Student
Matinee
Series
Native Guard
By Natasha Trethewey
Study Guide
Created by Alliance Theatre Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists Staff
Native Guard is a world premiere by U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey.
The play can be seen on the Hertz Stage from September 26 to October 19, 2014.
About the Playwright, Natasha Trethewey
1
Natasha Trethewey was appointed United States Poet Laureate in June 2012. She won the 2007 Pulitzer
Prize in Poetry for her 2006 collection Native Guard, and is the Poet Laureate of Mississippi.
1
“Creative Writing Program | Natasha Trethewey,” accessed August 29, 2014,
http://www.creativewriting.emory.edu/faculty/trethewey.html.
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She is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University, where she
also directs the Creative Writing Program.2
Synopsis of Native Guard
Act One
Act One juxtaposes the deeply personal experiences of Trethewey, a child of a then-illegal marriage
between her black mother and white father living in 1960s Mississippi, with the experience of a soldier in
the Native Guard, the first African-American Union troop in the Civil War, who was charged with
guarding white Confederate captives. Years after her mother's tragic death, Trethewey reclaims her
memory, just as she reclaims the voices of the black soldiers whose service has been all but forgotten.
Act Two
Act Two’s audiences will talk with the cast, an outside guest and an Alliance Theatre staff member about
their experience of Act One, its characters, their times and situations. What resonates, is most memorable,
most surprising, most bubbling and/or boiling to put into the audience’s words?
Directors
This world premiere production is directed by The Alliance Theater’s Artistic Director, Susan V. Booth.
Susan V. Booth is a well-known director who has worked with theaters throughout the country, including
the Goodman, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Stage and Film, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Northlight
Theatre, Victory Gardens, Court Theatre and many more. She started her career as an artistic director
when she joined the Alliance Theatre in 2001. Her most famous projects while working in the company
include Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, The Color Purple, Bring It On: The Musical, The 25th
Annual Putman County Spelling Bee, Sister Act: The Musical and more. She graduated from and held a
teaching position at the Northwestern University. She also taught at DePaul University, and she currently
teaches at Emory University.
2
“Natasha Trethewey - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,” accessed August 29, 2014,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natasha_Trethewey.
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Actors
Characters
Nicole Banks Long ------------------------------- Vocalist/As Cast
Neal A. Ghant --------------------------------- Man/Discussant/As Cast
January LaVoy ------------------------------ Woman/Discussant/As Cast
From the Playwright
U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey talked about her life and work during her September 21, 2013
interview at the National Book Festival, held by the Library of Congress on the National Mall in
Washington, D.C.3
(Click or Ctrl+Click image above for the online interview.)
Unfamiliar Words and Phrases from Native Guard
(In The Order Of Appearance In The Text)
Rigging – the ropes, chains, and other lines used aboard a vessel especially in working sail and supporting
masts and spars4
Genus – a class, kind, or group marked by common characteristics or by one common characteristic5
Narcissus – a genus of Old World bulbous herbs (family Amaryllidaceae) having erect linear leaves and
showy yellow or white or bicolor flowers with a large cup-shaped corona6
Narcissus – In Greek mythology, Narcissus was renowned for his beauty, exceptionally proud and
disdained those who loved him. Nemesis noticed this behavior and attracted Narcissus to a pool, where he
3
Peter Slen, “Interview Natasha Trethewey | Video | C-SPAN.org,” Interview, Interview with Natasha Trethewey
(Washington, District of Columbia, United States: C-Span, September 21, 2013), http://www.cspan.org/video/?315051-8/interview-natasha-trethewey.
4
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
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saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection,
Narcissus died.7
Journeyman – an experienced usually competent or reliable workman in any field usually as distinguished
from one that is brilliant or colorful8
Clavicle – a bone in man situated just above the first rib on either side of the neck and having the form of
a narrow elongated S — called also collarbone9
Temporal adjective – of or relating to earthly life as contrasted with heavenly10
Temporal bone noun – a compound bone of the side of the human skull11
Erebus – a personification of darkness in Greek mythology12
Wheedle – to influence or inveigle by soft words or flattery13
Catacombs – a subterranean cemetery consisting of galleries or passages with side recesses for tombs —
usually used in plural14
Boll – the pod or capsule of a plant especially of flax or cotton15
Glyph – a symbolic figure or a character usually incised or carved in relief16
Aperture – an opening or open space (as between parts or sections of solid matter) : hole, gap, cleft
Parish of Ascension – Ascension Parish is a parish (eq. county) in U.S. state of Louisiana and part of the
Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area17 See also http://www.ascensionparish.net/.
Conscription – the enlisting or procurement of services, money, property, or profits by an authority18
Hardtack – a hard biscuit or loaf bread made of flour and water without salt and baked in large or small
forms19
Pascagoula – Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, the county seat and a major industrial
city of on the Gulf Coast.20 See also http://cityofpascagoula.com/.
Mongrel – often disparaging + offensive : a person of mixed birth or tendencies or of undefined status21
7
“Narcissus (mythology) - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,” accessed September 2, 2014,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology).
8
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary,” http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/erebus?show=0&t=1409685238.
13
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com.
14
Ibid.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid.
17
“Ascension Parish, Louisiana - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,” accessed September 2, 2014,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_Parish,_Louisiana.
18
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com.
19
Ibid.
20
“Pascagoula, Mississippi - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,” accessed September 2, 2014,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascagoula,_Mississippi.
21
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com.
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Mulatto – now sometimes offensive : the first-generation offspring of a black person and a white person22
Reconstruction – often capitalized : the reorganization and reestablishment in the Union during a period
(1867–1877) following the American Civil War of those states that had seceded23
Recessive traits – Please see
http://www.blinn.edu/socialscience/ldthomas/feldman/handouts/0203hand.htm
Gothic – of or relating to the middle ages24
Peckerwood – usually disparaging + offensive : a rural white southerner25
Hurricane lamp – an oil lantern having a glass chimney with a perforated metal lid that permits the egress
of air but protects the flame from high winds26
Elegy – a song or poem expressing sorrow or lamentation especially for one who is dead27
Daughters of the Confederacy – The United Daughters of the Confederacy, Inc. is an association of
female descendants of Confederate veterans.28
Phalanx – a body of heavily armed infantry in ancient Greece formed in close deep ranks and files with
joined shields and long lances29
Dialectic – the theory and practice of weighing and reconciling juxtaposed or contradictory arguments for
the purpose of arriving at truth especially through discussion and debate30
Razed – to overthrow from the foundation : lay level with the ground31
Alphabetized Words And Phrases
Aperture
Boll
Catacombs
Clavicle
Conscription
Daughters of the
Confederacy
Erebus
Genus
Glyph
Gothic
Hardtack
Hurricane Lamp
Journeyman
Mongrel
Mulatto
Narcissus
Parish of Ascension
Pascagoula
Peckerwood
Phalanx
Razed
Recessive traits
Reconstruction
Rigging
Temporal
Wheedle
Elegy
22
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com.
Ibid.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid.
28
“United Daughters of the Confederacy - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,” accessed September 3, 2014,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Daughters_of_the_Confederacy.
29
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com.
30
Ibid.
31
Ibid.
23
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Native Guard…Memories Then and Then
The State of Mississippi
On December 10, 1817, Mississippi was the 20th state admitted to the Union. By 1860, the enslaved
population numbered 436,631 or 55% of the state's total of 791,305. On January 9, 1861, Mississippi
became the second state to declare its secession from the United States, and a founding member of the
Confederate States of America.32 The Confederacy’s first and only President was Mississippian, Jefferson
Davis.
State Map
33
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation34 and the U.S. Military’s AfricanAmerican recruitment was pursued in earnest. Volunteers from South Carolina, Tennessee, and
Massachusetts filled the first authorized Black Regiments. By the Confederacy’s surrender at
Appomattox, roughly 179,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army
and another 19,000 served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war.35
32
“Mississippi - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,” accessed September 3, 2014,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi#See_also.
33
"Map of Mississippi NA" by U.S. federal government - National Atlas. Licensed under Public domain via
Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Mississippi_NA.png#mediaviewer/File:Map_of_Mississippi_NA
.png
34
“Emancipation Proclamation | Summary Facts,” accessed June 14, 2013,
http://www.historynet.com/emancipation-proclamation.
35
“Black Soldiers in the Civil War,” accessed August 28, 2014, http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blackscivil-war/.
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From “Cargo” to Union Soldiers
African-American military units served with distinction in a number of battles. Black infantrymen fought gallantly
at Milliken's Bend, LA; Port Hudson, LA; Petersburg, VA; and Nashville, TN. Over half of the 54th Regiment of
Massachusetts Volunteers survived the July 1863 assault on Fort Wagner, SC, that was dramatized in the Steven
film Glory. By Civil War's end, 16 black soldiers had been awarded the Medal of Honor for their valor.36
Creative Writing Prompts
1. Choose a favorite childhood memory and write about it as a poetic monologue, either as rap, a sonnet,
spoken word or other song lyrics.
2. If someone you know has service in the military and shared stories, write their story from their point
of view, as though they are the one speaking.
36
“Black Soldiers in the Civil War,” accessed August 28, 2014, http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blackscivil-war/.
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Bibliography
“Ascension Parish, Louisiana - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.” Accessed September 2, 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_Parish,_Louisiana.
“Black Soldiers in the Civil War.” Accessed August 28, 2014.
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/.
“Creative Writing Program | Natasha Trethewey.” Accessed August 29, 2014.
http://www.creativewriting.emory.edu/faculty/trethewey.html.
“Emancipation Proclamation | Summary Facts.” Accessed June 14, 2013.
http://www.historynet.com/emancipation-proclamation.
“Erebus - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary.” Accessed September 2,
2014. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/erebus?show=0&t=1409685238.
“Mississippi - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.” Accessed September 3, 2014.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi#See_also.
“Narcissus (mythology) - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.” Accessed September 2, 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology).
“Natasha Trethewey - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.” Accessed August 29, 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natasha_Trethewey.
“Pascagoula, Mississippi - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.” Accessed September 2, 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascagoula,_Mississippi.
Peter Slen. “Interview Natasha Trethewey | Video | C-SPAN.org.” Interview. Interview with Natasha
Trethewey. Washington, District of Columbia, United States: C-Span, September 21, 2013.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?315051-8/interview-natasha-trethewey.
“United Daughters of the Confederacy - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.” Accessed September 3,
2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Daughters_of_the_Confederacy.
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