How Dare the Sun Rise

Throughout How Dare the Sun Rise, the color blue is a recurring motif. What does the color symbolize in the book? Reflect upon the larger meaning of the motif by considering the following questions: 

• What is the earliest moment when blue appears in the text?
• Consider the types of blue found in nature versus blue found on humanmade objects—is there any difference in the type of things they represent?
• What is the final scene when blue appears in the text?
• Is the color blue associated with a particular period in Sandra’s life?

Teaching Suggestion: It may be useful to guide students toward a discussion around a powerful symbol that features the color blue in the book: The pale blue dress. The pale blue dress serves as a symbol with multiple—sometimes conflicting—meanings. On the one hand, the color represents peace and peaceful times (with the dress, it is an artifact from her childhood); on the other, the color blue represents senseless violence and personal tragedy (again, similar to the dress, as it is too slippery to serve as a bandage for her aunt’s gunshot wounds). 

Differentiation Suggestion: For advanced classes, a differentiation approach to this prompt would be to add a comparative angle, to teach students more broadly about color symbolism in literature and compare it to How Dare the Sun Rise.