Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

PRESENTATION: “How ‘The Book’ Changed the Lives of Savannahians”

In this activity, students will research and present on how the publication of Berendt’s account changed the lives of one of the figures from the text.

In The Savannah Morning News’s “25 Years of ‘Midnight’,” the author points out that Berendt’s account, “known to most locals simply as ‘The Book,’” has had a massive impact on the Savannah community. Working in small groups, select one key figure from the text and research this person’s life before and after its publication. In which ways has this person’s life transformed? Did Berendt adequately depict this person? If so, how? Share your findings with the class, along with any relevant visuals or videos in a presentation. Then, reflect on your classmates’ presentations and consider the effects “The Book” had on the Savannah community. How did the themes of The Duality of Traditional Savannah, The Reality of Exclusion, Appearances Versus Reality, and Genre Bending and the Role of the Journalist manifest in the community post-publication?

Teaching Suggestion: This Activity invites students to research the effects of Berendt’s text on Savannah to understand the wider impact of nonfiction work on the communities they address. Based on the level and size of the class, this Activity may be done as either a group exercise or individual assignment. It may also be helpful to create a list of key figures from the text to choose from in advance.

Differentiation Suggestion: For a complementary writing component, this Activity may be amended to include a research paper. In this vein, consider reviewing the research writing process with students (i.e., initial research, annotated bibliography, thesis statement, outline, rough draft, peer review, final submission). For visual learners and students with strong graphic design skills, consider adding an artistic depiction that reflects the key figure of choice “before” and “after” the text’s publication. To strengthen public speaking skills, students might explain the symbolic choices in their illustration and the intended effects. 

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Mary Harty discusses Savannah’s resistance to change, and the author reiterates this in the last chapter, praising the environment that allowed such exotic and unique characters to flourish.

• In what ways are socioeconomic class divisions, racism, and anti-gay bias allowed to sustain in this environment? (topic sentence)
• This book has been credited with a huge increase in tourism to Savannah, but to what extent is this book praising or indicting the town? Use 2-3 specific examples from the text to support your claim and explain your reasoning.
• How does this book speak to the larger theme of The Duality of Traditional Savannah?

2. Jim Williams is a highly regarded member of the Savannah community.

• To what extent does Williams experience privilege due to his wealth and business reputation, or discrimination for his sexual orientation and modest background? (topic sentence)
• Choose at least two examples that show privilege and two examples that show discrimination of Williams. Explain the significance of these moments in relation to your claim.
• How does this dichotomy of privilege and discrimination relate to the theme of The Reality of Exclusion?

3. The Author’s Note raises questions about the line between fiction and nonfiction, as well as Genre Bending and the Role of the Journalist in creative nonfiction pieces. In later interviews, the author admits he did not meet Williams until after the murder trial, and that he inserted himself into the narrative.

• What do these changes add to the overall account? (topic sentence)
• To what extent is Berendt (as depicted in the book) an observer, and to what extent is he a participant? Choose 2-3 specific examples from the text and explain how they support your claim.
• Should this work be considered a work of fiction or nonfiction? Why or why not?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Berendt’s text presents the evidence produced in Williams’s four trials, but it also includes gossip and the opinions of many residents, who act as an unofficial jury. Based on this information, is it possible to determine whether Williams is innocent or guilty? What did Berendt want readers to conclude by the end of the story? Why?

2. The author makes references to the Savannah tour guides and the “prim and proper” speeches they give to tourists. In what ways is his book a different kind of tour of Savannah? How does it give the reader a broader picture of the city and the community, and what is the overall impact of this impression?

3. John Berendt is the book’s first-person narrator, and Odom playfully refers to Berendt as a “Yankee.” As a Northern outsider, how is the author able to see the insider’s view of Savannah? How does Berendt’s identity, writing as a cis, white male, inform his insider status? How might the story change if the narrator were a marginalized figure—such as a person of color, a person who identifies as nonbinary or transgender, or a woman?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following phrases best describes Jim Williams’s financial background?

