Sarny’s Voice

Gary Paulsen is probably best known for writing Hatchet, which won a 1988 Newbery Honor. In his book, Sarny, A Life Remembered, the title character tells her story from when she left a plantation in the 1800s United States South, until the end of the Civil War. Her voice draws the reader into the narrative from page one.

Although the first chapter, “Beginning words, 1930,” is only five pages long, we already feel like we know volumes about Sarny by the end of it. Sounds like a mini-lesson on “voice,” just waiting to happen...

Mini-lesson:

1. Read the first chapter of the book. The mini-lesson might work best if the students or the teacher read this five-page chapter aloud.
2. At the end of the chapter, Sarny says, “I was always one to talk a lot and I guess it just comes into the writing the same as speaking.” Do you agree with Sarny? Do you feel like you’re sitting in the same room as her when you read her words?
3. Sarny talks a lot about age in this short chapter. In Sarny’s mind, is she old or young? What language does she use to communicate how she feels about her age?
4. Did you notice how Sarny expresses numbers? She refers to her current age as “ninety and just exactly four,” her husband’s age (Martin) at death as “twenty and seven” and her grandson’s age as “fifty and four.” This way of talking about numbers was more common in the 1800s and early 1900s than it is today. This kind of language helps to create Sarny’s strong voice and gives us clues about how people talked during her lifetime. Do you and your friends have special ways of talking about certain things? Can you find examples of these “special ways of talking” in your writing?
5. Students will create a web of various parts of Sarny’s life she introduces in the first chapter. Topics she introduces in the first five pages include: age, relationships, work, places she’s lived. Perhaps students will find different or additional topics. For each topic on the web, find at least one or two distinctive ways Sarny uses language to talk about them.
6. After creating a web of how Sarny talks about various topics, ask students to make a similar web for their own piece of writing. Does Sarny include some topics that students could add to their writing? How do students talk about these topics in ways that make these topics their own?
7. CHALLENGE: Advanced students might notice that Sarny uses several sentence fragments, instead of complete sentences. What role do sentence fragments play in creating Sarny’s voice?

Connection to Ohio ELA Standards:

Writing Processes – Benchmark C (End of 5-7 Program)

Clarify ideas for writing assignments by using graphics or other organizers.

Writing Processes – Benchmark F (End of 5-7 Program)

Edit to improve fluency, grammar and usage.

Writing Applications – Benchmark A (End of 5-7 Program)

Use narrative strategies (e.g., dialogue and action) to develop characters, plot and setting and to maintain a consistent point of view.