log and home button banner

Maine Samplers Part I

Mama, Let's Dance by Patricia Hermes

Little Brown & Co., 1991

Summary: In a small southern town in the United States three children must learn to cope with the trials and hardships of surviving on their own with their own resources and youthful knowledge. Ariel, Mary Belle, and Callie have to deal with the heart breaking despair of abandonment by both parents, the fear of being separated from each other by the county people if anyone finds out, and a health crisis leading to death. They learn a different definition of family and loyalty.

Level: RL: 6-8

Themes:

abandonment;
survival;
death of a loved one;
family loyalties
Activities:

Callie's List:

"My sister is Mary Belle.
She is smart.
She is pretty.
She is our boss now.
She does not like to boss me. She just has to.
She is sad sometimes.
She hates Miss Mannie.
She hates to dance.
She makes up pretty songs.
She is my best friend.

That's all. " (p. 154, Mama Let's Dance)

1a. Using Callie's list make up your own list either like she did about a sister or a brother or even a best friend, parent, or someone close to you. Really think about what this person means to you. Describe them physically and emotionally. Then describe their relationship to you as Callie did - "She is my best friend." After Mary Belle finds Callie's list, how does she react to it? [Thinking skills: knowledge, analysis, synthesis, evaluation]

b. Callie had made a second list of her favorite foods. Make up a short list of your favorite foods. After you have your list pretend that you, too, have only $2.63 left to feed you and two siblings for lunch. What would you buy? You may have to use a newspaper grocery advertisement. List what you would buy and the cost. How would it feel to think that was the last money you had and that you had no idea where your next meal was coming from? Have you ever gone hungry? How can you help people who have no food? Brainstorm by yourself or in a group ideas to help people who are in need of food or shelter. Find what organizations are in your area to help people who are hungry. Which do you think best fits Callie's situation? Explain, [Thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, application, synthesis, evaluation]

2a. This novel deals with some emotional subjects: abandonment, death, and family loyalties. Why do you suppose the author had Mary Belle tell the story? How would the novel have been different if Ariel told the story? Callie? Amarius? or Miss Dearly? If you were the author, who besides Callie would you have tell the story? Write a brief scene (a paragraph or two) from the novel told from that character's point of view. Afterwards briefly tell why you chose that person - what as an author would you hope to accomplish? [Thinking skills: application, synthesis, evaluation]

b. Think about the feelings of each character and how they reacted to their mother abandoning them. Describe how they felt and write down the page and their words or actions which show their feelings. What was the one good thing the father, who abandoned them earlier, left for his family? According to Mary Belle what was the one good thing Mama left? How would you feel and what would be your thoughts if your parents abandoned you? Mary Belle hides her mother's second letter when her mother asks for money. What would you have done? In her first letter Mama says, "You mean everything in the world to me". Interpret Mary Belle's reaction to both letters. Pretend that you are either Mary Belle, Callie, or Ariel and chose either letter and write to Mama. [Thinking skills: knowledge, application, synthesis, evaluation]

3a. The theme of death is universal. How does Mary Belle struggle with her feelings when Callie dies? How does Ariel handle Callies death? Amarius? What does Mama do when she knows about Callie? What are your thoughts about how each character handled Callie's death? How did Mary Belle respond to the message her mama left that "Life is sad and life is hard"?

b. There is a healing process after death and for Mary Belle and Ariel it began at Callie's funeral. Explain what actually happened at the funeral to start the healing process? What do they do as the novel ends to continue this healing process? How did Mary Belle's beliefs differ from Ariel's and Amarius? Research and report either individually or in groups different customs and beliefs dealing with death and funerals and burials. [Thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis]

c. What is loyalty? Who was Mary Belle loyal to? If you make a collage of what was important to Mary Bell and who she was loyal to, what would you put on her collage? If you made one for Callie or Ariel or Amarius or Miss Dearly or yourself, what would be on it? Pick one of the characters or yourself and make and share the collage using pictures, illustrations, and/or key words and phrases. [Thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, application, synthesis]

Resources:

Blake, William. Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Dover, 1986.

Crane, Stephen. Maggie, A Girl of the Streets. Fawcett, 1985.

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Bantam, 1982.

Emecheta, Buchi. The Joys of Motherhood. George Braziller, 1979.

Fox, Paula. Monkey Island. Orchard, 1991.

Hoffman, Alice. At Risk. Berkley, 1989.

O'Connor, Karen. Homeless Children. Lucent Books, 1989.

Orwell, George. Down and Out in Paris and London. Harcourt, 1986. Rossel,

Symour. Family. Watts, 1980.

Simon, Norma. All Kinds of Family. Albert Whitman, 1976.

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Bantam, 1989.

Voigt, Cynthia. Homecoming. Atheneum, 1981.

Prepared by Allison Lehto, Williams Jr. H.S. Oakland, ME

back to list button