A) Blue blood

B) Aristocratic

C) Patrician

D) Nouveau riche

2. Which of the following phrases best summarizes the type of stories that Williams shares with Berendt in Chapter 1?

A) A commentary on the effects of the Civil War in the community

B) A manifesto on the importance of slavery for Georgia’s economy

C) An explanation of the persistent poverty in the surrounding Savannah region

D) An exposé of the social milieu in Savannah

3. Berendt describes Savannah as “an offstage presence […] It stood aloof on the Georgia coast—dignified, sedate, refined—looking down its nose at Atlanta.” Which of the following literary terms does he use in this description?

A) Simile

B) Metaphor

C) Personification

D) Allegory

4. Which of the following words best describes Savannah’s relationship with the outside world?

A) Dependent

B) Isolated

C) Subservient

D) Reciprocal

5. In Joe’s new piano bar, Berendt observes the following situation: “Joe gave Mandy a kiss. Then he went back to the business of writing checks. He gave one to the man who had installed the lights. He gave another to the carpenter and a third to the general contractor. Joe and the men bantered lightheartedly, as if all of them really believed the checks were good.” Based on the above quote, which of the following conclusions can the reader draw about Joe’s character?

A) That he regularly engages in honorable actions

B) That he is able to use his charisma to avoid difficult situations

C) That he is confident in the success of his new financial endeavor

D) That he is not respectful of the common laborer as a friend

6. Which word best describes Adler’s motivation for restoring the Victorian district?

A) Political

B) Religious

C) Philanthropic

D) Racial

7. What does Joe continuously tease Berendt about throughout the text?

A) That Berendt is an undercover police officer

B) That Berendt works for the FBI

C) That Berendt will make a movie of the events of Savannah

D) That Berendt is originally from Savannah

8. Which of the following rhetorical devices did Williams utilize to persuade the jury of his innocence, according to Lester’s account of the trial?

A) Pathos

B) Ethos

C) Logos

D) Kairos

9. Which of the following conclusions can be made about Williams’s personal life, based on the testimonies given at the trial?

A) That everyone accepted his sexual orientation

B) That he was an active member of the LGBTQI+ community

C) That he kept his sexual life private

D) That he enjoyed the company of older men and women

10. Which of the following reasons best describes why Williams loves Minerva?

A) Because she is a dutiful lover

B) Because she is an inexpensive source of support

C) Because she always delivers results

D) Because she is the best piano player in Savannah

11. Which of the following sources of income does Joe Odom depend on throughout the account?

A) Selling antiques to various auction houses in Europe

B) Oscillating between sex work and narcotics services

C) Singing for private functions at his nightclub

D) Offering tours of the various houses he is squatting in

12. Which of the following phrases best describes Chapter 21?

A) A compilation of Berendt’s observations regarding the retrial

B) An in-depth analysis at the motivations behind Williams’s defense case

C) An interview with Minerva and her son

D) A flashback to Lady Chablis’s relationship with Danny

13. Why does Williams not visit the dentist while he is in jail?

A) Because he is concerned about making a dignified appearance

B) Because he is wary of the financial burden

C) Because he is not allowed to have access to his usual dentist

D) Because he is no longer invited to visit that particular office

14. How does Chapter 24 depart from the primary events of Berendt’s account?

A) It focuses on prison–industrial complex in the South.

B) It highlights the racial hierarchies African American women experience.

C) It comments on the sexism pervasive in the Savannah debutante scene.

D) It advocates for reduced prison sentences for LGBTQI+ inmates.

15. Which of the following phrase best describes how Berendt views Savannahian pride?

A) A fragility for progress in business and art

B) A thorn in the side of the federal government

C) A strength for an eccentric community

D) A deterrent to the development of legal proceedings

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What is the meaning of the book’s title, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil?

2. How does Williams demonstrate his belief in the power of the mind? What effect does this have?