Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
The Signifying Monkey, p. 12
Introducing the Lesson
Vocabulary for the Selection
Before students begin reading the selection, refer
them to the definitions of vocabulary items from
the selection. These are located in the Glossary
beginning on page 93 of the student text.
jive, n. Inventive, playful, insincere talk
signifying, ger. Talking meaningfully; speaking in a
playful, witty, boastful, exaggerated, humorously
satirical way, often at the expense of another
person or group
Prereading
Discuss with students the Prereading note on page
2 before the begin reading the selection. Make sure
that students understand the following concepts
before they begin reading:
• The meaning of the term signification.
Signification is a kind of speech in which a
person uses humor and verbal brilliance
to ridicule, publicly, an authority figure or
adversary.
class discussion of the selection.
Choose a student to read aloud A Reading of the
Selection on page 18. Ask students to explain the
meanings of the term narrative poem (a poem that
tells a story). Have a student briefly recount the story
told in “The Signifying Monkey.” Discuss the ways in
which the monkey uses signification in the poem.
Read the note under About the Author on page 8.
Ask “What was the Harlem Renaissance?” Explain
that Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes were two
of the greatest writers of this period of dramatic
achievement in African-American literature. (You
may wish to have students research other works by
Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes and brings
some of these to class to share.)
Refer students to the questions raised under
Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, and
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas on page 19.
Discuss the questions raised in these sections, in
turn. (See the answers given below under “Answer
Key.”
Answer Key
Close Reading
Key Ideas and Details
Have students glance through the questions under
Key Ideas and Details on page 19 and answer these
questions as they read through the selection. (See
the answers given below under “Answer Key.”)
1. Who, according to Monkey, is “king in every way”?
In what way does Monkey challenge the authority
of this “king”?
Checktest
After students have read the selection, administer
the multiple-choice checktest to ensure that they
have done the reading.
Discussing the Selection
After students have finished the checktest, hold a
Monkey says that Lion is said to be “king in every
way.” He also claims that Elephant has challenged
this notion.
2. What does Monkey tell Lion about Elephant? How
does Lion react?
Monkey says that Elephant says that Lion is not
king, that Elephant claims to be able to “whip the
living daylights out of” Elephant, and that Elephant
copyright © 2012, Callisto School Publishing. All rights reserved.
Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
How Anansi Won the Stories
has said unpleasant things about Elephant’s
mother, Elephant’s grandmother, and Elephant
himself. Lion reacts by heading off to fight with
Elephant.
the moment of his victory over Lion, suddenly has
the tables turned on him. His very glee, or joy, over
this victory puts him in grave danger when the limb
breaks.
3. W
hat happens to Lion when he confronts
Elephant? Do you think that Monkey foresaw this
consequence? Why, or why not?
“The Signifying Monkey” is composed of quatrains
with the rhyme scheme abcb. In other words, the
second and fourth lines of each quatrain rhyme.
The rhyme scheme is not used throughout. The final
three lines of the poem are a tercet, or three-line
stanza, with the rhyme scheme aba.
Elephant beats Lion soundly. Answers will vary
with regard to whether Monkey expected this
outcome. It could be that Monkey made up the
story because he had a grudge and expected that
Lion would be beaten, or it could be that he made
up the story because he just wanted to cause
mischief or to see what the outcome might be.
4. U
ntil when do Elephant and Lion fight? How well
does Lion fare in this fight??
They fight until “it was near-nigh sunset.” Lion
fares very poorly. He gets a major trouncing.
5. H
ow does Monkey react when Lion comes back to
him? What narrow escape does Monkey have?
Monkey continues “signifying.” He seems to take
great delight in what has happened to Lion--to
think it funny. Monkey has a narrow escape when
he laughs and jumps so hard that the limb he is on
breaks and he falls to the ground.
Craft and Structure
An example of dramatic irony in the poem is the
reader’s suspecting that what Monkey is saying
about the Elephant’s previous comments is untrue.
In other words, the reader knows something that the
character, Elephant, doesn’t.
An example of verbal irony is monkey’s saying that he
is “too polite” to say what Elephant said about Lion.
Of course, monkey is not polite at all.
An example of situational irony is when Monkey, at
As students learned in the preceding lesson on “How
Anansi Won the Stories,” a pourquoi story is one that
explains the origins of natural phenomena. “The
Signifying Monkey” explains why monkeys stay up in
trees (to stay away from the vengeance of Lion, who
wants to get even for the monkey having bested him
by means of his “signifying.”
