Welcome to this Unit on Sounder. I created this website for my gifted class a few years ago. There are chapter activities for the students as they read the story. (If you do not have a hard copy of the book, you can read the full text on the Internet Archive. Click HERE.) This page was updated 8/26/2020. If you have any questions, please contact me. ([email protected])
The Author
William Howard Armstrong (September 14, 1911 – April 11, 1999) was an American children's author and educator, best known for his 1969 novel Sounder.
Author of more than a dozen books for adults and children, he won the John Newbery Medal for Sounder in 1970 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Hampden-Sydney College in 1986. |
The BookSounder is the story of an African-American boy living with his sharecropper family. Although the family's difficulties increase when the father is imprisoned for stealing a ham from work, the boy still hungers for an education. Sounder, the dog's name, is the only character name used in the book. The author refers to the various characters by their relationship or their role in the story.
Major Themes in the NovelLoneliness - The boy feels acute loneliness especially at night after his father arrested. He also yearns to live closer to other people.
Racial Discrimination - The family experiences great hardships because of racial injustices. Family members are exploited by a white landowner and are kept in ignorance, so they cannot escape their life of menial labor.
Importance of Education and Religious Faith - The boy yearns to learn how to read. Though his parents don't own books, the boy learns life lessons and important values through the Bible stories his mother tells.
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Chapter Vocabulary and Comprehension
Background
The main characters in this novel are portrayed with sympathy and admiration. The story, however, deals with hardship and injustice. Certain words, phrases, references, and situations may offend some readers.
To learn the vocabulary for each chapter, click on "Vocabulary" to learn the words and definitions. The children can practice the vocabulary on Quizlet. NOTE: The words and definitions are at the bottom of each Quizlet page. The comprehension quizzes are Google forms.
Chapter 1
Vocabulary: addled, callused, peering, mellowed, precision, punctuated, quarry, successive
Comprehension - Chapter 1
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Chapter 2
Vocabulary: fallow, flounder, heave, lunge, mongrel, plaintive
Comprehension - Chapter 2
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Chapter 3
Vocabulary: carcass, faint, gnaw, haunches, pallet, skittish, sorrow, rivulets, thaw, visualize
Comprehension - Chapter 3
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These are multiple choice test for Chapter 1 and Chapter 2-3. They were created on Quizaline.
Quizaline Test - Chapter 1
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Quizaline Test - Chapters 2 & 3
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Chapter 4
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Chapter 5
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Vocabulary: corridor, mange, peddle, poultice, quiver, tannery, vaccinate, vital
Comprehension - Chapter 4
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Vocabulary: convict, famished, grieved, loafing, shattering, uncertainly
Comprehension - Chapter 5
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Chapter 8
Vocabulary: askew, encased, indistinct, parched, suffocate, wearied
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Comprehension - Chapters 6 - 8
Sounder Movie (1972)
The movie of the book was filmed in 1972. There are similarities and differences between the two. One of the main differences is that the characters have actual names in the movie. Read the Compare and Contrast Form for Characters before watching the movie. After watching the movie, complete the Compare and Contrast Form for Plot.
Compare and Contrast Form - Characters
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Compare and Contrast Form - Plot
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