Small Great Things

Small Great Things is a novel about race written by a white woman, Jodi Picoult, and which has as one of its three narrators, Ruth, a black woman. Using passages from Ruth’s sections at various points in the novel, discuss Picoult’s treatment of a black narrator: What are the ethics of a white author writing a black character? Do you think Picoult succeeds? Why or why not? Be sure to refer to specifics from the text to make your point.

This novel is arguably a novel with an agenda. Using the particulars of Small Great Things, as well as specific passages, describe what the apparent thesis of the book is, and then make your argument for how effective or ineffective you find it to be: Who seems to be the audience Picoult is writing for? What specific sections of the novel do you think might have the most (or least) impact on that audience, and why?

The major sections that Small Great Things is broken into include stages of labor, from the beginning, “Stage One: Early Labor,” to the final chapter, “Stage Three: Afterbirth,” and of course, the plot of the novel revolves around a labor and delivery nurse in