109 pages • 3 hours read
Sandra UwiringiyimanaHow Dare the Sun Rise
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Discussion/Analysis Prompt
Throughout How Dare the Sun Rise, the color blue is a recurring motif. What does the color symbolize in the book? Reflect upon the larger meaning of the motif by considering the following questions:
- What is the earliest moment when blue appears in the text?
- Consider the types of blue found in nature versus blue found on humanmade objects—is there any difference in the type of things they represent?
- What is the final scene when blue appears in the text?
- Is the color blue associated with a particular period in Sandra’s life?
Teaching Suggestion: It may be useful to guide students toward a discussion around a powerful symbol that features the color blue in the book: The pale blue dress. The pale blue dress serves as a symbol with multiple—sometimes conflicting—meanings. On the one hand, the color represents peace and peaceful times (with the dress, it is an artifact from her childhood); on the other, the color blue represents senseless violence and personal tragedy (again, similar to the dress, as it is too slippery to serve as a bandage for her aunt’s gunshot wounds).
Differentiation Suggestion: For advanced classes, a differentiation approach to this prompt would be to add a comparative angle, to teach students more broadly about color symbolism in literature and compare it to How Dare the Sun Rise.
