Sula

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Sula and Nel have a complicated friendship that ranges from a single identity to betrayal to loss.

• What does the friendship mean to each woman? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast the ways in which the friendship meets each woman’s needs.
• In your concluding sentences, evaluate the value of the friendship. Does it help or harm each woman?

2. In Medallion, Helene represents respectability while Eva represents indecency.

• In what ways does respectability serve Helene and her family, and in what ways does indecency serve Eva and her family? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast the two women and their families in terms of respectability. Give specific examples from the novel.
• In your concluding sentences, comment on what Morrison seems to be saying about Black Womanhood and the Politics of Respectability.

3. In many ways, the women of Medallion live with the legacies of their mothers.

• Choose a female character in the novel. What legacy from her mother does this character inherit? (topic sentence)
• Connect the mother’s legacy with the development of her daughter, citing specific examples from the text.
• In your concluding sentences, discuss whether the character’s mother’s legacy is a burden or a gift.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Sula begins with an epigraph from The Rose Tattoo, a play by Tennessee Williams about a difficult relationship between a mother and a daughter. Imagine Sula speaking these lines. In what way do the lines in the epigraph relate to the character of Sula? Cite text evidence to support your claim.

2. Morrison’s dedication in Sula reads, “It is good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.” In what ways does this sentiment relate to the relationship between Nel and Sula? Cite text evidence to support your claim.

3. In Sula, the river is often associated with death. The people sing “Shall We Gather at the River” at funerals. One character drowns in a river. Yet, many enslaved people escaped bondage by following a river into Ohio, where the story is set, and Shadrack makes a living by fishing in the river. How does the river function as a symbol in Sula? Cite text evidence to support your claim.