Kelso High School
English Department
Prose text:
In today’s lesson we will:
 Learn about the historical context of the
novel.
 Learn about the author Alice Sebold.
 Discuss the way we will study the novel.
 Read Chapter One of the text.
Historical Context
Written in the late 1990s the novel reflects the
various concerns of Americans at this time:
Domestic violence
Sexual Violence
Teen violence – e.g.
1999
shooting at
Columbine High
School in Colorado.
Historical Context
 Certainly Sebold alludes to the frequency of
child kidnappings in the first chapter when
she mentions that they are now so common
that lost children are profiled on milk cartons.
However:
 Back when the novel was set in the 1970s
such crimes were not so common:
“This was before kids of all races and
genders started appearing on milk
cartons or in the daily mail. It was still
back when people believed things like
that didn’t happen.”
Historical Context: Women’s
Movement
 In the 1970s people began to question the traditional
gender roles of men and women.
 This is illustrated in the novel through:
Abigail: who feels discontented in her
role as a wife and a mother
Ruth:
who overtly embodies the
feminism of the 1970s with her
refusal to conform to expected
feminine behaviour and dress.
Historical Context: Suburbanisation of
America
 Another 1970s concern was the
suburbanisation of America. Susie often
refers to the “identical” houses in her suburb
and Grandma Lynn cannot believe that her
daughter chose to love in a souless suburban
dwelling.
American Suburb
The author: Alice Sebold
Alice Sebold:
 Alice Sebold (born September 6, 1963) is an
American novelist.
 She has published three books: Lucky
(1999), The Lovely Bones (2002) and The
Almost Moon (2007).
Author Facts:
 When she was an 18-year-old freshman at
Syracuse University, Sebold was brutally
beaten and raped near campus. After her
recovery, she returned to Syracuse where
she recognised her attacker and had him
arrested. Her memoir, Lucky, is about this
attack. The title comes from her experience of
being told by the police that she was “lucky”
to be alive since another woman had been
killed in the same area where Sebold was
assaulted.
The Lovely Bones
The Lovely Bones
 “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name,
Susie. I was 14 when I was murdered on December
6, 1973,” so begins The Lovely Bones, one of the
best-reviewed novels of the decade.
 The book quickly became an unprecedented
international bestseller, with translations in over 45
languages and American sales alone of over five
million copies.
 In 2009 it was chosen by the Young Adult Library
Association as one of its recommended titles for all
students (the list is revised every five years and used
by educators and librarians across the United
States).
Studying the Novel:
Studying the Novel:
 Chapter by chapter analysis of:
Plot
Characterisation
Themes
Setting
Structure
Style
Key incidents
Symbolism
Studying the Novel:

Personal reading and reflection

Class reading and discussion

Critical Essays - planning and writing

Exam – Paper 2 Critical Essay paper
Chapter One: