The+Memory+Keeper's+Daughter

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter **Analysis by: Karen Krause **

The plot of this text is focused on one central event which occurs near the beginning of the novel. During a heavy snowstorm, a doctor named David Henry is forced to oversee his wife's delivery, when she gives birth to a set of twins. One of the children is a very healthy baby boy, and the other is a baby girl with Down's Syndrome. David hands the baby girl over to the nurse and tells her to take the baby to an institution for people with mental disabilities. He tells his wife that the girl died during childbirth. The rest of the novel focuses on David Henry's decision to send his daughter away and tell his wife that she had died, and on its ramifications on his family.
 * Synopsis of the Text **

My identity and position may be an asset in teaching this text, because one of my first cousins is a wonderful teenage boy living with Down’s Syndrome, just like the central character in the novel named Phoebe. As a result of my life experience and connection with such an exceptional person, I can help to lead the students into a deeper knowledge of the text and into a stronger engagement with the topic and with the varying perspectives of the characters. If a teacher does not know personally another individual with Down’s Syndrome, then he or she may not be able to understand to the same degree the beauty and simplicity of people with this ability, and the teacher may not be as equipped to introduce the students to the fact that differences should be celebrated and people who are different from us can offer something to this world that we simply cannot.
 * My Identity and Position in Teaching this Text **

If this novel is chosen as a text for the entire class, there will be a reading comprehension assignment to be completed while the students are reading the text. While they are reading, they will be taking notes on the main ideas and supporting ideas of the novel, and providing quotations from the text to prove the validity of each proposed idea. The assignment can be done in chart format with the appropriate sub-headings “main idea” or “supporting idea”, and “quotation”. The assignment should be approximately 1.5 - 2 pages double-spaced. The students will receive a reading comprehension mark based on their assessment of the novel. This assignment fulfills a specific expectation in “Reading and Literature Studies” for Grade 10 students which is outlined in the Ontario curriculum for English. The students are assessed based on their ability to “identify the most important ideas and supporting details in texts” (Ministry of Education 73).
 * Corresponding Assignments Fulfilling Curriculum Expectations **

After having read the text, the students will provide an in-depth character analysis of two characters of their choice. The students will describe the characters’ motivations for acting a certain way, the pain that they carry from the past, their desires for the future, their complex relationships with other characters, and their internal struggles. This assignment should be approximately 1-2 pages in length and double spaced, and will allow the students to fulfill a specific expectation from the Ontario Curriculum for “Writing” in a Grade 10 Academic course. This expectation is that by the end of the course students will be able to: “identify, sort, and order main ideas and supporting details for writing tasks, using a variety of strategies and organizational patterns suited to the content and the purpose for writing” (Ministry of Education 77). The students will write with the teacher as their audience for this assignment, and will provide an in-depth analysis of two characters from the novel, providing examples from the text for their suppositions.

Students will then be asked to come up with an alternate ending to the story, changing at least one major factor. The students will write a half-page to one page description of the new ending to the story, explaining why they have chosen to change that part of the story.

For the final part of the assignment, students will practice their creative writing skills and will re-write a scene from the book. The chosen scene will occur sometime during the alternate ending that they have created. The scene should be between 1-2 pages in length and double-spaced. For this assignment, students will seek to write using their own voice and diction, but will attempt to mimic certain writing styles of the original author, such as the frequent use of flashbacks in the story. This portion of the assignment will fulfill many curriculum expectations for writing. The students will write for the audience of the readers of //The Memory Keeper’s Daughter//, which will provide them with the opportunity to “establish a distinctive voice in their writing, modifying language and tone skillfully to suit the form, audience, and purpose for writing”, to “use appropriate descriptive and evocative words, phrases, and expressions to make their writing clear, vivid, and interesting for their intended audience”, and to “write complete sentences that communicate their meaning clearly and accurately, varying sentence type, structure, and length to suit different purposes and making smooth and logical transitions between ideas” (Ministry of Education 77). Once they have completed their first draft, they will work to “revise drafts to improve the content, organization, clarity, and style of their written work” (Ministry of Education 78). Their work should prove that they have considerable knowledge of and skills at applying their knowledge of the conventions of Spelling, Vocabulary, Punctuation, Grammar, Proofreading, Publishing, and Producing Finished Works, as outlined in sections 3.1 to 3.7 in the curriculum documents for Writing in a Grade 10 Academic course (Ministry of Education 78-79).

The word choice and sentence structure of this text are relatively simple and easy to read, but the novel still provides some textual challenges for the reader. As a result of the text’s ability to fulfill a variety of specific reading and writing expectations for the Grade 9, 10 and 11 English curriculums, I believe that this text will be taught most effectively in Grade 9, 10 or 11 English classes. The provocative subject matter of the text could be a little too sophisticated for Grade 9 students, but the text would still be suitable if the teacher could direct the class discussion in a competent, positive manner. This novel lacks the complexity that is necessary in a text for a Grade 12 English class. In conclusion, I believe that this text could be read at any grade level in applied or academic courses between Grade 9 academic and Grade 11 academic English courses.
 * Appropriate Grade Level for Text **

My professional abilities that will be helpful when teaching //The Memory Keeper’s// //Daughter// are my affinity for leading and provoking a stimulating group discussion. The topic of the novel is challenging and thought-provoking, and it possesses the power to shake up the students’ perspectives of the world, of relationships and of persons with intellectual disabilities, such as Down’s Syndrome.
 * My Professional Abilities in Teaching this Text **

Another professional ability which I possess that will be helpful when teaching this novel is my thorough knowledge of and familiarity with the text, which will provide me with the insight and ability to assess the correctness of the students’ chosen main ideas and supporting ideas.

It will also be beneficial to my teaching of this text to use my professional ability to think and write creatively. I have a comprehensive knowledge of the creative writing process, which I have gained from taking various creative writing courses throughout my academic history. This skill will therefore be advantageous to me throughout the process of teaching students how to come up with an alternative ending to the story and how to write a scene from the newly-changed story. Using my own writing experiences, I will teach them how to develop and use their own unique voice and brilliant ideas, while attempting to copy certain elements of the original author’s style and method of writing.

The resources and different types of technology that will be used when teaching this text are the book itself, Kim Edward’s website for the book, and the TV movie //The Memory Keeper’s Daughter//, which was aired in April 2008. When the text is first introduced to the students, the class will look at the home page of Kim Edward’s website and will read an excerpt from //The Memory Keeper’s Daughter// together. This activity will provide them with visuals that hopefully will peak their interest in the novel. After the students have read most of the book, the class will again visit Edward’s website and read the section titled “Frequently Asked Questions”, in which the author talks in great detail about her motivation for writing and the process of writing. This portion of the website will provide the students with a greater understanding of how an author writes an exceptional novel, and the information on the website will give students the opportunity to think about and analyze their own methods of writing. Once the students have finished reading the novel, the class will watch the TV movie of the novel, in order to provide the students with a chance to unpack all of the main themes and profound ideas which they have read about in the novel. Also, many students learn better by having visuals to help them along in the learning process.
 * Resources and Technology **

The main ideas that I will emphasize while teaching this text fit into three overarching categories: topical, textual and social. The topical challenges which the class will encounter with this text are the challenging topics of disability and difference, and judgment and marginalization as a result of difference.
 * Topical, Textual and Social Challenges in Teaching this Text **

At the beginning of the novel, Dr. David Henry’s wife Norah is in labour, and she gives birth to twins while unconscious. When the second child is born, David discovers that she has Down’s Syndrome, so he sends her away, telling the nurse to put his baby girl into an institution for those who have intellectual disabilities. David’s motivation for abandoning his daughter is that she is different from that which he considers to be normal, and he associates her disability with inevitable pain. David, therefore, believes that keeping his daughter is not worth all the effort that it will entail.

Contrary to David’s instructions, the nurse Carolyn Gill decides to take care of the little girl herself. She names the girl Phoebe and moves to another city to raise her. Throughout Phoebe’s life, Carolyn is continually fighting for her daughter to have equal rights with other children. Carolyn goes to court and protests that the public school system does not allow children with Down’s syndrome to attend public schools, and the reason behind this exclusion is that these children are “mentally retarded” and will not fit in with the rest of the “brighter” children (Edwards 161-162).

As a teacher, I want to encourage my students to celebrate differences within themselves and in others, because each person is unique and can make their own special and influential contribution to society. Difference should not be looked upon with disdain or judgment, and should not result in the unfairness of marginalization. Equity needs to be the basis of our perspective of others. If students are taught to develop an equity lens at an earlier age, they have greater potential to make a difference in this world, and they can share their newfound perspectives with their peers and their families. High school students have had less time than adults to be indoctrinated with the societal mindset that disregards equity; therefore, it is best that students have the opportunity to unpack and dissect their perspectives at a younger age, in order to ensure that they develop their own equity lens.

When Caroline Gill is battling the public school system and claiming that her daughter should be allowed to attend a public school just like any other child, Caroline’s lawyer states: “The best hope for their growth and development, as for all children, is an educational environment without predetermined limits. We only ask for equity today” (Edwards 162). The lawyer realizes that he is fighting the never-ending battle for equality. This same battle is one in which countless people fight every day, and for which teachers need to equip their students to fight. Each of my students should feel that in my class they are all provided with equal opportunities, equal access and equal results. I want my students to learn the importance of equity in their daily lives so that they can in turn practice this important principle in their interactions with others.

This novel is an excellent choice for individual reading projects or for a Literature Circles assignment, but it is probably not the best choice of text for a class project. There are a few textual challenges that might prohibit learning for some students. The four hundred pages of the book may be too daunting for reluctant readers and for students who have difficulty reading; whereas, the fact that the book is quite long and that it provides so much material to analyze may be very appropriate for avid readers.

Another reason that the text might not be appropriate as a class project is that the text may be viewed as boring or confusing to those students who do not engage with it, because of the fact that throughout the novel, there are numerous occurrences of flashbacks which lead the reader to jump back and forth to different time periods during the characters’ lives. It is at times exhausting as a reader to never be present in one moment but to exist simultaneously in many different times, and to seek to follow the through-line of the story when it is so disjointed. For example, Kim Edwards writes: “Jack played with his truck. //You should tell her.// He shook his head. After he’d sat watching Caroline’s house like a voyeur, he’d called a lawyer in Pittsburgh and set up those beneficiary accounts….Rosemary came back, smelling of Ivory soap” (Edwards 319). The story is told with so much memory hopping, that it can be exhausting to the reader. Although the frequent flashbacks have the potential to be problematic for less interested readers, they can also keep the avid reader engaged, holding his or her attention because of the multiple meanings and the sheer multiplicity of each moment.

Furthermore, this novel appears to cater more to the female perspective and will therefore be more likely to interest female readers. //The Memory Keeper’s Daughter// follows the inner narrative of four women and two men. The four women are Norah Henry, Norah’s sister Bree, the nurse Caroline Gill, and Phoebe, a charming young woman with Down’s syndrome who is nurtured and raised to adulthood by Caroline, but who is actually Norah’s daughter. The two men at the center of the novel are Dr. David Henry who is married to Norah, and his son Paul Henry. The female perspective is at the forefront of the novel. In Chapter 1 of the section entitled “1970”, Kim Edwards writes: Kay was the sort of mother Norah had always imagined that she herself would be, handling every situation with a relaxed and instinctive calm. Norah admired her, and she envied her too. Sometimes she even caught herself thinking that if she could be more like Kay, more serene and secure, her marriage might improve; she and David might be happier. (Edwards 126-127) In this passage, Norah is engaging in a female fantasy to become her society’s ideal type of mother who is calm and secure. The fact that the story focuses on the inner narrative of more women than men may cause the novel to be less interesting and less relevant to young male readers, who will read only out of duty or compulsion. Furthermore, this novel is also written by a female who understands more fully the female mind and can therefore more easily fulfill the reading needs of woman with a similar perspective and similar interests to her own.

The social issues which may be difficult to deal with and discuss with the students when teaching this text are Norah’s rampant affairs, the constrained role of women in the 1960s and 1970s, and the societal implications of the binary opposites of poverty and affluence. It may be challenging to talk about Norah’s affairs with the students, because it is a very provocative topic which they might not be able to handle with maturity. This book demonstrates the illusiveness and fragility of love, because with one wrong action, love can be destroyed, and connection between two lovers can be forever lost. David’s wrong action was to send away his daughter at birth and to lie to his wife, saying that their daughter was still-born. This action led to the destruction of his wife and of their once healthy relationship. Norah’s wrong action was to have an illicit affair with Harold, because once she started having affairs, she could not stop, and affairs became like an addiction to her. The complexity of this situation and the provocative nature of the subject matter will be a challenge when teaching this text.

Furthermore, another social issue that this text raises is the way that, in the past, women have been stifled and have been pressured to fulfill the demure role that society has created for them. This topic has the potential to incite a heated discussion about how gender inequity and gender biases exist even to this day in our modern and progressive society.

The final social issue which this text addresses that may be problematic for the students is the tension between poverty and affluence. Some students may feel like they cannot relate to certain characters because of that character’s association with poverty or affluence. An interesting aspect of wealth is introduced to the conversation, answering the age-old question: “Can money buy happiness?” David Henry is a very wealthy doctor who is incredibly successful, and yet even with all his money, he cannot recover from the emptiness of losing his daughter and from the deception which he willingly creates in order to protect himself and his family, but which ends up destroying himself and his family. The subjects of a character locked in poverty in comparison with a life of privileged wealth may be problematic for certain students as a result of their previous and present economic status.

There will be many challenges of which a teacher must be aware when teaching this text, but if handled appropriately, this text has the potential to improve and broaden students’ perspectives on the topics of disability and difference. If the students develop a better equity lens from reading this novel, then every encountered challenge when teaching this text is worth the effort.

__Works Cited__ Edwards, Kim. //The Memory Keeper’s Daughter//. New York: Penguin Books, 2005. Print. Edwards, Kim. “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.” 2006. Web. 13 November 2010. http://www.memorykeepersdaughter.com/ Ontario. __The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 and 10 : English__. Ministry of Education, 2007. Print. __The Memory Keeper’s Daughter__. Dir. Mick Jackson. Perf. Emily Watson, Dermot Mulroney, Gretchen Mol. Lifetime TV. 12 April 2008. Television.