Keeper of the Night

Multiple Text AssignmentBy

Lee Ann Pittman

Table of Contents

• Lesson one: Interpretation of book through a collage

• Lesson two: Working as a group to develop the feelings of a grieving family.

• Lesson three: Students will hear music and do a comparison with Isabel’s life

• Lesson four: Facts about Guam

Introduction and Summary

• Thirteen-year-old Isabel enters her mother's room one morning before going to school. She finds her mother kneeling as if praying, but dead by her own hand. With their home filled with memories of his late wife, Isabel's father takes the family (Isabel, and her younger siblings, Frank and Olivia) to live with his sister in a neighboring town. Isabel despises feeling like a stranger in this new home. Her sister wets the bed every night, and her brother withdraws from family and friends. But, six months later when they return to their home in Malesso, Guam, Isabel struggles to understand her place within her family's new configuration as well as her changing perceptions of relatives and friends who live in her immediate community. Isabel's story, related through her observations about the people around her, her retellings of cultural stories, her lists of things to do, and her poetry, reveals a young girl coming to grips with death while she embraces her own life.

Lesson one: Interpretation of book through a collage• Students will form small groups and work together on their first

round of discussion questions and artwork• Students will see a large container in the center of the room filled

with small items related to the story. Photographs of the ocean, maps of Guam,

• tropical flowers, pieces of blue satin fabric, etc • Students are asked to first create a collage that will describe their

interpretation of Keeper of the Night.• Once the collage’s are complete a more in depth discussion can

take place.

Lesson two: Working as a group to develop the feelings of a grieving family.• Students will be divided into groups of 4-5• Each group is given large sheets of post it chart paper with

two discussion questions from the book.• The groups will choose a scribe, spokesperson, and time

keeper• The groups will brainstorm the thoughts and feelings of

family members as it applies to each question.• Once complete the spokesperson from each group will

present the post it charts to the entire class.• The entire class is given the chance to interject their

thoughts after each spokesperson completes their presentation.

Questions for Discussion ( to be written on chart paper)1. In the opening chapter Isabel writes of finding her mother and of then getting her brother and sister off to school. "That morning I eased her door shut, tied on her apron, and made breakfast for my little brother and sister. I felt proud to scramble their eggs and butter their toast. Later I tied blue ribbons in Olivia's hair and dipped the comb into a glass of water before parting Frank's. I had no idea it was the first of many mornings I'd be doing that." Her reactions to her siblings vacillate between duty and pride. How do these reactions manifest themselves during the course of the novel? Do they stay constant? Does one overpower the other? Why or why not?

2. Isabel searches for a sense of place after her mother's death. First that place is Malesso as she rejects their temporary exile at her aunt's house in Tamuning. Isabel writes: "We're stupid staying in Tamuning while our lives take place in Malesso." But she also searches for that sense of place by trying to establish a seating configuration both at home and with her classmates. More figuratively, she considers her place within her childhood group of friends, her friendship with Roman, and with relationships with her aunts and the people of Malesso. Discuss how that sense of place changes throughout the novel.

3. Why doesn't Isabel enter the contest for fiesta queen?

4. Both Olivia and Frank show signs of distress after their mother's death. Isabel records those signs, but only once does she seek help, and that is with the logistical problem of washing Olivia's wet sheets. What in her character and situation explains why she keeps these observations to herself?

Questions for discussion continued:

5. Frank carves "I hate you" on his wall and "I hate" on his body. Whom or what does he hate so much?

6. Isabel, Frank, and Olivia are individuals, yet each contains characteristics of both parents. What traits of their mother do you see in each character? What of Tata?

7. Isabel writes two compositions based on a true, personal experience. One is a poem about Frank and she receives an "F" on that poem. She does the assignment over, writing about an imagined trip to Disneyland, and receives an A+. Why is each treated differently? What do you think each composition means to Isabel?

8. Isabel talks to Ed about her mother's suicide and tells him, "I still can't figure out why she killed . . . herself." Ed replies, "You probably never will. That's the sad part. Most survivors don't even know why. But you can learn something from what your mother did." What does Isabel learn from her mother's suicide?

