Introductory Activities
To begin the unit and introduce its central concepts, students will look over a selection of maps: “Poison / Palette” and “Queens and Monarchs” from Rebecca Solnit’s Infinite City, John Fulford’s “The Walk to South School 1964 - 1971,” and a map of the London subway system. This selection shows students a variety of maps, each with a separate function and focus, in order to demonstrate that maps can provide and clarify many different kinds of information. In small groups, students will use a set of guiding questions to consider what each map is meant to communicate to the user. After sharing their preliminary thoughts on these maps, students will read Jorge Luis Borges’ “On Exactitude in Science,” a one-paragraph narrative that describes a map equally large as the area it represents, in the interest of “perfect” cartography. After reading the story, students should discuss: is the map in the story a useful one? Why or why not? What would make it more useful? After reading and discussing the story, the teacher should share Rebecca Solnit’s assertion, “A map is in its essence an arbitrary selection of information.” Again, students should split into pairs and discuss: is this a valid claim? Is there a way to make the selection of information in a map less arbitrary?
After considering the nature of maps from this perspective, each student will be asked to create a map of a space or route that is significant to them personally, referring back to Fulford’s map as an example. Students should be aware that their maps may be small-scale (like a house, apartment, or room map) or larger-scale (like a neighborhood, state, or world map). After creating these maps, students will be asked to reflect on their work: was this an easy or difficult task? What was included in the map? What was left out? Students will share their responses to these questions in a small group before sharing with the entire class. Discussion following this activity should reinforce that mapping is a process of selection, in which certain points are determined to be more important to the purpose of the map than others. The four maps from the beginning of this activity should be discussed in this context. Students will then write a brief reflection to accompany this first map and include in their portfolios.
Next, students will try mapping a familiar text. In this activity, students may choose any book or short story that they know well, and draw a map of its most important locations. The teacher may provide students with a selection of previously read texts in which location plays an important role. If students have read The Color Purple, for example, they may draw the distant settings in the book (rural Georgia and Western Africa) from which Celie and Nettie write their letters to one another. Students who have read A Raisin in the Sun may draw out a floor plan of the Youngers’ apartment, or a map of Chicago that illustrates the distance between the city’s South Side and the Clybourne Park neighborhood. After creating these maps, students will again meet in small groups to share their illustrations and offer feedback and questions to each other. During this portion of the activity, the teacher may request that group members comment on each others’ maps before they are presented, in order to provide a wide range of comments for each student. Students will again address questions of selection: what was included, and what was left out? Why?
After students have shared their maps, they will be asked to consider elements of the text in addition to setting: conflict, characterization, point of view, themes. These should be added as icons on students’ maps in order to create a fuller visual representation of the text. Students may make creative choices regarding how and where each element should be plotted: where does conflict exist in the story, for example, and how can that be represented in a map? What shape and color is each icon, and why? For example, a map based on A Raisin in the Sun may place characters inside or outside the apartment, based on where each spends the most time in search of their dream. Walter Lee might be located outside the space of the apartment, as he attempts to fulfill himself and his perceived familial duties through time with his friends and (doomed) business opportunities. Beneatha, on the other hand, may be placed inside the apartment, as her search for self-actualization is more of an inward one than her brother’s. Other icons on the map may indicate between which characters conflict exists, or where important events took place. When this task is complete, students will have created a multidimensional document that shows the “world” of the text at a glance, based on what they consider to be the most important selection of information. This introductory project should also be added to students’ portfolios.
Throughout the unit, it will be necessary for students to study real, geographical maps to get a feel for their aesthetics. Maps that serve various purposes and feature different design choices will be helpful to observe and discuss. On one day, the class might look at Walter Crane’s Imperial Federation Map and consider how the images and other artistic choices communicate a message beyond simply where places are. A different day might find students discussing the London subway map, which uses color-coding to differentiate separate tracks. In each case, the students should discuss and take notes on how the maps use visual elements to present and organize information and (when applicable) advance a position with rhetoric.
Full-Group Instruction: Mapping Literary Concepts
To apply the concepts of literary mapping that we have introduced, students will read a short text in which physical spaces and boundaries are especially important. Nadine Gordimer’s short story “Once Upon a Time” lends itself well to this activity. After reading the text, students should consider how distance and separation are important to the events of the story. Students may (individually or in pairs) draw maps to show how they imagine the gated community and its walls. After the maps have been drawn, the class should discuss the ways in which the story focuses on divisions between groups of people, and why setting is so important in this text. When responding to this prompt, some students will likely point out that the literal boundaries described in the story (the walls and locked gates around the community) create more figurative divisions (between the residents of the gated community and the “people of another color”). The maps that students have created for this activity, then, show not only people’s physical locations, but also their positions on a hierarchy of class and race. This can lead into a class discussion of how setting impacts themes in the story dealing with xenophobia and segregation. Engaging in this activity will prepare students to visualize settings as well as elements of text that are more abstract. These “Once Upon a Time” maps and reflections should be added to students’ portfolios (or “atlases”).
Once students have some experience creating maps based on text, they may begin reading the anchor text for the unit, Sing, Unburied, Sing. Because many characters are introduced in the first chapter, most of whom are related (either by law or by blood), it is helpful for students to construct a family tree diagram to keep track of them all. As readers encounter new characters, they can add their names to this diagram, along with brief notes to help remember key characteristics about each. The teacher may choose to provide this to students completely blank, or with some names filled in for reference. Students should add this chart to their atlases, reinforcing that a family tree also functions as a map. As the unit progresses, students can add information to the branches of this diagram, including the nature of the relationships between specific characters and how this can be represented by literal distance or closeness.
In addition to completing the family tree, a useful ongoing activity will be to keep track of important locations in the novel. Most of Sing, Unburied, Sing takes place over the course of a road trip to and from Parchman Prison, and as the characters move from one location to the next, it is important for readers to consider how each new setting reveals new information about the characters. Students might use a graphic organizer to chart each chapter’s narrator, key events, and setting (possibly with room for students to create an illustration). This information could be charted on a map of the state of Mississippi, where the locations in the book are all set. Google Maps may be used to plot points for this activity; however, because the locations are fictional, students will have to infer where in the state each place might be.
One of the first unconventional aspects of the novel that students will notice is its use of multiple narrators. As Jojo and his mother, Leonie, each relate their experiences in alternating chapters, students should begin constructing maps to document the characters’ journeys. As these two characters disagree with each other, encounter obstacles, and react differently to the same situations, their maps may begin to look very different from one another, which will prompt students to make predictions about the text. Where are the characters heading, literally and figuratively? Who or what motivates them?
As students begin reading, it will also be necessary to discuss the multiple timelines that exist in the novel. Jojo and Leonie each narrate their chapters in the present, although flashback sequences are interspersed throughout both characters’ accounts. For the most part, these scenes set in the past are not conspicuously marked, except by a change in verb tense. It can be helpful, then, for students to watch carefully for these flashbacks and document them on separate timelines. As they read, students may keep track of Jojo’s present narration and his flashbacks (which gradually reveal more about River’s experience while incarcerated at Parchman) on one map, and Leonie’s present and past on another. As a point of reference during this activity, students may refer to character timelines from previously studied texts.
The maps that students have created during this portion of the unit should remain in their atlases, where they can be revised and developed further throughout the remainder of the unit.
Small-Group Focus: Mapping Progressions and Relationships
As readers progress further into the text, the unit will shift from full-class instruction to emphasize cooperative, small-group work. During this portion of the unit, students will begin to focus on mapping more abstract concepts and themes that are emerging in the novel. As they collaborate to design and assemble the maps described in this section, student groups may focus on different concepts and characters, allowing for the teacher to differentiate as necessary.
As they continue to consider the setting of each chapter, students should discuss in their groups what important events happen at each location, how the setting contributes to those advancements in plot, and how it facilitates character development. Once readers have completed a substantial portion of the novel, the teacher may assign each group a different location and scene to revisit and map out. Learners in one group, for example, might work together to construct a map of Al’s house in Chapter 5, showing the physical locations of the characters. In this particular scene, students may identify how the literal distance between the adults and children aligns with the strained relationship between Leonie and her children, Jojo and Kayla. The physical closeness in this scene (all the characters are in the same house) mirrors the ideal emotional closeness between a parent and their children, while the physical distance (Leonie is in a separate room, using drugs with the other adults, while Jojo tends to a sick Kayla) more accurately depicts the children’s estrangement from their mother. Students may emulate the style shown in the “Architectural Maps” section of Helen Cann’s How to Make Hand-Drawn Maps to create a realistic-looking floor plan for this activity.
Concept Mapping: Race
As students read, they should be mindful of the ways that race impacts different characters’ experiences throughout the novel. Students may be asked to document specific situations in which race affects characters’ decisions or behavior. This evidence could be placed on a timeline, revealing patterns of discrimination and marginalization. This is most clearly evident near the beginning of the book, when Leonie describes the circumstances of Given’s death and its subsequent cover-up. Some instances in the book that are impacted by race may not be immediately obvious to students, however, so it may be helpful to introduce discussion questions that will allow students to discover on their own why race matters in these moments. For example, after the car carrying Leonie, Michael, Jojo, Kayla, and Misty is stopped by the police, students may be asked to discuss how concerned they were for each character’s safety. Students should recognize that, in a group with three adults, one of whom has just been released from prison, the only person who has a gun pointed at them is 13-year-old Jojo, a Black child. Both of these events exemplify real-life injustices against people of color, and should be addressed in class conversations.
In a separate activity, students might create a map that categorizes characters according to racial identity, positioning events in the book that indicate relative advantage or disadvantage around the characters’ names. A map of this sort may focus on “criminal” activity, possibly featuring the mapmaker’s vision of what Parchman Prison looks like. Illustrations or names of characters could be positioned in or around the prison yard, including a brief description of the actions that resulted (or did not result) in their incarceration. The characters’ locations around the prison could correspond to the severity of their experiences there. For example, Richie, sent to Parchman as a child, could be placed deep inside the prison yard with a mention of his “crime” (literally stealing food to feed his starving family). Near the outer edges of the prison, the mapmaker might place Michael’s cousin, who murdered Given but received a light sentence. Big Joseph, who orchestrated the cover-up of the murder but was never arrested for any crime, could be placed outside the prison completely. A student may use a map like this to illustrate the unjust, dehumanizing treatment of the Black characters, like Richie, as well as the preferential treatment of the white characters (like Michael’s cousin and Big Joseph). A map of this kind reveals the racial inequity depicted in the novel, which, while prevalent, is never explicitly described.
Another activity that may be used to emphasize the role of race in the novel is for students to create mind maps or heart maps for various characters. After studying examples of these kinds of diagrams, students may create a set of them to visually represent the thoughts, feelings, hopes, and fears of characters in the novel. To indicate how race impacts the characters, students should select a set of characters of different racial identities, showing how each experiences and perceives the world differently. For example, portions of Leonie’s heart map would likely be dedicated to her murdered brother, who continues to haunt her, and to her fear of and animosity toward Big Joseph, who despises her (and Jojo and Kayla, too) because of his racial prejudice toward Black people. It will be helpful to compare such a map to one made for Michael, a white character, in order to show the contrasts between the characters’ experiences: Michael and Big Joseph have a conflicted relationship, too, but the source of this is Big Joseph’s disapproval of his son’s decisions, rather than who he is (as in Leonie’s case).
