Plot & Story Structure
This is the location where Twyla and Roberta first meet as children.
What is St. Bonny’s orphanage?
This character is the narrator of the story.
Who is Twyla?
A main theme of Recitatif. It is how characters remember the past.
What is memory?
Twyla and Roberta are sent to St. Bonny’s because their mothers cannot do this.
What is take care of them?
This girl grows up to have more money and a higher social status.
Who is Roberta?
The orchard scene symbolizes this feeling for Twyla and Roberta as children.
What is fear and confusion?
The two girls meet again later in life when Roberta is protesting about this issue.
What is school integration/busing?
Toni Morrison never clearly tells the reader this information about Twyla and Roberta.
What is their race?
The disagreement over whether Maggie was pushed reveals this emotional struggle in the characters.
What is guilt/responsibility?
The girls remember some events differently as they grow older. This shows the idea of_
What is that memory can change or be unreliable?
Twyla often describes events only from her own point of view, which means she is this kind of narrator.
What is limited(or unreliable)?
By never revealing the girls’ races, Morrison explores this theme.
What is bias/assumptions?