Lesson three: Students will hear music and do a comparison with Isabel’s life• Play music video clip• Have students write how this song

can relate to Isabel’s place in life• Remind them to think about ways

that she is embracing her own life

Interpretation and Comparison with Music and LyricsWho am I?

That the Lord of all the earth,Would care to know my name,Would care to feel my hurt.Who am I? That the bright and morning starWould choose to light the way,For my ever wandering heart.

Bridge:Not because of who I am,But because of what you've done.Not because of what I've done,But because of who you are.

Chorus:I am a flower quickly fading,Here today and gone tomorrow,A wave tossed in the ocean,A vapor in the wind.Still you hear me when I'm calling,Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,And you've told me who I am.I am yours.I am yours.

Who am I? That the eyes that see my sinWould look on me with loveAnd watch me rise again.Who am I? That the voice that calmed the sea,Would call out through the rain,And calm the storm in me.

Not because of who I am,But because of what you've done.Not because of what I've done,But because of who you are.

Lyrics Continued…• I am a flower quickly fading,

Here today and gone tomorrow,A wave tossed in the ocean,A vapor in the wind.Still you hear me when I'm calling,Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,And you've told me who I am.I am yours.

Not because of who I am,But because of what you've done.Not because of what I've done,But because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading,Here today and gone tomorrow,A wave tossed in the ocean,A vapor in the wind.Still you hear me when I'm calling,Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,And you've told me who I am.I am yours.I am yours.I am yours.

Whom shall I fearWhom shall I fearI am yours..I am yours..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU_rTX23V7Q

Lesson four: Facts about Guam

Students will work in groups again and write a group presentation on current facts about Guam and its heritage as it relates to the author’s interpretation in Keeper of the Night.

• Contemporary Guam • Guam contains several military bases including the United States Naval Station on

the Orote Peninsula shown here.• Guam's U.S. military installations remain among the most strategically vital in the

Pacific Ocean. When the United States closed its Naval and Air Force bases in the Philippines after the expiration of their leases in the early 1990s, many of the forces stationed there were relocated to Guam.

• The removal of Guam's security clearance by president Kennedy allowed for the development of a tourism industry. The island's rapid economic development was fueled both by rapid growth in this industry as well as increased U.S. Federal Government spending during the 1980s and 1990s.

• The Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s, which hit Japan particularly hard, severely affected Guam tourism. Military cutbacks in the 1990s also disrupted the island's economy. Economic recovery was further hampered by devastation from Super typhoons Paka in 1997 and Pongsona in 2002, as well as the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks on tourism.

• There are signs that Guam is recovering from these setbacks. The increased arrivals of Japanese tourists reflect that country's economic recovery, as well as Guam's enduring appeal as a weekend tropical retreat. U.S. military spending has dramatically increased as part of the War on Terrorism.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Guam

Other Text by Kimberly Willis Holt

• Piper Reed Navy Brat• • A Book Sense Autumn 2007 Children's Picks List

• A Family Circle Book of the Month Selection• New Mexico's 2008/2009 Land of Enchantment Children's Book Award Nominee• 2007 Cleveland Public Library Celebrate with Books for Children and Teens List• A Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List Selection

• Skinny Brown Dog• • A Book Sense Autumn 2007 Children's Picks List• • Nominee for the E.B. WHITE READ ALOUD AWARD• • Oppenheim Gold Toy Award Winner•

• Part of Me• • Texas State Reading Association's Golden Spur Honor

• Winner of The Literary Merit Award given by the Louisiana Library Association• An ABC Best Books for Children selection• A Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Book Award Nominee• A Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices Selection• A Parenting Magazine Pick• A 2007 Kansas State Reading Circle Recommendation• Arkansas's Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award Nominee

References

• http://media.us.macmillan.com/readersguides/9780805063615RG.pdf

• www.youtube.com• www.wikipedia.com• www.kimberlywillisholt.com