52 pages 1 hour read

Virginia Hamilton

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Middle Grade | Published in 1985

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Essay Topics

1.

Virginia Hamilton is the author of The People Could Fly, but she didn’t create the stories. Almost all of them are a product of people telling them to other people—they have no single author. Do what Hamilton does and pick a story and retell it. Think of how you can add your own mark on it without detracting from its meaning or lineage.

2.

Read Hamilton’s first novel, Zeely (1967); The Planet of Junior Brown (1971); or another book she’s written and connect the folktales to her work. How do her stories spotlight teamwork, community, the supernatural, and so on?

3.

Hamilton divided the book into four parts. Choose a story for each part and think of a thread that connects them. Use passages from the text to support your argument.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 52 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 8,400+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools