I absolutely love teaching Song of Solomon. I’m excited to start it with my current AP Lit seniors this Friday. One reason I love teaching this book is that it rewards the patient reader, and it’s a joy to see students discover Morrison’s writing. I recently heard from a former student who graduated years ago, and he shared that he was re-reading Song of Solomon and still considered it his favorite book. One of my all-time favorite teaching moments was during a discussion of Morrison’s craft when a student marveled, “How does she do this?”

When We Know Too Much

I’ve taught the novel for about ten years, and I still discover something new each time. But familiarity brings its own challenge: the more often we teach a book, the easier it becomes to see connections our students haven’t yet discovered. We recognize the patterns in characters’ names, the recurring imagery of flight, and the significance of details that initially seem unimportant. Students have not yet learned to notice these details. With Song of Solomon, this temptation to make connections for students is especially strong because Morrison constructs meaning across widely separated scenes. But what do we take away from students when we explain a connection before they’ve had a chance to discover it?

Students discovering the novel for the first time benefit from the guidance of class discussion. Providing interpretations may help students understand a passage, but letting them investigate and reconsider details builds their capacity to read challenging literature independently.

One of my favorite examples is Magdalene called Lena’s rebuke of Milkman in chapter 9. She says

You have yet to wash your own underwear, spread a bed, wipe the ring from your tub, or move a fleck of your dirt from one place to another. And to this day, you have never asked one of us if we were tired, or sad, or wanted a cup of coffee. You’ve never picked up anything heavier than your own feet, or solved a problem harder than fourth-great arithmetic. Where do you get the right to decide our lives? (215)

When we reach this passage, students are often so fed up with Milkman that they are cheering Lena on. However, I ask students to note these tasks and think about what neglecting them says about Milkman. I don’t tell them why these tasks will matter; we will discover that information later. They might not understand the full significance now, but later, when Guitar sees Milkman help a man lift a crate, we understand Guitar’s belief that Milkman must be moving the gold to keep for himself. After all, he’s never lifted anything heavier than his own feet. We also understand the significance of the small tasks he performs for Sweet:

He made up the bed. She gave him gumbo to eat. He washed the dishes. She washed his clothes and hung them out to dry. He scoured her tub. She ironed his shirt and pants. He gave her fifty dollars. She kissed his mouth. He touched her face. She said please come back. He said I’ll see you tonight. (285)

This contrast becomes evidence of Milkman’s transformation. He begins doing some of the very things Lena claims he has never done. After reading this passage about Sweet, we return to Lena’s earlier rebuke, but that’s not the most important teaching move. The critical move is not announcing the connection in advance. When students recognize the connection between these two passages themselves, it is more powerful than if I had told students what to look for. Not every student will notice the connection independently, but class discussion can bring out those “a-ha” moments and help students see how Morrison rewards readers who make connections.

Withholding Interpretations Isn’t Withholding Support

Withholding interpretations doesn’t mean I am withholding support. When reading a writer as complex as Toni Morrison, students need frameworks. I provide this guidance through a reader’s notebook and inquiry routines:

• Scene Study helps students consider how a scene functions.
• Character Mirror invites them to analyze characters in relation to one another.
• Symbol Tracker helps them trace recurring details.
• MOWAW Reflection encourages them to connect individual moments to the novel’s larger meaning.

These structures don’t tell students what conclusions to draw or what interpretation I’m looking for. Instead, they help students develop the reading habits that strengthen their interpretations. A question I frequently return to is “What makes you say that?” It drives students into the text to support their ideas with evidence. Inquiry requires careful instructional design and, sometimes, more preparation and more deliberate teacher moves than direct instruction.

Learning to Change Our Minds

Morrison repeatedly asks readers to revise their understanding as new information emerges. For example, students (and Milkman) begin with incomplete information about Milkman’s family, but they follow his journey of discovery as he fills in the gaps in his family tree. Macon and Pilate remember the details surrounding their father’s death differently, though their stories correspond in interesting ways. Students learn that changing your interpretation isn’t evidence of misunderstanding. In fact, it shows you’re learning to read more deeply. Teaching this novel requires a classroom culture that makes students feel comfortable expressing uncertainty, testing their interpretations, and revising their thinking.

Years after taking my class, students will not remember every detail about Milkman’s family history. But I hope they will remember how to approach a complex work: pay attention, ask questions, notice patterns, listen to other interpretations, and remain willing to reconsider. The goal is to help students become readers who can develop their own interpretations of whatever they encounter next.

I’ve recently finished rebuilding my Song of Solomon unit for The Inquiry Classroom, drawing on nearly a decade of teaching the novel and refining the activities that help students make these discoveries. It includes 14 complete lessons, reading notebooks, reusable Inquiry Routines, staged family-tree reveals, collaborative investigations, and a student-selected literary analysis assignment.  Longtime readers of this blog may recall that I teach Beyoncé’s Lemonade album alongside Song of Solomon, and I’ve included tips for this optional extension. Check out this resource below.

This site and resource are not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.