Jazz

The narrative in Jazz depends on different characters’ memories to tell the story. The novel is not told by an objective, omniscient power but relies on the perspectives of the main characters and some secondary characters. How does the narrator function as a character in this novel? Consider these questions as you formulate a response.

• What does the reader know about the narrator?
• Why might Morrison have selected this narrator and chosen to keep her anonymous?
• How does the narrator’s voice shape the events of the story and the reader’s opinions?
• How might the narrator be unreliable? What evidence is there that their memory is imperfect?
• How is the narrator different at the end of the novel from the beginning?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt invites students to consider how the narrator functions as a character while considering how their subjectivity informs the novel. Students might review terms like “static,” “dynamic,” “round,” “flat,” and “unreliable narrator” and use them in their discussion of the narrator. Morrison’s narrative stresses the characters’ varied perspectives and the effects on their memories and relationships. Students also might be encouraged to articulate how Morrison represents the themes through various perspectives and incorporates historical fact.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with attentional and executive function learning differences may benefit from a numbered list of questions with spacing so that they can focus on one aspect of the prompt at a time.