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The Bean Trees Author WHS Book Rationale Title: The Bean Trees Author: Barbara Kingsolver Intended Audience English 10 students Brief summary and educational significance Summary from www.kinsgsolver.com “Taylor Greer, who grew up in poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when Taylor heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head- on. By the time she arrives in Tucson, she has acquired a completely unexpected child and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.” Barbara Kingsolver has been named one of the most important writers of the 20th century by literary critics. Novelist, essayist, poet and short-story writer, Barbara Kingsolver often addresses important topics such as social justice, biodiversity and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments in her work. Kingsolver’s books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, and have been adopted into the core literature curriculum in high schools and colleges throughout the nation. She has contributed to more than 50 literary anthologies, and her reviews and articles have appeared in most major U.S. newspapers and magazines. In 2000 Kingsolver received the National Humanities Medal, our country’s highest honor for service through the arts. In 1998 she established the Bellwether Prize for fiction. Purpose of teaching the work and how it will be used The Bean Trees provides students with a developmentally appropriate opportunity to examine a piece of literature that is shaped by a different culture, not only thematically but also in terms of character and narrative structure. This allows them to analyze how authors’ work and craft choices are shaped by their culture and traditions. The alternating perspectives of narration, in addition to the figurative levels of meaning (symbolism, allusion, etc.) can also be complex and will require students to use deep critical thinking and analysis skills. Students will exercise the 5 Elements of Fiction (Plot, Setting, Character, Conflict, Theme) to contribute to their reading comprehension of the novel. Students will also work with literary devices (symbolism, metaphor, allusion, allegory) to understand the text on a deeper level, as well as connect the characters and events to real-world situations/issues. prompts, creative writing tasks, and argumentative research essays. Potential problems The novel focuses on real-life issues of social injustice as presented through various fictional characters and their realistic experiences. The issues range from gender inequality to race, including the political topic of immigration. While the novel takes place in the 1980’s, the issues demonstrated are still evident in today’s society. Addressing potential problems The obvious cultural differences between most Wyoming students and the main character of this novel provide for a rich discussion of how to read and interpret literature written from such an unfamiliar perspective. Many students have already witnessed, experienced, or exercised a form of social injustice- whether they know it or not. Students will read non-fiction texts focused on the theme of social injustice, both past and present, in order to improve their understanding of the term and theme of social injustice, as presented in the novel and the real-world. Awards and honors Kingsolver's writing has received much acclaim. Her awards and honors include American Library Association awards for The Bean Trees in 1988 and Homeland in 1990; a citation of accomplishment from United Nations National Council of Women in 1989; a PEN fiction prize and Edward Abbey Ecofiction award, both in 1991, for Animal Dreams; a Los Angeles Times Book Award for Fiction in 1993 for Pigs in Heaven; a feature-writing award from the Arizona Press Club (1996); The Orange Prize for The Lacuna and the James Beard Award for Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. The Poisonwood Bible was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Orange Prize .
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