Teaching Resources
The Great Read Series offers students an opportunity to identify with literature, feature contemporary voices and foster a culture of learning. The following resources are available to guide you throughout the discovery of the latest book selection.
Digital Resources
Annotated Bibliography
The following is a list of resources you may use as entry points into the novel Brotherless Night.
Historic Time Period Recommendations
de Silva, K. M. A History of Sri Lanka. Penguin (Educa Books), 2005.
The history of Sri Lanka from the earliest times to the present. This book provides
comprehensive coverage of all aspects of Sri Lanka’s development – from a classical
Buddhist society and irrigation economy, to its emergence as a tropical colony producing
some of the world’s most important cash crops, such as cinnamon, tea, rubber, and
coconut, and finally as an Asian democracy. It is a study of the political vicissitudes
of Sri Lanka’s ancient civilization and the successive phases of Portuguese, Dutch,
and British colonial rule. The unfortunate consequences of becoming a center of ethnic
tension and Sri Lanka’s long-standing relationship with India are also discussed.
Peebles, Patrick. The History of Sri Lanka. Greenwood Press, 2006.
Sri Lanka – an island nation located in the Indian Ocean – has a population of approximately
23 million. Despite its diminutive size, however, Sri Lanka has a long and complex
history. The diversity of its people has led to ethnic, religious, and political conflicts
that continue to exist. Peebles describes the experiences of the country, from its
earliest settlers, to civil war, to its current state, allowing readers to better
understand this often misunderstood country. With an emphasis on the 20th century,
chapters discuss the economy, religion, culture, and government of Sri Lanka.
Ethnic Conflict Recommendations
Davis, Christina P. The Struggle for a Multilingual Future: Youth and Education in Sri Lanka. Oxford UP, 2020.
Examines the tension between ethnic conflict and multilingual education policy in
the linguistic and social practices of Sri Lanka minority youth. Facing a legacy of
post-independence language and education policies that were among the complex causes
of the Sri Lankan civil war (1983-2009), the government has recently sought to promote
interethnic integration through trilingual language policies in Sinhala, Tamil, and
English in state schools.
Integrating ethnographic and linguistic research in and around two schools during the last phase of the war, Davis’s research shows how, despite the intention of the reforms, practices on the ground reinforce language-based models of ethnicity and sustain ethnic divisions and power inequalities. By engaging with the actual experiences of Tamil and Muslim youth, Davis demonstrates the difficulties of using language policy to ameliorate ethnic conflict if it does not also address how that conflict is produced and reproduced in everyday talk.
DeVotta, Neil. Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri
Lanka. Stanford UP, 2004.
In the mid-1950s, Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese politicians began outbidding one
another on who could provide the greatest advantages for their community, using the
Sinhala language as their instrument. The appeal to Sinhalese linguistic nationalism
precipitated a situation in which the movement to replace English as the country’s
official language with Sinhala and Tamil (the language of Sri Lanka’s principal minority)
was abandoned and Sinhala alone became the official language in 1956. The Tamils’
subsequent protests led to anti-Tamil riots and institutional decay, which meant that
supposedly representative agencies of government catered to Sinhalese preferences
and blatantly disregarded minority interests. This in turn led to the Tamil’s mobilizing,
first politically then militarily, and by the mid-1970s, Tamil youth were bent on
creating a separate state.
Dharmadasa, K. N. O. Language, Religion, and Ethnic Assertiveness: The Growth of Sinhalese Nationalism
in Sri Lanka. Univeristy of Michigan Press, 1992.
Explores the relationship of Sinhalese nationalism to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka,
paying particular attention to the Sinhala language and how it relates to Sinhalese
national identity. The victory of the “Sinhala only” proposition that won in the general
election of 1956 started the antagonism between the Sinhalese and the Tamils that
persists to this day. Dharmadasa delineates some of the peculiar features of the linkage
between state, religion, and ethnicity in traditional Sinhalese society, providing
insight into a tragic conflict that has a long and turbulent history.
McGilvray, Dennis. Crucible of Conflict: Tamil and Muslim Society on the East Coast of Sri Lanka. Duke University Press, 2008.
An ethnographic and historical study of Hindu castes, matrilineal family structure,
popular religious traditions, and ethnic conflict. Since the bitter guerrilla war
for an independent Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka broke out in 1983, the easternmost
region of the island has emerged as a strategic site of conflict. Any long-term resolution
of the ethnic conflict must accommodate this region, in which Sinhalese Buddhists,
Tamil Hindus, and Tamil-speaking Muslims are each a significant share of the population.
Spencer, Jonathan, ed. Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict. Routledge, 1990.
This edited volume challenges the myth that the island’s civil war was an inevitable
clash of ancient animosities. Instead, it investigates how modern ethnic identities
were constructed during and after the colonial era.
Tambiah, S.J. Sri Lanka: Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy. University of Chicago Press, 1986.
