The God of Small Things

Intellectual Prep for English Lessons

1. Read and annotate The God of Small Things.
2. Read and annotate “Unit 1: Background and Context” in the University of Wisconsin's Teaching The God of Small Things In Wisconsin: A Guide for Educators.
3. Take the unit exam, including writing the essay for the written portion of the exam.
4. This is a complex and challenging novel. It is recommended that the teacher read as many supplementary texts as necessary to build his/her understanding of the novel prior to teaching. The study materials website Shmoop.com has recently added an analysis of the novel that some may find helpful. The University of Wisconsin guide is also particularly thorough and useful.

Intellectual Prep for AP Projects

• Read and annotate the Supplementary AP Projects.
• Decide the pacing appropriate for your students. These projects can be integrated into the reading of The God of Small Things or completed at the conclusion of the reading of the novel.
• Select a print or online style guide that students will use to develop their own writing skills and style. See the following articles for ideas:
  • AP English Language and Composition: Grammar Web Guide by CollegeBoard
  • AP English Language and Composition: The Concept of Style by CollegeBoard
• Review the basics of rhetorical analysis by reading What Do Students Need to Know About Rhetoric? by Hepzibah Roskelly.
• Read the CollegeBoard AP English Language and Composition 2015 Scoring Guidelines for FRQ 2.
• Read the CollegeBoard 2018 AP English Language and Composition Sample Student Responses and Scoring Commentary for FRQ 3.
• Read the Chief Reader Report on Student Responses: 2017 AP English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions.
• Read the Chief Reader Report on Student Responses: 2018 AP English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions.
• Depending upon your level of familiarity with the CollegeBoard AP English Language and Composition exam, you may wish to spend more time exploring other resources on the College Board AP English Language and Composition Course website.

Spiraling Literary Analysis Writing Focus Area

The teacher should use information gathered from students’ previous writing to determine if the focus correction areas above are appropriate and if there should be any spiraled focus correction areas in addition to those listed above.

Writing-About-Reading Focus Areas

• Clear thesis statement that accurately states the theme
• Analysis of author’s craft
• Textual evidence to support the analysis

Literary Terms

figurative language (simile, metaphor, imagery), tone, symbolism, theme, multi-perspective narrative style, motif, alliteration, allusion, narration, nonlinear plot structure, postcolonial literature, irony

Roots and Affixes

re – (re-Returned, p. 11; renounce, p. 282); un – (Untouchable, p. 14; uncouth, p. 142; unfeasible, p. 219), mal – (maleficent, p. 50; malevolent, p. 197)

Text-based

brooding (3), suffused (3), immodest (3), vacuously (3), amorphous (4), illegitimate (9), dormancy (12), perturb (16), purloined (17), harbinger (17), obeisance (20), lucrative (21), denounce (23), ambiguous (31), transgressor (31), reconstitute (32), imbue (32), morality (35), levied (36), eccentricities (38), diffidently (41), lurid (41), futile (43), haughty (50), maleficent (50), opulent (63), insidiously (64), euphoria (64), diligence (65), ardent (65), dispossessed (67), cynicism (68), impenetrable (72), assurance (73), insolence (73, 247, 292), prodigal (74), decorously (85), predilection (86), volition (87), shrill (105), pugnaciously (107), arbitrarily (108), pertinent (114), subvert (115), truncated (121), uncouth (142), piously (144), incessantly (152), elation (157), imperceptible (159), languid (159), enigmatic (160), incongruous (162), gullibility (162), smug (167), tactile (167), evanescent (167), nemesis/Nemesis (175), confound (180), colluding (181), decimate (181), exorcize (182), malevolent (197), cleaved (198), laconically (200), misappropriate (218), incidental (218), unfeasible (219), deride (219), denigrate (236), olfactory (244), invalidation (260), coy (264), provocation (268), renounce (282), abrogate (290), deify (292), inoculate (293), ascendency (293), incoherence (295), macabre (301)

Idioms and Cultural References

caste (novel), Siamese twin (5), lungfish (12), Untouchable (14), communism (15), “the old omelette-and-eggs thing”(15), “red herring” (46), Heart of Darkness (51, 119–120), Jungle Book (57), bourgeoisie (59), Mercurochrome (59), hogwash (63), communism, Marxism, Syrian Christian Church, Hinduism, Naxalites (66), “A rose by any other name…” (67), “frying pan into the fire…” (71), Julius Caesar (79), “millstone around my neck” (82), Mutiny on the Bounty (82), busker (85), coolie (85), Popeye (94), Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music (95), anarchy (108), Kathakali dance (121), locus standi (151), “Et tu, Ammu” (154), crematorium (155), locus standi (179), nictitating membrane (179), “AC-DC” (181), Macbeth (186), “walked on water” (201), Kathakali dancers (219), Oxford University (228), gramophone (229), Rhodes Student (232), Sir Walter Scott (257), Julius Caesar – “friends, Romans, countryman…” (260), “chickens come home to roost” (268, 285), Pied Piper (276), Listerine (281), Vaishnavite (281), ashram (281), Heart of Darkness (290), “desperado” (292), “Things go better with Coke” (297)

Previous Fishtank ELA Connections

• Themes of colonialism and culture relate to 11th Grade ELA - Things Fall Apart.
• Students should connect the communist ideas explored in the novel to 11th Grade ELA - Dreaming in Cuban.
• Students might make a connection to 12th Grade ELA - Invisible Man with Vellya Paapen’s glass eye.
• The nonlinear structure and multiple-perspective narration will recall 11th Grade ELA - Dreaming in Cuban.