Study Guide for :Jazz by Toni Morrison & Comprehension Test

Jazz
by Toni Morrison
About_
Jazz by Toni Morrison is a richly layered novel set in 1920s Harlem that follows Violet and Joe Trace as their
marriage unravels after Joe’s affair with a young girl named Dorcas. This study guide guides students through the
opening chapters, helping them track characters, memories, and events while exploring themes of loss, longing,
identity, and the influence of the City. This study guide contains 65 questions across 5 chapter sections (50 Factual

• 15 Critical), 1 Crossword Puzzle (12 clues), and 1 Character Focus Activity.
  What’s Included_
  This study guide features 5 sets of 10 Factual Questions with an answer key (50 total), 5 sets of 3 Critical Analysis
  Questions (15 total), 1 Crossword Puzzle (12 clues), and 1 Character Focus Activity (8 traits + evidence prompt +
  critical thinking question).
  Target Grades_
  Grades 10-12
  Teacher Note_
  Jazz is a challenging and rewarding text, and this guide gives your students a clear path through its shifting voices
  and timelines. The factual questions build confidence and comprehension, while the critical questions invite
  deeper discussion and close reading. We hope it saves you valuable preparation time so you can focus on the rich
  conversations this novel inspires.
  About Toni Morrison
  Toni Morrison (1931–2019) was an American novelist, editor, and professor who became one of the most celebrated voices in
  world literature. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Beloved and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Her
  novels explore Black history, identity, memory, and community with poetic and richly layered language.
  Harlem in the 1920s
  Jazz is set in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s, a time when the neighborhood became a thriving center of Black art, music,
  and literature known as the Harlem Renaissance. Many African Americans had moved there from the rural South as part of the
  Great Migration, seeking work, freedom, and new opportunities. Nightclubs, parades, and street music gave the city a restless,
  energetic rhythm.
  A Novel Shaped Like Music
  Morrison structures Jazz the way a jazz musician might improvise, with voices, memories, and storylines that circle back,
  overlap, and shift without warning. The narrator is unusual, often speaking directly to the reader and offering opinions that
  may not always be reliable. Readers are encouraged to listen closely, piece together the past, and think about how the City
  itself shapes the characters’ choices.