Song of Solomon

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What happens to Mr. Smith in Chapter 1?

2. What is unusual about Milkman’s birth?

3. How is Macon I tricked out of his land at Lincoln’s Heaven?

4. How does Guitar react to the news of Emmitt Till’s murder?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Macon III get the nickname “Milkman”?

2. How does Pilate get her name?

3. What do Mr. Smith and Hagar have in common?

4. What event causes Milkman to learn some unsettling news about his mother?

Paired Resource

“The People Could Fly”

• As retold by Virginia Hamilton, this Black folktale explains the desire to fly as the desire to escape the bondage of enslavement for freedom.
• ·The paired resource will help students explore the theme of The Consequences of Masculine Flight: Defying Patterns of Abandonment Through Love.
• Consider the significance of Milkman’s disappointment in being unable to fly even from an early age.

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. How does Milkman end his relationship with Hagar?

2. With whom is Guitar spending time, according to Freddie?

3. To what location does Milkman follow his mother?

4. What isolates Pilate from others in her community?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What details have been revealed about Pilate’s green sack?

2. How does Milkman respond to Hagar when she makes another attempt on his life with a butcher knife?

3. What two things are described as “unnatural”?

4. What is the Seven Days?

Paired Resources

Genesis 1:1-31

• In this section of the Bible, God creates the world in seven days. In Christianity, the number seven symbolizes completion and perfection.
• Make connections between God’s creation of the world in seven days and the Seven Days creation of balance.

John 12:42-50

• In this section of the Bible, Jesus says that God will judge those who reject Him.
• Make connections between God’s judgment and the Seven Days’ judgment against white people. Is the group’s thinking logical or flawed? Explain.

Part 1, Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. What does Macon II ask Milkman to steal from Pilate?

2. What does Milkman offer Guitar to join the theft plot?

3. First Corinthians begins relationships with which two people?

4. What does Milkman do that hurts First Corinthians?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What causes the childhood rift between Macon II and Pilate?

2. What is the result of Milkman and Guitar’s theft plot?

3. What does Pilate’s green bag contain?

4. Why is Lena angry with Milkman?

Paired Resource

“Circe”

• This entry from World History Encyclopedia familiarizes readers with the Greek goddess Circe, whom the Butler’s maid Circe is named after.
• Compare and contrast the two Circes. Why might Morrison have named her character after this goddess?

Part 2, Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. Why did the Butlers kill Macon Dead I?

2. Why does Circe stay in the Butlers’ house?

3. Who tries to kill Milkman during the hunting trip?

4. What family information does Milkman learn from Susan Byrd during their first meeting?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What family history does Milkman learn in Danville, Pennsylvania?

2. What does Milkman expect to find in the cave, and what does he find?

3. How does the “Song of Solomon” help Milkman discover his family history?

4. Milkman loses which material possessions while in Danville and Shalimar?

Paired Resource

“Hansel and Gretel”

• Hansel and Gretel, siblings abandoned in the woods, are captured by a witch who wants to eat them.
• Based on the opening of Chapter 10, compare and contrast Milkman with Hansel and Gretel.

Part 2, Chapters 13-15

Reading Check

1. What happens to Hagar?

2. Who are “the flying Africans”?

3. What is really in Pilate’s green bag?

4. What happens to Pilate?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why isn’t Pilate’s love enough for Hagar?

2. What additional information does Susan Byrd reveal to Milkman?

3. Why does Milkman take the box with Hagar’s hair?

4. Why does Milkman offer himself up to Guitar?

Paired Resource

“Revisiting the Legend of Flying Africans”

• In this article, Sophia Nahli Allison discusses the legend that tells how some of the enslaved Africans brought to the Americas possessed the ability to fly. (Subscription may be needed for viewing)
• Analyze the significance of “flying Africans” in Morrison’s novel.

Recommended Next Reads 

Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales by Julius Lester

• Black author Julius Lester (1939–2018) collects and retells the largest body of Black folktales. Initially told orally and at some points in history appropriated by white culture, Lester’s work reclaims an important element of Black culture, shedding light on Morrison’s interest in the power of naming.

Four Hundred Souls by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

• Morrison makes many historical allusions to influential figures and events in Black history in Song of Solomon. In this text, 90 Black writers trace the history of Black America, allowing readers to familiarize themselves with the setting of Morrison’s novel.
• Four Hundred Souls on SuperSummary