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
The adage “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me
twice, shame on me” applies to this story because
Lion is fooled twice, first when he believes Monkey’s
unsubstantiated claims about Elephant and second
when he lets Monkey go in order to hear something
that Monkey says that Lion “ought to know.”
The spirituals were examples of signification
because they had a double meaning. On one level,
for public consumption, they were simply songs
about stories from the Bible—Daniel’s being freed
from the Lion’s den, Moses leading his people out
of slavery in Egypt, and so on. On another level, an
ironic level, understood by the singers themselves,
these songs were about their own predicament and
their longing and hope for freedom from their own
bondage. There was to the spirituals what politicians
sometimes refer to as “plausible deniability.” If a
slaveowner or overseer objected, the singer could
claims just to be singing a religious song, but among
themselves, these songs kept alive the dream of
copyright © 2012, Callisto School Publishing. All rights reserved.
2
Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
The Signifying Monkey, p. 12
release from bondage.
Language Practice
Writing Practice
Answers will vary. Possible answers are given.
Use the Writing Rubric: Informative-Expository to
assess the student’s work. This rubric is available at
http://callistoeducation.com/Teacher9.htm.
1. h
appy. Synonyms: joyful, content. Antonyms:
unhappy, sad
Speaking and Listening Practice
Review with students the definition of irony.
What all examples of irony have in common is the
unexpected. Many jokes contain elements of irony.
A simple pun, for example, contains a word used in
an ordinary way and in an unusual or unexpected
way. For example, in the line, “I usually take steps to
avoid elevators,” the first few words (“I usually take
steps to avoid”) lead the listener to expect a simple
statement about something that the speaker avoids.
However, the word “elevators” gives the introductory
words an unexpected double meaning.
There are many different theories as to what makes
something humorous. The psychologist Sigmund
Freud believed that people laugh as a means of
dissipating discomfort or anxiety. In other words,
according to Freud, laughter is a way of making
something that might otherwise be serious or
frightening or disconcerting less so. Some writers
have claimed that laughter makes people feel
superior. For example, one might laugh because one
understands something that others don’t or (and this
is where humor can turn ugly) at the misfortunes
of others. Still other thinkers theorize that laughter
is related mostly to surprise at the unusual or
unexpected. According to this theory, humor
comes from a recognition of an incongruity. Yet
another theory of humor claims that it is a mental
mechanism that rewards figuring out a difficulty or
incongruity and so rising above it. This theory views
humor as having a survival role, that it makes people
smarter by rewarding them for figuring things out,
which causes them to do that more.
2. w
onderful. Synonyms: great, pleasing.
Antonyms: terrible, awful
3. a ncient. Synonyms: old, venerable. Antonyms:
young, new
4. e xaggerate. Synonyms: overstate, magnify.
Antonyms: minimize, play down
5. a ccurate. Synonyms: correct, precise.
Antonyms: incorrect, imprecise
6. w
ar. Synonyms: conflict, combat. Antonyms:
peace, harmony
7. liberty. Synonyms: freedom, autonomy.
Antonyms: restraint, imprisonment
8. s tormy. Synonyms: tempestuous, blustery.
Antonyms: calm, clement
9. d
amp. Synonyms: wet, soggy. Antonyms: dry,
arid
10. h
ealthy. Synonyms: hearty, able-bodied.
Antonyms: sick, infirm
Differentiating the Instruction
Here are some ideas for differentiating your
instruction for the selection:
• Ability with spoken language generally outpaces
reading and writing ability. You may wish to read
aloud part or all of the Prereading and other
study apparatus for the selection to your English
language learners.
• Consider reading part of the selection aloud to
you class and having them then complete the
copyright © 2012, Callisto School Publishing. All rights reserved.
Voices of the People: Our African-American Heritage
Teacher’s Guide, Grade 9, Level I
The Signifying Monkey, p. 12
reading on their own.
• Divide you class into study groups and have each
group choose, with your assistance, a gifted
reader to introduce (and read aloud) each part
of the study apparatus.
Additional Resources
Here are some additional resources for teaching the
lesson:
• http://www.negrospirituals.com/. Resources
dealing with African-American spirituals.
• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/langstonhughes. Biography, bibliography, and some
sample poems by Langston Hughes.
• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/arnabontemps. Biography, bibliography, and some
sample poems by Arna Bontemps.
• http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/orgs/e3w/Gates.
Review of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Signifying
Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary
Criticism. NY: Oxford UP, 1988.
copyright © 2012, Callisto School Publishing. All rights reserved.
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