Topic name the underground railroad by colson whitehead. About this guide the questions, discussion topics, and suggestions for further reading that follow are designed to enhance your groups. The underground railroad book club discussion gbcn. The basic premise of this novel is that the underground railroad was just that a real physical underground railroad. Leaving aside its selection for oprah winfreys highly influential book club, what has made the underground railroad remarkable and notable. Its hard to list influential books of 2016 without mentioning the underground railroad by colson whitehead the book paints a portrait of slavery and american history by following cora, a. Mar 23, 20 books and photos related to all things underground railroad, especially safe houses and quilts, both of which are featured in my first novel, one sisters song. It goes beyond a mere summary in 65 pages i found what i wanted and more. Please put your comments for the underground railroad book club discussion questions in the comment area below. This teaching guide supports the underground railroad. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide.
And today, colson whiteheads fascinating work of historical fiction, the underground railroad, has become her latest book club selection. Students will travel back to the year 1860 and follow a young. That book, called simply the underground railroad, follows a 15yearold slave named cora as she escapes north via a literal network of underground tracks and trains. The hidden history of the underground railroad norton, a riveting account of fleeing slaves, activists and abolitionistsrich and poor, wellknown and obscure, black and whitewho worked tirelessly to move. New novel takes the underground railroad beyond the. Discuss the underground railroad by colson whitehead in an online book club.
See more ideas about underground railroad, sister songs and books. Colson whitehead on the underground railroad, the book that. Oprah winfrey has a new book club pick, colson whiteheads the underground railroad, a historical novel that imagines the network of safe houses and passages that helped slaves escape to. Whitehead is using the story of coras escape to get at the multitude of ways that blacks, in particular, have been dehumanized and mistreated by whites throughout the history of this country. Praised by barack obama and an oprah book club pick, the underground railroad by colson whitehead won the national book award 2016. The underground railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one womans ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share. Underground railroad traces the terrible wounds of. Reading guide for the underground railroad by colson whitehead. The life of a slave on a plantation farm is a terrible life, especially for a girl at the verge of womanhood. Please put your comments for the underground railroad book club discussion questions in the comment area below discussion questions. Aug 02, 2016 in a surprise announcement tuesday morning, winfrey chose the underground railroad as the next title for oprahs book club. This abridged edition of the underground railroad brings to light the terrors experienced by the thousands of africanamericans who sought a better life in then orthern states of america and in canada. Colson whiteheads the underground railroad has been a runaway success.
Now, in his new novel, the underground railroad, whitehead returns to his childhood vision of an actual locomotive that carries escaped slaves through tunnels. This gives the book a bit of dystopian feel, although this is an antebellum tale, with time appropriate technology. Underground railroad united states history britannica. Among its biggest surprises is that, despite the books subtitle, the.
In 1869, her article in the atlantic accused english nobleman lord byron. He is accused in the story of assisting fugitive slaves in their escapes to. Aug 02, 2016 colson whiteheads the underground railroad is the newest oprahs book club selection. Colson whitehead takes the underground railroad from. It is an excellent book though once you get passed the fictionalized ways whitehead changes history. What role do you think stories play for cora and other travelers using the underground railroad. Colson whitehead on slavery, success and writing the novel. This book helped me better understand the use of fact and fiction in the underground railroad by colson whitehead. Mccormick keep his involvement in the underground railroad a secret or not. Our book club page for the underground railroad by colson whitehead includes book club discussion questions, author website, book. I really suck at remembering to come back for discussions. Why do you think the author chose to portray a literal railroad. Colson whitehead had to wait to write underground railroad.
Set preferences and get ageappropriate recommendations with common sense media plus. Our book club discussions book lovers never go to bed alone. Whiteheads sixth novel, the story of a teenage slaves bid for freedom in 1850s georgia, is out. The underground railroad is at once the story of one womans ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shatteringly powerful meditation on history. The hidden history of the underground railroad tells a story that will surprise most readers. Underground railroad traces the terrible wounds of slavery the underground railroad is a literal train running underground in colson whiteheads new novel, which follows escaped slave cora. The author talks about racism, writing and barry jenkins directing the television series based on his novel.
The treasure, of course, was the underground railroad some might call freedom the dearest currency of all. Whitehead is more this is a work of fiction, not historical fiction. Aug 18, 2016 the underground railroad represents a first in the nearly decadelong career i have enjoyed as a contributor to bookreporter. Looking for the underground railroad book club questions and a reading guide for your next meeting. After carefully reading through the information, test your knowledge of the underground railroad. When you are done, ask yourself what you have learned about the people, places, and. Grahams mother, and her colleagues mother the vast majority of book clubbers are women and over 45, reported reading or considering more political fare in recent months, from the underground railroad by colson whitehead to hillbilly elegy by j. North and south carolina didnt have the political structure described in the book.
The secret history of the underground railroad the atlantic. We see that freedom is a perspective that changes with the person and the time. The underground railroad, published in 2016, is the sixth novel by american author colson whitehead the alternate history novel tells the story of cora and caesar, two slaves in the southeastern united states during the 19th century, who make a bid for freedom from their georgia plantations by following the underground railroad, which the novel depicts as primarily a rail transport system in. In a lightning round of questions from schmich, he sang the praises of. The white masters are cruel but the africans can be equally. It makes brief detours to west africa and aboard slave ships, but for the most part, it begins in the deep south, travels up to the carolinas, and goes west to indiana.