Concept Mapping: Trauma
Many underlying themes in Sing, Unburied, Sing have to do with the lasting effects of trauma. Richie, River, Leonie, and Michael have each experienced some unresolved, catastrophic event that has wounded them deeply, and that continues to impact their behavior. To consider how this affects each character (as well as the people around them), students may review the website for the Claudia Black Young Adult Center, which provides a clear, student-friendly overview of the impact of trauma on individuals. After exploring this resource, separate groups may each be assigned a character from the novel who has undergone a traumatic event. Working collaboratively, students can identify the traumatic event that has marked their character, as well as behavior that might be the result of the character processing, repressing, or coping with the event. Once this information has been compiled and organized, students may diagram the character’s progression through their trauma on a map resembling a timeline, including illustrations and written explanations at each stage.
Independent Focus: Performance Task
Students’ final project for this unit includes both written and visual components. By the end of the unit, each student will have compiled a unique portfolio, featuring maps that represent time, space, character growth, and more. For their final task, students should select four or five of these maps that they feel best represent their understanding of the novel’s complexities. Students may take time to revise these maps, adding color and more detail as they see fit. To accompany the maps, each student should submit a written reflection that explains the design choices that were made in the creation of these maps. What is the significance of distance and location in the novel? How does each map represent those concepts?
Rebecca Solnit writes, “An atlas may represent many places the same way or the same place in many ways.” This is a useful quote for students to consider as they choose the maps that will comprise their atlases. What story do these maps tell? What do they reveal or clarify about the text? Do they show “many places in the same way” by illustrating different characters’ timelines or various settings in the novel? Or, do they show “the same place in many ways,” by presenting multiple maps of one character, showing their development over the course of the novel and their relationships to others?
Regardless of which maps are selected, students should clarify the important information illustrated by each map with a title or caption. For example, if the aforementioned map of Al’s house is included, it might include a title or a caption reading Same house, different worlds (or something similar). Such a statement could be clarified in the written reflection to explain that, although the map depicts the characters within the same, relatively small space, it also illustrates how distant they are from one another, which connects to a larger theme in the novel: family bonds do not necessarily mean emotional closeness or connection.
In addition to illustrating a theme of the novel, each map should include color and illustrations to coincide with its intended function. If, for example, a map depicts the relationship between Leonie and Jojo as timelines that grow increasingly distant from each other, it might show two paths through a wooded area, with symbols of comfort and support for each character alongside each road. Leonie’s path might be framed by items connected to Michael and Misty (drug paraphernalia, for example), while Jojo’s path might show symbols of his relationships with Kayla and River (a gris-gris bag, possibly, or lollipops). Students’ maps will likely look wildly different to begin with, but this step in the revision process will ensure that they take on a new dimension and show each cartographer’s unique stylistic choices.
The atlases and reflection that students submit in this unit are documents of the comprehension process. Because they are tools created by the readers, rather than given to them, the maps show the progression of each cartographer’s journey through a text by identifying important landmarks and illustrating the relationship between them. Solnit and Rebecca Snedeker explain that “[a] map becomes obsolete as you become oriented. The map is no longer on paper in front of you but inside you.” By the time they have created and assembled their atlases, students likely no longer need them to understand the novel; they are able to navigate many aspects of this complex and layered text without consulting a guidebook. More importantly, they will have developed a new set of cartographic strategies that may be transposed to other texts in the future.
Extension Texts
For students who read at an accelerated pace, supplemental texts may be provided, which may be linked to classroom discussions about Sing, Unburied, Sing, or addressed in reading circles. Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory is well-suited to similar mapping activities as those previously described: Danticat’s novel moves between physical settings in the United States and Haiti, each of which is important to character development. Furthermore, Breath, Eyes, Memory addresses the lasting effects of trauma, and these processes may be diagrammed similarly to the trauma maps created for Sing, Unburied, Sing.
Students are also encouraged to independently pursue supplemental texts that can be mapped in a similar fashion.
