Recitatif

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the story.

Personal Response Prompt

Have you ever had a friend from the past resurface in your life? How did that moment feel? Were you able to restart your friendship, or were you both in two different places in your life? What do you think influences whether old friends can become reacquainted as new friends years after first meeting?

Teaching Suggestion: Depending on how old students are, answers to this personal response will vary, but the final two questions about the nature of friendship gives access to the text for all students. This Personal Response would work well as a pre-reading activity, so students can analyze if Roberta and Twyla truly are friends.

• "Racial Factions: Act Three": This section of an episode from the podcast “This American Life” tells the story of what happened when someone didn’t stand up for their friend at a Black Unity rally. This intersection of race and friendship is a key conflict in “Recitatif.”

Post-Reading Analysis

Imagine that Roberta and Twyla had kept in touch after their time in the orphanage. Choose an age from which to write two letters, one from Roberta’s point-of-view and one from Twyla’s, in which the two girls share updates about their lives and/or bring up stories from their shared past.