Q4: Study of Slavery

Even though slavery ended 150 years ago, why is it important that we study the history of slavery and the slave trade?

Q3: Character Question

Pick any character in the novel and write his/her 6-word memoir. Be sure to identify the character you are writing about.  OR  Who was your favorite character (main or supporting) in the novel? Explain why.

Q2: Indentured Servant vs. Slave

Describe life as an indentured servant.  How is it similar and different from life as a slave?  Use details from the novel.

Q1: Cape Coast Prison

In your own words, describe the horrors of Cape Coast Prison. How does Amari survive her time at the prison?

Introduction to Copper Sun

By Sharon Draper

When pale strangers enter 15-year-old Amari's village, her entire tribe welcomes them; for in her remote part of Africa, visitors are always a cause for celebration. But these strangers are not here to celebrate. They are here to capture the strongest, healthiest villagers and to murder the rest. They are slave traders. And in the time it takes a gun to fire, Amari's life as she knows it is destroyed, along with her family and village.

Beaten, branded, and dragged onto a slave ship, Amari is forced to witness horrors worse than any nightmare and endure humiliations she had never thought possible--including being sold to a plantation owner in the Carolinas who gives her to his 16-year-old son, Clay, as his birthday present.

Now, survival and escape are all Amari dreams about. As she struggles to hold on to her memories in the face of backbreaking plantation work and daily degradation at the hands of Clay, she finds friendship in unexpected places. Polly, an outspoken indentured white girl, proves not to be as hateful as she'd first seemed upon Amari's arrival, and the plantation owner's wife, despite her trappings of luxury and demons of her own, is kind to Amari.

But these small comforts can't relieve Amari's feelings of hopelessness and despair. With strength and dignity, Amari first learns to survive, then yearns to escape to a most unlikely destination. When the opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Polly decide to work together to find the thing they both want most--freedom.

How To Post To The Blog

Instructions for Posting to the Blog

I am excited to see how this project turns out. Each student will make at least one comment for each question/topic posted. You are welcome to post as many comments as you would like. My hope is to create an online conversation about this novel. Commenting on the blog is easy. Follow these easy steps:

• To leave a comment about a question, please click on the comment link at the bottom of the blog entry.
• You can type your comment in the text box in the middle of the screen.
• After typing your comment, please select "Name/URL" for an identity.  You need to only fill out the "Name" portion, just leave the "URL" portion blank.
• Special note on what to type for your name: DO NOT USE YOUR FULL NAME!  Any entries with a full name will not be published on the blog. Please use only your first name and last initial.  Example:  John Newton would just be "John N."
• Click “Continue.”
• Click “Publish.”
• Next, please type in the word verification key as it appears (if asked to).  This is to ensure that a person is responding to the blog entry and not a robot that is creating SPAM.
• Click “Publish” again.
• Your comment will not appear immediately.  If you did it correctly, you will get a message indicating that your comment will be visible after approval.  Once your comment is approved by Mr. Carr it will be posted to the blog.