Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1, Sections 1-5

Reading Check

1. Why is Rowan walking to the District Attorney’s office?

2. What is found near the servants’ quarters in Rowan’s backyard?

3. Where does Will confront an African American male?

4. What clues do Rowan and James find in Rowan’s backyard?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does the encounter between Will and Clarence relate to the novel’s theme of Racialized Violence and Intersections of Privilege?

2. How does Rowan feel about being Black?

Paired Resources

“The United States Prohibition of Alcohol”

• This article outlines the history of Prohibition and the resulting consequences of Prohibition for America’s criminal activity.
• What events led up to Prohibition? When did Prohibition begin and end? What did Prohibition entail? Who were the bootleggers? What were some of the criminal consequences of Prohibition? How does Prohibition relate to the novel’s theme of The Telling of History?

“The Speakeasies of the 1920s”

• This article describes what a speakeasy is and how these establishments flourished under Prohibition.
• What is a speakeasy? Why were speakeasies around in 1921?