Introducing…

In today’s lesson we will:

Learn about the historical context of the novel – this will help us gain a better understanding of the respective journeys undertaken

Learn about the author Alice Sebold

Revise Chapter One of the text.

Historical Context

Written in the late 1990s the novel reflects the various concerns of Americans at this time:

Domestic violenceSexual ViolenceTeen violence – e.g. 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.

Historical Context

Certainly Sebold alludes to the frequency of child kidnappings in the first chapter when she mentions that they are now so common that lost children are profiled on milk cartons.

However:

Back when the novel was set in the 1970s such crimes were not so common:

“This was before kids of all races and genders started appearing on milk cartons or in the daily mail. It was still back when people believed things like that didn’t happen.”

Historical Context: Women’s Movement In the 1970s people began to question the traditional

gender roles of men and women.

This is illustrated in the novel through:

Abigail: who feels discontented in her role as a wife and a mother Ruth: who overtly embodies the feminism of the 1970s with her refusal to conform to expected feminine behaviour and dress.

Historical Context: Suburbanisation of America Another 1970s concern was the

suburbanisation of America. Susie often refers to the “identical” houses in her suburb and Grandma Lynn cannot believe that her daughter chose to love in a souless suburban dwelling.

American Suburb

The author: Alice Sebold

Alice Sebold:

Alice Sebold (born September 6, 1963) is an American novelist.

She has published three books: Lucky (1999), The Lovely Bones (2002) and The Almost Moon (2007).

Author Facts: When she was an 18-year-old freshman at

Syracuse University, Sebold was brutally beaten and raped near campus. After her recovery, she returned to Syracuse where she recognised her attacker and had him arrested. Her memoir, Lucky, is about this attack. The title comes from her experience of being told by the police that she was “lucky” to be alive since another woman had been killed in the same area where Sebold was assaulted.

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name,

Susie. I was 14 when I was murdered on December 6, 1973,” so begins The Lovely Bones, one of the best-reviewed novels of the decade.

The book quickly became an unprecedented international bestseller, with translations in over 45 languages and American sales alone of over five million copies.

In 2009 it was chosen by the Young Adult Library Association as one of its recommended titles for all students (the list is revised every five years and used by educators and librarians across the United States).

Studying the Novel:

Studying the Novel: Chapter by chapter analysis of: Plot Characterisation Themes Setting Structure Style Key incidents Symbolism

Studying the Novel: Personal reading and reflection

Class discussion

Technique Identification

Understanding how the journey manifests in the text

Critical Essays

Chapter One: