Teaching Sula

Sula might have the shortest title of all Toni Morrison's novels, but it's one of her hardest reads. We can help you untangle this complex knot of friendship, race, love, family, gender, death…er, maybe we should save time by just listing the themes that are not in the book?

In this guide you will find

• essay questions about all those themes we mentioned, plus war, relationships, good and evil…you get the point.
• resources to add historical context about World War I and World War II.
• an activity where students will pretend to interview the novel's characters.

If you wanted simple, you'd teach James Patterson. But our Sula teaching guide is fearless.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

• 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students. 
• Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
• Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
• Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
• A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching Sula?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.