The Sing, Unburied, Sing Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by … Leonie has a vision of her brother, Given, who appears to her whenever she is high. They panic, and do not have time to hide the meth they got from Al, so Leonie swallows it. Chapter 10 is told from Leonie’s perspective. Leonie explains that she got pregnant shortly after she and Michael got together, when she was 17. Jojo’s other grandfather, Big Joseph, is white, and Jojo has only met him a couple of times. He explains that the previous night, Richie crawled around the house and sang. Summary Leonie resumes the narration in Chapter 10. The police officer informs Leonie that she was swerving, then asks her to get out of the car and show her license and insurance. Our Reading Guide for Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward includes Book Club Discussion Questions, Book Reviews, Plot Summary-Synopsis and Author Bio. When Michael comes out, he and Leonie passionately embrace. December 13, 2019. Jojo admits that sometimes, at night, he feels like he understands Leonie and why she has been a bad mother, but that he never has this feeling during the day. Jojo is a 13-year-old boy. One day, the Sunshine Woman told River and Richie that a black man and his wife had been lynched because a white woman lied that the man had molested her. On the other hand, in some ways Jojo is like any other boy his age; for example, he is entranced by Misty, and … She reminisces about the first months she and Michael dated as teenagers. Chapter 11 returns to Jojo’s perspective. Web. Sing, Unburied, Sing takes place in a world haunted by slavery, lynching, and other extreme forms of anti-black violence. Course Hero. They clearly haven’t slept. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Leonie arranges the ritual items on the altar, and says the litany for Maman Brigitte. Leonie, Misty, Jojo, and Kayla set off together in the car. In the bathroom, Leonie washes the vomit off Kayla and feels the urge to hit her. The Sing, Unburied, Sing quotes below are all either spoken by Mam or refer to Mam. Leonie then returns to Mam’s room, falls to the floor, and says “Okay.”. Chapter 1. After they kill the goat, Pop sends Jojo back inside, saying he heard Jojo’s three-year-old sister, Kayla, crying. Back in the present, Michael alerts Leonie to a police car nearby. Leonie picks some blackberry plants, which causes her hands to bleed. Sing, Unburied, Sing. Eventually, Richie told Pop that he was “going home.” Back in the present, Michael greets Kayla, but she is tense in response. Jojo is a thirteen year old biracial boy who has taken care of his three year old sister Kayla, since her birth, even though live with their Mam and Pop. Pop’s story is interrupted when Leonie returns with a birthday cake for Jojo. Jojo hears Pop destroying a termite-infested old pen outside and goes to help him. Michael reminds Jojo about a time when they went fishing together and Michael told Jojo about Given. Disgusted, the officer lets them go. Analysis. This Study Guide consists of approximately 71 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Sing, Unburied, Sing. In the midst of the commotion, Jojo sees a young black boy standing by his window. Just after picking up Michael from prison, Richie's ghost appears to Jojo. Richie watches Leonie walk to Given’s grave and ask him to fulfil Mam’s request for the mystère. The fourth chapter returns to Leonie’s point of view. In this short chapter, Richie recalls watching Parchman change over the last 70 years. "Sing, Unburied, Sing Study Guide." The first chapter is told from the perspective of Jojo on his thirteenth birthday. The third chapter moves back to Jojo’s perspective. He wants to tell Jojo about how River looked after him, but says nothing. Jojo enters. Sing, Unburied, Sing Important Quotes. Similarly to how he can hear the animals speak to him, Jojo "hears" Pop say that he loves him by reading the expression on his face. Richie suffered enormously from his injuries, shaking and throwing up even though the wounds didn’t appear to be infected. Big Joseph almost shoots Leonie when she drops off a letter explaining that she'll pick up Michael. 1. Leonie gives Kayla a bath and orders Jojo not to ... Chapter 8 begins by showing the confrontation with the officer from Jojo's perspective. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). Chapter 9 switches to Richie’s perspective. They get in the car and drive off together. Jojo gets out of the car too, and when the officer tries to handcuff him, pointing a gun at his head, Kayla runs in front of Jojo to shield him. The story begins on Jojo's 13th birthday. Jojo wanders out to the shed and peeks inside, where he sees a man (Fred) cooking meth, which Jojo notes is the reason why Michael ended up in prison. 2021. Published in 2017, Sing, Unburied, Sing touches on many of the same issues Ward’s other novels do, including the racial and class divisions of the contemporary American South; the novel takes place against the backdrop of events like the 2010 … The officer immediately handcuffs her, then Michael. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Download a PDF to print or study offline. Written by people who wish to remain anonymous. Richie screams, and Pop tells Jojo that he has been haunted by what he did ever since. She sleeps until they arrive back at the house, but Mam and Pop are not there. The next chapter is told from Leonie’s perspective. Leonie is grasping at straws by looking for blackberry leaves; Mam once told her that the blackberry plant can cure sickness if turned into a tea, but Leonie cannot remember which part of the plant has these medicinal properties. "Sing, Unburied, Sing Study Guide." Jojo knows it is Michael, calling with news that he is getting out of prison this week. “ [I]t was impossible to not hear the animals, because I looked at them and understood, instantly, and it was like looking at a sentence and understanding the words, all of it coming to me at once.”. Chapters 1-4. The biracial son of Leonie and Michael, Jojo is unusually serious and mature for his age, partly because Leonie’s irresponsibility means that he has effectively taken over as the parent of his three-year-old sister, Kayla. This chapter follows Leonie in the hours after she learns that Michael will be released from prison. On coming back from collecting the cemetery stones for Mam’s ritual, she sees Given in the house. Jojo recalls Pop telling him about when he was forced to work under a notorious white overseer named Kinnie Wagner at Parchman, who treated Pop like one of his dogs. Copyright © 2016. It is about a family's dynamics in the fictional town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi. He promises Jojo that he is now “here to stay.” Kayla fusses and cries, and Michael hits her. Symbols & Motifs. Big Joseph and Michael continue to fight while Leonie and the children wait in the car. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. Leonie takes Jojo and Kayla, as well as her friend Misty, on the journey to Parchman. In Course Hero. Course Hero. As Jojo’s narrative begins, his sister Kayla is still asleep, as is Jojo’s grandmother, Mam, who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Chapter 6 is told from Richie’s perspective. The boy says: “I’m going home.”. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. She tells Jojo to get Kayla dressed and in bed, then goes to get high and have sex with Michael in the next room. He flew into the sky, and remembered the moment he died with River (Pop) beside him. Our, "Sooo much more helpful than SparkNotes. Sing, Unburied, Sing takes an uncompromising look at race relations in the present-day South. Leonie suddenly realizes that she is having visions of Given because her mother is about to die. The next morning, Jojo says goodbye to Pop before he, Leonie, Kayla, and Misty head up to Parchman. Chapter 2. She wants to be possessed by one last mystère, Maman Brigitte, “the mother of the dead.” She asks Leonie to gather the necessary items for the ritual. Richie had been caught stealing food to feed his nine siblings. Get started. Jojo’s ability to hear the thoughts of animals is the first indication of his psychic abilities, which in turn reflect the spiritual order at the novel’s center: one in which humans are … Chapter. The story returns to Leonie, who has just delivered the cemetery rocks to Mam. Chapter 12 is told from Richie’s perspective. Summary. During this time, Leonie sees Given in the room with them. Later, Leonie tells Michael that Mam is dead and asks to go see Al so they can get high. . After speaking with Michael, she got extra shifts at the bar where she works, the Cold Drink. When the family r... Jojo reunites with Pop and the two briefly talk about the trip to Parchman. Chapters 13-15. Pop was there with the dogs, and, knowing that the white men would come for Richie next, told Richie he would help him get home and stabbed him in the neck. ISBN-13: 9781501126062 Summary Winner, 2017 National Book Award Drawing on Morrison and Faulkner, The Odyssey and the Old Testament, Ward gives us an epochal story, a journey through Mississippi’s past and present that is both an intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle. Jojo’s other grandfather, Big Joseph, is white, and Jojo has only met him a couple of times. Mam asked Leonie if she wanted the baby, offering to make a tea that would terminate the