Connector Example

Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen

Section 1 (pg. 1-41)

This story reminds me of the television mini-series entitled, “Roots.” This television mini-series was broadcast on ABC from 23-30 January 1977. The twelve-hour mini-series aired for eight consecutive nights.

The television ratings skyrocketed for this particular drama, as the nation came face to face with the evils of this institution. The movie depicts the life of author Alex Haley’s maternal great-grandparents, who were from a village in the western area of Africa. When Haley stumbles upon some documents belonging to his maternal great-grandparents, he chose to trace his lineage by traveling to the village in Africa where his ancestors came from. While there, he enlisted the services of a town historian, who researched Haley’s genealogy, which led him to his great-great-great-great grandfather, Kunta Kinte. Kinte became the central character in Roots, and the mini-series continued the story of Kinte’s descendants after he had died. The book and TV drama are very much alike in that they accurately depict the brutality and exploitation slaves in our country often faced daily.

Question for the group: Think of the books you have read in the past. Share with the group a book you have read that has a similar theme or plot as Nightjohn.

Examples: The Harriet Tubman story, A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, 1859 (Dear America), Amistad Rising: A Story of Freedom, and The Keeping Quilt.