Swamplandia

How do each of the characters handle grief and loss? What does the grieving process look like for the children and how does each Bigtree child experience loss in their own way? Include textual support in your response.

Discuss the motif of ghosts. What do they represent within the narrative and how do they speak to the theme of Grief and Loss?

What is “Carnival Darwinism” and how does it function within the narrative? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Discuss this novel’s representation of Indigenous people, their cultures, and their influence in the Ten Thousand Islands and the Everglades. Do you think that Karen Russell is respectful in her depiction of Indigenous life?

What does The Spiritist’s Telegraph symbolize and how does it speak to the novel’s greater themes?

Discuss the theme of Environmental Destruction. What kinds of threats to the Ten Thousand Islands does this novel depict?

Discuss the theme of Coming of Age. How do each of the adolescent characters come of age in this story, and how do growth and development differ from sibling to sibling?

Discuss the characterization of the Bird Man. Did you find his true nature surprising? Why or why not? Why does Ava misjudge him?