26 Jan 4. What do we learn about

American Literature

Week 9 Assignment

Toni Morrison Recitatif

Instructions

Toni Morrison’s brief biography begins on P. 605. After reading her biography, read “Recitatif”, p. 607. Then respond to the questions after the graphic.

Definition of “Recitatif”

The word “recitatif” will likely be unfamiliar to you. It is derived from the word “recitative,” which has a number of definitions, all of which hold possible significance for Toni Morrison’s story. The word may refer to a style of expression between song and ordinary speech used by performers during the narrative or dialogue parts of an opera. It also has a now obsolete definition: “the tone or rhythm peculiar to any language.” Recitative may also refer to anything that has the nature of a recital or repetition.

Busing and School Integration in the 1970s

Near the end of “Recitatif” the two main characters, Twyla and Roberta, encounter each other while picketing on different sides of a protest related to school busing and school integration. Public schools in the United States were technically desegregated in 1954 with the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education. But, by the 1970s, many American school districts were still segregated in practice because of housing inequalities and because of the ongoing segregation of neighborhoods. In its 1971 ruling on Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of required busing to end school segregation. Under federal court supervision, school districts across the nation in the 1970s and 1980s began assigning students to particular schools based on calculations designed to produce racial balance in those schools, rather than based on the students’ geographic proximity to them. Many families protested and resisted what became known as “forced busing,” claiming that it was burdensome and counterproductive to transport children away from their immediate neighborhoods to attend school. Some children transferred to private schools to avoid compliance with integration reforms. Today, most school districts have ended mandatory busing schemes and de facto segregation continues to exist.

Complete the following questions in a Word document and submit your answers via the dropbox by Saturday at 11:55 pm EST:

1. The story immediately establishes that Twyla and Roberta are, as Twyla puts it, “from whole other race[s],” and readers quickly find themselves struggling to determine which character is black and which is white based on ambiguous hints in the story. What racial stereotypes or racial codes serve as “hints” in the story about the two characters’ race? Why are their races ultimately indeterminable?

2. How does the story force readers to question their own reliance on racial stereotypes?

3. How do stereotypes about race intersect with stereotypes about class in the story? What kinds of confusion does that intersection cause?

4. What do we learn about Twyla’s memory over the course of the story? What does she remember vividly, what does she forget, and what does she seem to change her mind about?

5. Is Twyla a reliable narrator?

6. What is Twyla’s relationship to food? What does food seem to represent for her? Do her feelings about food change over the course of the story?

Carefully check your sentence construction, punctuation, grammar, and spelling. Points will be deducted if there are errors in these areas. Be sure to read the chapter overviews (for those you have missed or skipped, go back and review them. They are there to help you become more proficient in English writing and speaking). Each question requires a thorough, well-written response. I suggest that you write your responses in Word, check it carefully, then post to the course room.

You can do this!