Ninth Ward

The hurricane does not hit until just past the story’s halfway point. How does Rhodes build suspense and apprehension until then? Find at least three specific scenes to analyze with regard to the first half’s changing mood and atmosphere. Use details from these scenes to support your discussion.

In a story that uses first-person point of view from the main character’s perspective, the I-voice offers both a uniquely close look at the protagonist and presents some challenges as to how much of the story can be revealed. How do the narration’s limitations (i.e., what Lanesha doesn’t know or see) work to increase the story’s suspense, especially after the power goes out? How does Rhodes provide a wider scope of events to Lanesha (and the reader)? How would the story change if the viewpoint was third-person limited or omniscient? Use story details to support your arguments.

TaShon is depicted with imagery that connotes weakness in some scenes in the novel (he is physically smaller than peers; he is harassed by Max; he can’t keep his own dog; his father cut off his extra fingers when he was born). He also tends to react to fear and frustration more impulsively than Lanesha (he cries openly in front of her). TaShon, however, can also be seen as a character with great strength and resourcefulness. How and when do TaShon’s strengths and abilities come out? How, in the end, does Lanesha rely on him so that survival remains a possibility? Cite and discuss at least three times in the narrative when TaShon proves his strengths.

Lanesha’s life would have been much different if she was raised by her Uptown family. What traits and characteristics does Lanesha possess that surely developed as a result of her upbringing with Mama Ya-Ya in the Ninth Ward? Find and cite evidence of these traits and characteristics in the novel, and discuss how they influence her coming-of-age journey throughout the book.

Consider the fittingness of the title Ninth Ward. Brainstorm some of your ideas in a map or web, then use a variety of scholarly websites to research the days before and after Hurricane Katrina; focus your study on the events just after the levees broke and throughout the harried days of rescue and aid attempts in the hardest-hit areas of New Orleans, like the lower Ninth Ward. Now revisit your brainstormed thoughts on the title’s fittingness. In what ways is this a book about community, history, and geography (in addition to being a book about one girl’s struggle to survive)? Discuss the title in terms of this question, using details from the story as well as your online research to support what you think.

Man versus nature, one of the basic plot conflicts in storytelling, is clearly a primary conflict in this novel. What other basic plot conflicts (man versus man, man versus society, man versus himself, man versus God/fate/higher power) occur in Ninth Ward? Make a table with columns headed with these conflicts and note appropriate scenes and events in each column.

In the beginning of the story, Lanesha details some of the aspects of her life that she enjoys (her pens, her pocket dictionary, her room). Of the material things in Lanesha’s life—the things she can call her own—which one symbolizes some element of her personality in the early chapters? Think symbolically and discuss your ideas in a few sentences, backing up your choice with plot details. Now consider that Lanesha lost that material possession in the flood. How do her traits and characteristics at the close of the book compare to those she displayed at the start?

Many stories feature an animal “sidekick” or animal secondary character who serves to highlight conflict or development of the human characters. How does Spot function in this story? Why is he there? How does he make conflict easier or harder? What traits appear in Lanesha, Mama Ya-Ya, and TaShon that we might not see without Spot’s presence? Use book details to support your ideas.