I think he could have made an excellent book without changing the underground railroad to be a real tangible railroad, and also without creating. Do you feel that you now have a better understanding of what slavery was like. It delves into literary aspects and is well written. The book emphasizes how slaves were treated as property and reduced to objects. Empire actor bryshere gray accused of clogging west loop condos toilets with. But whitehead, whose eclectic body of work encompasses novels zone one, 2011, etc. Related recordings library happy hour at the good will social club april 2018 october 2018. How does the depiction of slavery in the underground. Live our origin story why a library podcast book club at the manitoba libraries conference. The club gave stowe the chance to hone her writing skills and network.
The underground railroad represents a first in the nearly decadelong career i have enjoyed as a contributor to bookreporter. The underground railroad by colson whitehead book club. Teens can be encouraged to research the books issues online. In a surprise announcement tuesday morning, winfrey chose the underground railroad as the next title for oprahs book club. Or, answer a question, and get a shoutout on on the next episode. The underground railroad by colson whitehead waterstones. The book that promotes it cites a story to orally to that author.
The underground railroad, just named the latest oprahs book club selection, is a guided tour through the worst of american history. Aug 18, 2017 the underground railroad by colson whitehead. The underground railroad teaching guide scholastic. Cora and caesars first stop is south carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven.
Why do you think cora changed her mind and decided to leave with caesar right after that. Feb 22, 2017 today is the day for our second book club discussion. Some book guides disappoint, but this one was better than i expected. After the underground railroad, harriet tubman led a brazen civil war raid. Colson whiteheads underground railroad is a literal. Oct 09, 2016 the first 70 pages of the underground railroad are beautifully written and painful to read, but there is a sense of having been here before. Underground railroad and the materials presented in this booklet. The book picked for this month was the underground railroad by colson whitehead. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for cora. Aug 02, 2016 download an excerpt of the book, and print a copy of oprahs the underground railroad reading guide and book club questions. Though neither underground nor a railroad, it was thus named because its activities had to be carried out in. Colson whiteheads underground railroad wins pulitzer. The underground railroad by colson whitehead about this guide the questions, discussion topics, and suggestions for further reading that follow are designed to enhance your. New york colson whiteheads the underground railroad, his celebrated novel about an escaped slave that combined liberating imagination and brutal reality, has won the pulitzer prize for.
Plus, graham noticed, there are a rash of new, explicitly political book clubs, some. Whiteheads sixth novel, the story of a teenage slaves bid. Book club discussions, historical fiction, award winner laura spaulding january 26, 2017 historical fiction, book club discussion, colson whitehead, the underground railroad, award winner, african american history comment. Dive into the latest pick for oprahs book club with these questions about colson whiteheads breathtaking novel. Aug 08, 2016 colson whiteheads underground railroad is a literal train to freedom whitehead was recently awarded the national book award for his novel about a young slave who has escaped a georgia. All the slaves lead a hellish existence, but cora has it worse than most. But now eric foner, a columbia university professor and expert on the civil war and reconstruction, has written gateway to freedom. The underground railroad pulitzer prize winner by colson. The underground railroad book club discussion questions. This train conveys cora, caesar, and other escapees first to a south carolina also. Jan 23, 2017 discuss the underground railroad by colson whitehead in an online book club. The underground railroad records is an 1872 book by william still, who is known as the father of the underground railroad. My latest book, the underground railroad, is an oprahs book club pick. The article says, as for the notion that passengers on the underground railroad communicated with one another by means of quilts.
Oprahs book club has tapped colson whiteheads the underground railroad as its newest selection. Download an excerpt of the book, and print a copy of oprahs the underground railroad reading guide and book club questions. Colson whiteheads the underground railroad is the newest oprahs book club selection. Discuss the underground railroad by colson whitehead. Cora has always lived a nighmarish existence on the randall plantation among the slaves. Cora constructs elaborate daydreams about her life as a free woman and dedicates herself to reading and expanding her education. The questions, discussion topics, and suggestions for further reading that follow are designed to enhance your groups discussion of the underground railroad, a triumph of a novel by colson whitehead.
Although she wrote dozens of books, essays and articles during her lifetime. A conductor for the railroad, still was the son of a fugitive slave himself and a campaigner for social reform. The underground railroad by william still, paperback barnes. Jan 30, 2018 in whiteheads ingenious conception, the underground railroad is no mere metaphor engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the southern soil. The storys main narrative, set in the southern united states during the slavery era the early 1800s, is introduced and occasionally interrupted.
Underground railroad, in the united states, a system existing in the northern states before the civil war by which escaped slaves from the south were secretly helped by sympathetic northerners, in defiance of the fugitive slave acts, to reach places of safety in the north or in canada. Colson whitehead first had the idea for the underground railroad, his. The first 70 pages of the underground railroad are beautifully written and painful to read, but there is a sense of having been here before. How did this aspect of magical realism impact your concept of how the real underground railroad worked. Oprah winfrey tabbed it for her book club, and moonlight director barry. What did you think about the use of a real underground railroad. A presbyterian clergyman suspended for being connected with.