St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

• Genre: Fiction; short story collection
• Originally Published: 2005
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: Collection of 10 short stories; approx. 246 pages; approx. 8 hours on audio
• Central Concern: The stories generally share a dark tone, and several offer elements of magical realism. Most also share a common setting of Florida. The first story in the collection, “Ava Wrestles the Alligator,” later served as a basis for the author’s acclaimed novel Swamplandia!.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Implied sexual assault; implied attempted self-harm; sexual content; death of family member

Karen Russell, Author

• Bio: Born 1981; an American writer of novels and short stories; raised in Florida; attended Northwestern University (BA) and Columbia University (MFA); literary short fiction appears in Granta, New Yorker, Zoetrope, and others; finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (with Swamplandia!, 2011); lives in Portland Oregon with her family
• Other Works: Swamplandia! (2011); Vampires in the Lemon Grove (short story collection; 2013); Orange World and Other Stories (short story collection; 2019); Sleep Donation (novella; 2020)
• Awards: “5 Under 35” nod from the National Book Foundation; Bard Fiction Prize (2011)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Growing Up
• Broken Families
• Trauma

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Explore the similarities and differences between magical realism and fabulism to increase engagement with and understanding of the stories in the collection.
• Read/study paired texts and other brief resources to deepen their understanding of themes related to Growing Up and Trauma.
• Demonstrate their understanding of plot, characterization, tone, and theme by creating a graphic narrative version of scenes from the collection.
• Analyze textual elements such as motif, symbolism, characterization, narrative perspective, and plot detail, and construct essay responses tying these elements to meanings suggested by the stories.