1) Yaa Gyasi Biography: Look up information about Gyasi’s biography and describe what you find out about her, especially what might be most relevant to this book.

2) Genre and Point of View: What is the genre of this book? What perspective is it being narrated from?

3) Setting/Time Period: Where are we in these first two chapters and when are they taking place? In addition to answering this first question, look up these keywords and briefly explain what they are and how they relate to the novel so far, which will help us get a broader sense of the historical context: Ashanti/Asante empire, Fante people, Gold Coast—British Colony, Elmina Castle

4) Major Characters: List the characters we see so far and briefly describe them.

5) Major Plot Points: What has happened so far?

6) Themes/Motifs: Themes are ideas that repeat and are developed over the course of the novel, and motifs are images that repeat and are developed throughout the novel. Both are ways of constructing and highlighting meaning in a narrative. The following is a long list of themes and motifs that I have noticed in these first couple of chapters. Choose two of these that interest you and that perhaps you have noticed, too (or feel free to choose your own; explain the theme as you see it depicted in the novel, connect it to a particular passage in the novel, and try to explain why this passage and theme is significant. The list of themes/motifs: Slavery and the slave trade, colonial exploitation, family inheritance (of wealth, of stories, of trauma), gender roles/the role of women, models for marriage (economic vs. kinship/romantic marriage), fire, trauma and abuse (physical and psychological, cycle of abuse), family secrets, black stone pendant, home, exile, natal alienation (alienation from one’s place of birth—from one’s culture, language, customs, etc.), cultural oppositions (Christianity vs. “black magic”/African cosmology), family/community curses, reparations/redemption, family separation, love

7) Journal Entry for Homegoing(“Quey” and “Ness”)

Your journals should be 1-page, double-spaced documents at minimum, and they should be based on the reading scheduled for the day they are due. They don’t need to be quite as extensive as this model and you are welcome to experiment with the structure and form of your reading journals, but you do need to incorporate the three basic elements I have here: 1) a textual summary with quotation that, overall, is discussing the context from which your questions are coming 2) at least two text-based questions that are not level 1, factual, or yes-or-no questions but interpretive, critical, and analytical questions that open up onto more questions, prompt our thinking about significant issues, and lead to further discussion, reflection, and contemplation. They should also be “real” questions that you have. It’s better to say that you’re not sure what questions you have and try to do something with your uncertainty (or figure out what you’re uncertain about) rather than making something up that’s not really true to your own thinking 3) finally, your journals should include responses to your questions, speculations about possible answers to them, and/or some discussion about the importance of the issues raised in your questions.