Night of the Living Rez Novel Study

This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty. The pack has been designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s reading objectives for Year 6.

ABOUT THE NOVEL: Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy. In twelve striking, luminescent stories, author Morgan Talty—with searing humor, abiding compassion, and deep insight—breathes life into tales of family and a community as they struggle with a painful past and an uncertain future. A boy unearths a jar that holds an old curse, which sets into motion his family’s unraveling; a man, while trying to swindle some pot from a dealer, discovers a friend passed out in the woods, his hair frozen into the snow; a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s projects the past onto her grandson; and two friends, inspired by Antiques Roadshow, attempt to rob the tribal museum for valuable root clubs. 

A collection that examines the consequences and merits of inheritance, Night of the Living Rez is an unforgettable portrayal of an Indigenous community and marks the arrival of a standout talent in contemporary fiction.

ABOUT THE RESOURCE: This pack includes: Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character studies and plot studies), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (reservation, methadone, four directions, Pioneer 10, sweat lodge, Jesuits, Settlement Act, Penobscot Nation).

Resource is provided as a PDF but a digital copy of the pack is available for editing and sharing on Google Classroom and Seesaw available with download.