Book Club Discussion 1 Book Club Group 1 Caucasia

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For this book club, make sure you have read Senna’s Caucasia from pg 1-131 (if you have an edition that doesn’t neatly end on 131, read up to “From Caucasia with Love”).

After you’ve read the section, post a numbered list of thoughtful discussion questions (at least 4) and reflections (at least 2) from the excerpt. Discussion questions should focus mainly on the racial themes of the book and be in-depth, thought-provoking questions. (Bad examples of discussion questions: “Why did Birdie do X?” “Do you think they’re going to get caught?”) Since this isn’t an in-person book club, make sure your questions provide the necessary context– also including page numbers of what you’re referencing. Each question and reflection should be multiple sentences long. At least one discussion question or reflection should incorporate one of the readings (articles or Gaskins).

In your responses, you will need to respond to one of your classmates, 200 words on their threads. Choose at least two items from their list (one must be a question, the other can be either a question or reflection) and provide a substantive response [Example: “In response to your Question 1, ….”] that provokes more discussion similar to the other discussions we have in class. Be sure to make connections to course material.

Glassmates coment below Discussion Questions

1. Birdie went on a run with Sandy, and she says it’s the time of her life. “the lie of our false identities seemed irrelevant”, as “dreamlike.”, Birdie said that she felt “comfort in that state of incompletion”. Do you feel that this experience was more negative or positive in Birdie’s development? At the end of the novel, do you think she will find “completion” or will she continue to live in incompletion? (pg.116)

  1. Cole made a statement about her mother: “Mum doesn’t know anything about raising a black child”? Does Sandy treat her daughters differently based on their differences and appearances? Explain in detail why or why not. (pg.44)
  2. So Birdie doesn’t have a name her birth certificate says “Baby Lee,’ like the gravestone of some stillborn child”. While her sister’s name was Colette named after a French novelist. What is significant of the sisters’ names? (pg.17)
  3. Birdie and Cole made a secret language they call Elemeno. How does their secret-language show the sisters positions they have in their family? Why is Elemeno an important thing throughout the novel for both of them? (pg.6)

Reflections

1. I noticed that Deck Treats Birdie “cheerful disinterest-never hostility or ill will, but with a kind of impatient amusement” (pg.47) I think that he loves birdie very much just by the way he’s treating her.