Blues Ain't No Mockingbird

How would the story change if it were told from a third-person perspective? Rewrite a passage using this perspective, observing what changes and what doesn’t. What does it illustrate about why Bambara chose a child’s perspective?

Granny acts impulsively, but she is also high-minded and perseverant. Write about the importance of this dichotomy and how it relates to Bambara’s aim of showing Black humanity.

The story is unspecified in location or decade, but there are clues as to the setting: The pecan trees indicate the American South, and the 1960s saw pilot programs for what were then called “food stamps.” What did the rural South look like at that time? What laws protected Black people from discrimination, and what oppression did they face? Write about what life would have been like for this young, Black narrator had she and her family been real.

Cathy mentions she will one day write a story, and scholars have speculated this is a reference to Bambara herself. Where else does Bambara use the notion of storytelling in the narrative? Address more than the fact that the characters tell anecdotes.

Write about the work being produced today that is in conversation with Bambara, the Black Arts Movement, Black feminism, and/or Blackhood. Which themes in “Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird” are still being explored in contemporary literature?

Imagine if the tables were turned and the county men were Black and the family were white. Describe how the story would unfold differently.

By the end of the story, which characters have changed? Which characters remain the same? How so? Cite specific textual examples.

Bambara received her bachelor’s degree in theater. How might her theater background have influenced this story? What about her other work?