Song of Solomon

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 below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text throughout your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Milkman allegedly travels from Michigan to Pennsylvania to find the gold Macon II believes in a cave.

• What is Milkman’s real quest? (topic sentence)
• Explain how Milkman’s search for gold becomes a family search and why.
• In your closing sentences, evaluate the success of Milkman’s quest.

2. Mr. Smith jumps from the hospital. Milkman rejects his family, breaks up with Hagar, and travels to Pennsylvania. Guitar gives up marriage and children for the Seven Days. Macon I flies from a fence when shot, and Macon II maintains a loveless marriage. Solomon leaves his wife and children to return to Africa.

• Why do the men in the novel “fly” from varying circumstances? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast the “flights” of Milkman, Guitar, Macon I and II, and Solomon.
• In your closing sentences, discuss how the male characters break or fail to break this pattern of abandonment.

3. Macon II and Pilate are haunted by the deaths of their parents and the resulting rift between them. Milkman inherits his father’s pain about the past.

• In what ways does the past affect the Dead family in the present? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast the influence of the past on Macon II, Pilate, and Milkman.
• In your closing sentences, discuss how the Dead family members free themselves from the chains of the past.

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. The biblical “Song of Solomon” is a series of love poems. In what ways is Morrison’s novel a love poem to Black men, Black women, and the Black community? As you compose your essay, define the traits of a love poem, and explain how Morrison mimics each trait in prose form. Cite text evidence to support your claim regarding the intended recipient of Morrison’s love poem.

2. The root worker tells Pilate that navels are for people who are “born natural,” meaning that Pilate’s birth, and therefore Pilate, are unnatural. Guitar tells Milkman that white people are the unnatural enemy of Black people. Analyze how Morrison juxtaposes natural and unnatural items in the novel. What is Morrison saying about the two states of being? Cite text evidence to support your claim.

3. At the novel’s end, Milkman and Guitar fight to the death. However, Milkman is not afraid because he has learned to fly, like his great-grandfather Solomon before him. Why is Milkman able to fly? Cite text evidence to support your claim.