover; his wife, Violet, then sets out to learn as much as she can about the girl her husband murdered. The novel is the second in a series that, along with its predecessor Beloved and its sequel Paradise, represents Black history through the events and emotions of the characters.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence; murder; racism and race issues; outdated and offensive language, including use of the n-word; mental health; suicide

Toni Morrison, Author

• Bio: 1931-2019; born in Ohio; attended Howard University and Cornell University; taught at Texas Southern University; became the first female Black fiction editor at Random House (1965); published first novel (The Bluest Eye) in 1970; earned Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (for Beloved; 1970) and Nobel Prize in Literature (1993); tapped to give the Jefferson Lecture, the highest honor awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (1996); awarded the National Book Foundation’s Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (1996); received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2012); inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame (2020); known for honest and moving portrayals of Black history and experiences in her work
• Other Works: The Bluest Eye (1970); Beloved (1987); Paradise (1997); Love (2003)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Violence as an Act of Love
• Relationships and Trauma
• Desire and Possession

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an improved understanding of the social and historical contexts of the novel through discussion of the nature/nurture dichotomy and a short activity on impactful events in the 1920s and 1930s.
• Read/study paired texts and other brief resources to deepen their understanding of the themes of Violence as an Act of Love, Relationships and Trauma, and Desire and Possession.
• Convey an understanding of characterization and character arc through the writing of original lyrics to a jazz song.
• Analyze textual elements such as symbolism, motif, characterization, setting, and voice and construct essay responses about the novel’s physical settings, the absence of mothers in the narrative, and other topics.