So Long a Letter

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Aissatou’s Response”

In this activity, students will write a response to Rama’s letter from the perspective of Aissatou.

Bâ writes her novel in the form of a letter from narrator Rama to her friend Aissatou. In this Activity, write a response to Rama’s letter from the perspective of Aissatou.

• In your response, write from the first-person perspective.
• Demonstrate your understanding of Aissatou’s characterization in the tone, word choice, content, and voice of the response.
• Address 3-4 main points that Rama brings up in her letter.
• Demonstrate knowledge of and connection to the themes of Education, Feminism and Polygamy.

After completing a draft, read your response aloud to a peer or to yourself before initiating a round of revisions and edits. Share your final draft with the group, either aloud or by uploading to a shared file. Finally, reflect on the similarities and differences among the class responses.

Teaching Suggestion: This Activity invites students to consider the themes of Education, Feminism and Polygamy in the context of a creative writing exercise. Students may either select one section to respond to or multiple sections, depending on the time allotted for the activity. Encourage students to expand upon Rama’s musings of politics, economics, social norms, and gender expectations in Aissatou’s reply. Students should be mindful of Aissatou’s potential perspectives resulting from her experiences and observations before and after leaving Senegal.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. In So Long a Letter, Bâ subverts typical tropes of African literature by focusing on African women, rather than African men or white Westerners.

• Why do you think Bâ chose to focus so heavily on friendships and familial ties between women? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 examples of these ties between women from the text and analyze their effect on the overall narrative.
• In your conclusion, briefly summarize the way in which Bâ’s focus on the relationship between females connects to the larger theme of Feminism.

2. Towards the end of the novel, Bâ paints a clear picture of Senegal’s next generation through Rama’s children.

• What do the experiences of Rama’s children convey to readers about Senegal’s future? (topic sentence)
• Consider young Aissatou’s, Daba’s, and Rama’s rebellious middle daughters’ actions. Determine the 3 strongest examples in support of your topic sentence to discuss and analyze with text details.
• In your conclusion, evaluate the extent to which Education plays a role in the next generation of Senegal based on Rama’s children in general and your examples in particular.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the protagonist’s relationship with religion. How does Rama’s Islamic faith affect her outlook, ideas, and choices? What impact do non-Muslim characters have in this book? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, analyze the influence of religion in Rama’s life. Use specific text details and quotations to support your response.

2. Rama experiences many changes over the course of her life. Reflect on her social, physical, and emotional changes from her late adolescence to the novel’s conclusion. In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, discuss how and to what extent she grows as a character. Use specific text details and quotations to support your response.

3. Throughout the text, Rama references the concept of “New Africa.” Based on your understanding of the text, particularly in the Senegalese community, what would a “New Africa” entail? In what ways does the use of the term work to indirectly characterize Rama? In a 3- or 5-paragraph essay, discuss the meaning of the term in the context of literary elements such as plot, character, and theme. Use text details and quotations to support your response.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following elements of the mourning traditions does Rama disagree with?

A) The lack of monetary gifts

B) The social expectations that diverge from religious practice

C) The Koranic guidelines of mourning for women

D) The gendered divisions in the funerary arrangements

2. Which of the following statements would Rama agree with?

A) Each person is in control of their own destiny.

B) Fate rules on its own accord.

C) Destiny and fate are not realistic concepts.

D) A person’s fate is directly connected with their religious practice.

3. Which of the following reasons best describes why Rama did not originally select Daouda as a partner?

A) Because she was repulsed by his behavior

B) Because she admired Mawdo more

C) Because she was not impressed by his financial status

D) Because she no longer felt beholden to cultural expectations

4. Based on Rama’s reflections, what was the general perception of girls’ education in West Africa during her youth?

A) Rewarding

B) Shameful

C) Necessary

D) Appealing

5. Which of the following sentences best summarizes Rama’s aside on modernity and tradition in Chapter 8?

A) While modernity is necessary, the road to progress is fraught with challenges.

B) Progress may only be achieved in the segregated education of boys and girls.

C) The introduction of manual labor into the Senegalese community was a turning point in the region’s development as a modern nation.

D) The French education system is responsible for establishing schools in rural areas.

6. In discussing her profession, Rama notes, “Teachers—at kindergarten level, as at university level—form a noble army accomplishing daily feats, never praised, never decorated. An army forever on the move, forever vigilant. An army without drums, without gleaming uniforms. This army, thwarting traps and snares, everywhere plants the flag of knowledge and morality.” Which of the following literary terms does Rama use in this quote?

A) Metaphor

B) Simile

C) Personification

D) Allegory

7. Based on the characterization of Rama, which of the following statements would she most likely agree with?

A) Polygamy is a natural instinct for men.

B) Women are designed in order to please men.

C) Polygamous relationships are a form of betrayal.

D) The traditions of polyandrous and polygynous marriages must be preserved.

8. In her memory, Rama observes, “Tamsir’s Adam’s apple danced about in his throat. He shook his left leg, crossed over his folded right leg. His shoes, white Turkish slippers, were covered with a thin layer of red dust, the colour of the earth in which they had walked. The same dust covered Mawdo’s and the Imam’s shoes.” What is the significance of the last sentence in Rama’s observations?

A) It suggests that the men are not unified in their information.

B) It represents the progress to New Africa.

C) It implies that the men come from a similar background and way of thinking.

D) It signifies the men are too poor to take a car as a means of transportation.

9. According to Rama, what is the major difference between Binetou and Nabou?

A) Their educational background

B) Their country of origin

C) Their views of polygamy

D) Their age when they married their husband

10. Rama observes that “[r]eality had the face of Lady Mother-in-Law, swallowing up double mouthfuls from the trough offered her.” Which of the following literary terms are used in this quote?

A) Parable

B) Paradox

C) Palindrome

D) Personification

11. As she addresses Aissatou, Rama states, “Friendship has splendours that love knows not. It grows stronger when crossed, whereas obstacles kill love. Friendship resists time, which wearies and severs couples. It has heights unknown to love.” Which of the following literary terms does Rama use in her assertion?

A) Allegory

B) Irony

C) Allusion

D) Anaphora

12. Which of the following sentences best summarizes Rama’s political beliefs?

A) She believes that women are essential in the decision-making process.

B) She asserts that men are far better equipped to make essential political decisions.

C) She is happy with the progress that Senegal is making thus far on gender representation.

D) She is concerned about the future of Senegal with too many women in the Assembly.

13. Which description for the work of housewives best fits Rama’s opinion of it?

A) Enjoyable

B) Admirable

C) Archaic

D) Abominable

14. Which of the following sentences best aligns with Daba’s feelings about women’s political participation?

A) It is necessary for women to engage with local politics in order to influence real change.

B) It is difficult for women to progress in a male-dominated profession.

C) It is impossible for women to become president because they do not have the mental aptitude.

D) It is essential for men to exclude women in the decision-making progress until more are educated.

15. As her children mature, whose words does Rama frequently consider in the best course of childrearing?

A) Her ancestors’

B0 Her husband’s family’s

C) Her US friends’

D) Her imam’s

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the narration style of the text? How does this narration style reveal more about the characters than other narrative styles might?

2. Throughout the text, Bâ incorporates a variety of similes in her text. Identify two effective uses of this comparative literary device and describe their function with regard to the given circumstances of plot and character. Include the page number for each simile.