pregnancy, but Leonie said she wanted to keep it. Kayla throws up in the car, so they stop, and Leonie walks into the bushes nearby, hoping to remember which plants Mam told her could treat nausea. One of the boys in the camp, Richie, was only twelve years old. When they arrive home, Pop tells Jojo to put Kayla to bed. Course Hero. Jojo and his grandfather, Pop, slaughter a goat for the family to eat. “Sing Unburied Sing” is a character driven novel about a poverty stricken family living in Mississippi, where race discrimination runs rampant. Jesmyn Ward’s third novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing, was published in 2017. When Jojo arrived at Parchman to pick up Michael, Richie was awoken by a voice urging him to follow Jojo to River, promising that then he would be able to go home. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Everyone cries except Jojo, who is furious at Leonie for summoning the gods that let Mam die. While the adults stay in the other room, Jojo—worried about Kayla, who has a soaring temperature—takes her into the bathroom and forces her to throw up. This chapter follows Leonie in the hours after she learns that Michael will be released from prison. In the present day, the 13-year-old Jojo and his little sister accompany his mother, Leonie, and her friend, Misty, on a trip to retrieve the children's father, Michael, from Parchman. Discussion Questions - PLG_CONTENT_PAGEBREAK_PAGE_NUM - LitLovers 11 Apr. Important Quotes. Have study documents to share about Sing, Unburied, Sing? Pop urges Leonie to go inside and see Mam, who tells her it’s “time… for me to go.” Mam says she has tried to heal herself, but now must give up. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. The Sing, Unburied, Sing Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by … Kayla is crying, and talking about “the black bird… the Black boy.” They go into Mam’s room, which smells like rot, and Mam says Leonie is “too late.” Given is in this room too, shouting at Mam, who pleads weakly in return. A police car pulls over the car, and Leonie swallows drugs so that Michael won't go back to prison. Later, he finds a tiny leather pouch (the gris-gris bag) folded into his clothes, with a feather inside and a note saying “Keep this close.” He knows it’s from Pop. sing, unburied, sing by Jesmyn Ward ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 2017 The terrible beauty of life along the nation’s lower margins is summoned in … Chapter 14 is told from Leonie’s perspective. The first chapter is told from the perspective of Jojo on his thirteenth birthday. Richie recalls an enormous white man nicknamed Hogjaw who was also placed in Parchman. Sing, Unburied, Sing Summary. After Richie died, Parchman pulled him back. Jojo and Pop go outside to the shed and Pop unties the “unlucky” go… My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, Easy-to-use guides to literature, poetry, literary terms, and more, Super-helpful explanations and citation info for over 30,000 important quotes, Unrestricted access to all 50,000+ pages of our website and mobile app. In the morning, Jojo finds Leonie, Misty, and Al on the sofa. He explains it is the only way for him to get home. Inside, Michael’s lawyer, Al, is making spaghetti. Get the digital audiobook of Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781508236139 The novel received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and was named by The New York Times as … Jesmyn Ward's novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing, is a thoughtful exploration of the past and present of main character Jojo and … The next morning, Jojo leads Richie to Pop, who is breaking down a termite-infested fence. It's raining hard as the car heads north. Summary The next morning, Jojo says goodbye to Pop before he, Leonie, Kayla, and Misty head up to Parchman. Given prevents Richie from joining Mam, and mother and son pass on to the next world together. The chapter presents a stark contrast between the illegal drugs in Leonie and Misty's possession and the medicinal cures that Mam makes. (2019, December 13). Mam disapproved of Leonie’s obsessive, deferential love for Michael. Enjoy this free preview Unlock all 41 pages of this Study Guide by subscribing today. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. Leonie left Jojo alone, and while she was gone Pop’s brother, Stag—who is “sick in the head”—walked past outside. He doesn’t want Leonie to give Kayla the blackberry leaves, because unlike Mam or Pop, Leonie “ain’t never healed nothing or grown nothing in her life.” Leonie once bought Jojo a fish but wouldn’t buy it any fish food, and thus it quickly died. 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