Sadie

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.

“Claire’s Perspective”

In this activity, students will demonstrate their understanding of how Claire’s perspective differs from May Beth’s by writing and recording a podcast script influenced by Claire’s perspective.

Early conversations with May Beth influenced the initial direction of West’s podcast. But what if West had met Claire first? How might her perspective have influenced his beliefs and his approach to the investigation? In this activity, you will write and record a script for West’s introduction of this imagined podcast.

Gather Evidence of Claire’s Perspective

• Review the chapters in which West first talks with May Beth and introduces his podcast.
• Review the chapters in which Claire explains her perspective on Sadie’s childhood and personality.
• Consider how Claire’s perspective differs.
• Consider how West’s ideas about Sadie and her disappearance might be different if West had not yet met May Beth.

Write and Record Your Script

• Your script should introduce the subject of West’s podcast and include an interview with Claire, instead of with May Beth.
• Your script should run 3-5 minutes when recorded.
• Record in a format that can be easily played back in class.

Share Your Recording

• Play your recorded script for your group members.
• When everyone has finished, answer the following questions as a group:

○ What were some especially effective moments in the scripts you heard today? What made these choices effective and why?

Teaching Suggestion: Before beginning work on this activity, students may benefit from a discussion of what “effective” means in the questions listed in the “Share Your Recording” section of the activity. This will help establish guidelines for how the assignment will be evaluated and clarify how groups are to answer the final questions. This activity might be an ideal one for partner work, as this allows one student to read West’s lines and another to read Claire’s lines. Recording their scripts will require that students have access to some kind of recording device, such as a cellphone or laptops. If this is not a realistic option, you can ask students to read their scripts aloud during their group meetings.

Differentiation Suggestion: Recording or performing scripts aloud may present an unreasonable burden for students with anxiety or issues affecting speech clarity or fluency. A reasonable alternative for these students would be to simply hand in a printed copy of their scripts. Literal thinkers and students who have difficulty understanding other’s perspectives may struggle to translate Claire’s perspective from later in the novel into the context of the novel’s earliest chapters. To help with this, consider asking them to complete an intermediary step between gathering evidence and writing their scripts: They could list West’s beliefs and make notes about how May Beth influences them, and then they could discuss how Claire’s differing perspective might impact each belief. 

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. West’s podcasts offer a unique kind of narrative voice.

• How does the podcast narration contribute to this story’s impact? (topic sentence)
• Choose at least three pieces of evidence from the story and then explain how each piece supports your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, discuss how the impact of the narration format supports the book’s larger meaning.

2. The chapters that focus on The Girls are set a few months after the events that Sadie narrates.

• How does the time difference between Sadie’s narration and West’s podcast create suspense? (topic sentence)
• Choose at least three pieces of evidence from the story and then explain how each piece supports your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on the relationship between this suspense and one of the book’s themes: The Vulnerability and Strength of Women or The Commodification of Female Suffering.

3. Sadie, May Beth, and Claire all give different accounts of Sadie’s childhood.

• What message about people is conveyed by the differences in their recollections? (topic sentence)
• Choose at least three pieces of evidence from the story and explain how each piece supports your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on how these varied perspectives on Sadie’s childhood support the novel’s larger thematic concern with The Effects of Poverty and Privilege.

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. One of the concerns that Claire has about West’s podcast is that it exploits The Vulnerability of Women and participates in The Commodification of Female Suffering. Is reading a book like Sadie problematic in similar ways? What difference does it make that Sadie is a work of fiction? Does it matter that Sadie gets to narrate much of her own story? Evaluate both sides of this argument in an essay and offer a conclusion about where the balance of the evidence lies. Support your arguments with evidence drawn from the text, making sure to cite any quoted material.

2. How might Sadie’s background influence her decision to seek her own justice instead of leaving it to the police? What impact does her family’s poverty have on her worldview? When she needed help in the past, did authority figures or social institutions show concern for her welfare? Write an essay analyzing how Sadie’s background shapes her vigilante instincts. Show how her vigilantism is related to the book’s larger thematic concern with The Effects of Poverty and Privilege. Support your arguments with evidence drawn from the text, making sure to cite any quoted material.

3. One of the things that draws readers to mysteries and thrillers is the satisfaction of seeing justice done when the “bad guy” is caught and faces the consequences of their actions. Does Sadie provide the reader with this feeling? Is Keith the only villain in this piece? What about Sadie herself—does her vigilante quest to punish Keith turn her into a kind of “bad guy,” or are her actions entirely just? Write an essay evaluating whether this novel does or does not offer its reader a feeling that justice is served. Support your arguments with evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted material.

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

Multiple Choice

1. Who functioned as Mattie’s primary caretaker when she was a child?

A) Sadie

B) May Beth

C) Claire

D) Irene

2. What is the implied content of the photograph Marlee finds in Darren’s things and the photographs that Sadie finds in Silas’s house?

A) Murder victims

B) Child pornography

C) Animal cruelty

D) Hate crimes

3. Who is most responsible for the deterioration of Mattie’s relationship with Sadie?

A) Claire

B) Sadie

C) Keith

D) Marty

4. Which of the following is not an alias that Jack Hersh uses during the story?

A) Christopher

B) Darren

C) Keith

D) Matthew

5. Which detail symbolizes Sadie’s pursuit of Keith?

A) Her relationship to May Beth

B) Her love for Mattie

C) Her last name

D) Her physical description

6. Which is the most accurate description of Sadie’s narrative voice?

A) Calculating and cold

B) Raw and passionate

C) Manipulative and hyperbolic

D) Witty and sarcastic

7. In what way does Sadie grow as a person during her pursuit of Keith?

A) She forgives Claire as she develops a wider perspective on parent-child relationships.

B) She begins to appreciate the role Mattie’s own behavior played in her eventual fate.

C) She develops an understanding of the mental and emotional problems of predators.

D) She becomes more compassionate and more aware of others’ suffering.

8. Which is the most accurate characterization of Sadie?

A) She is a strong, caring, and intelligent person whose potential is underdeveloped because of her circumstances.

B) She is a ruthless and determined person who follows her own impulses regardless of the consequences.

C) She is a lively, sociable, and creative person who shines despite her impoverished and violent childhood.

D) She is a bitter and judgmental person who blames others for her own limitations instead of making the best of difficult circumstances.

9. How does West’s narration differ from Sadie’s for most of the story?

A) West is more trusting and gullible.

B) West is more objective and dispassionate.

C) West is more insightful and perceptive.

D) West is more emotional and engaged.

10. Which character most clearly represents why some people deserve a second chance?

A) May Beth

B) Claire

C) Keith

D) Sadie

11. How does West change as a result of covering Sadie and Mattie’s story?

A) He becomes convinced that vigilante justice is both ethical and necessary.

B) He learns that it is wrong to tell stories about the suffering of women as entertainment.

C) He begins to feel hopeless about the constant violence against women in America.

D) He learns the importance of caring about the people he covers in his stories.

12. Which is the most accurate characterization of May Beth?

A) She is practical and insightful, but her quick temper can sometimes hurt other people.

B) She is reserved and secretive, but underneath she has a good heart.

C) She is generous and loving, but she does not always see people for who they are.

D) She is forgetful and disorganized, but she does her best to take care of others.

13. What message do Keith and Silas both demonstrate?

A) Evil can exist underneath a pleasant and respectable exterior.

B) Desperate people often make dangerous and irrational choices.

C) Education and wealth do not prevent a person from committing violence.

D) Abuse often creates a cycle where the abused becomes the abuser.

14. What idea is conveyed in the juxtaposition of West’s podcast with Sadie’s narration?

A) Wealth and privilege are no substitute for experience and wisdom.

B) True compassion and empathy can only be developed through suffering.

C) People deceive themselves about their own characters and motivations.

D) It is difficult and perhaps impossible to accurately tell someone else’s story.

15. Which is the most accurate explanation of what Sadie’s switchblade represents?

A) Sadie’s belief that justice demands that Keith be killed with his own weapon

B) Sadie’s need to steal from others the resources she has been unfairly denied

C) Sadie’s inner conflict over whether she really wants to be a dangerous person

D) Sadie’s mistaken confidence in her ability to judge people’s characters

Long Answer

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

1. How does growing up in Cold Creek impact Sadie?

2. How does the trauma of Mattie’s death impact Sadie?