Tambiah demonstrates that the country’s violent ethnic conflict stemmed from modern
societal stresses – like unequal resource distribution, linguistic policies, and political
authoritarianism – rather than age-old religious or racial hatreds.
Tambiah, S.J. Buddhism Betrayed? Religion, Politics, and Violence in Sri Lanka. University of Chicago Press, 1992.
This volume seeks to answer the question of how the Buddhist monks in today’s Sri
Lanka – given Buddhism’s traditionally non-violent philosophy – are able to participate
in the fierce political violence of the Sinhalese against the Tamils.
Civil War Recommendations
Ondaatje, Michael. Anil’s Ghost. McClelland & Stewart, 2000.
Novel set in civil war-torn Sri Lanka, following forensic anthropologist Anil Tissera
as she investigates political murders, uncovering a mystery surrounding a skeleton
nicknamed “Sailor” and exploring themes of identity, trauma, and cultural heritage.
Sivanandan, A. When Memory Dies. Arcadia Books, 1997.
Historical fiction novel chronicling three generations of a Sri Lankan Tamil family
from 1920-1980s, exploring how colonialism and ethnic conflict devastate their lives
and country.
Citizen Movements Recommendations
Chungara, Domitila. Let Me Speak! Monthly Review Press, 1978.
The autobiography of a miner’s wife in Bolivia who became a major leader of the miners’
movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. She became famous when she was invited to speak
at a feminist conference and gave a militant, working class perspective.
Gorkym Maxim. The Mother. Book Jungle, 1906.
Referenced repeatedly in Brotherless Night, a classic of Russian revolutionary labor
movement in the period before the 1905 revolution (which preceded the 1917 revolution).
Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. One World, 1992.
This needs no introduction. Obviously very different context, but quite good. Have
to throw in one US example, no?
Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Lowland. Vintage, 2014.
A multigenerational novel (a big part of which is in the US) which shows the Naxalite
movement in India and also touches on the movement against the war in Vietnam and
other US social movements. It also revolves around the separation of brothers who
make different choices for their lives.
Ousamane, Sembene. God's Bits of Wood. Pearson, 1995.
A classic novel of the anti-colonial social movements of the post WWII period. It
is based on the true story of the role of women in a railway strike against French
colonial authorities that was a major step on the road to the independence of the
countries of French West Africa.
Citizen Movements Recommendations
Tarrow, S. Power in movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Tarrow provides one of the foundational theoretical frameworks for understanding social
movements, emphasizing the interaction between political opportunities, mobilizing
structures, and collective action frames. The book argues that social movements emerge
and evolve within changing political contexts rather than solely through grievances
or organizational resources. Tarrow also develops the concept of "contentious politics,"
demonstrating how protest cycles spread across societies and influence institutional
change.
Tilly, C. From Mobilization to Revolution. McGraw-Hill, 1978.
Tilly presents a classic resource mobilization perspective on collective action, arguing
that revolutions and social movements are shaped by organizational capacity, access
to resources, and shifting relationships between challengers and authorities. Rather
than viewing protest as irrational or spontaneous, Tilly explains collective action
as a strategic process influenced by political structures and changing opportunities.
He introduces concepts such as repertoires of contention and analyzes how groups organize
to challenge existing power structures. Although published in 1978, this work remains
highly influential in political sociology and social movement studies, serving as
a theoretical foundation for later scholarship on contentious politics.
Traugott, M., Ed. Repertoires and cycles of collective action. Duke University Press, 1995.
This edited volume expands on Charles Tilly's concept of repertoires of contention
by examining how protest tactics develop, spread, and change over time. Through historical
case studies from different countries and periods, the contributors explore how social
movements adapt their strategies in response to political circumstances and previous
waves of activism.
Brotherless Night: A Film Companion
This series of companion films are drawn from a variety of countries and represent various points of view. Some were made in southeast Asia, while others are included because of their resonance with dominant themes the novel Brotherless Night, including coming-of-age against the backdrop of war and the necessity of civic engagement.
Set during World War II, this feature debut from the Soviet Union’s resident cinematic philosopher is a blistering attack on the destructive chaos of war. The film’s protagonist is 12-year-old Ivan, whose family has been killed by Nazi attacks; driven by passionate hatred of the Germans, Ivan works with Soviet soldiers to resist the enemy invaders. Tarkovsky’s imagery bridges the gap between reality and nightmarish fantasy as he develops the surreal approach that would define his later cinema through the perspective of his young main character.
Beginning in 1920s Poland, a young boy bangs on his drum as a means of expressing his disgust at the world sliding into horror around him. Directed by German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff, this film takes an unconventional approach to its themes of coming-of-age by inhabiting its young protagonist’s refusal to do so. While Oskar’s world moves forward in time, marching towards the Nazi occupation of World War II, he retains his youthful appearance, his drum a symbol of his stubborn moral condemnation of his society.
Renowned for its unflinching brutality and refusal to sanitize the horror of war, this Soviet film takes place in Belarus during the Nazi occupation of 1943. The teenage boy at the center of the film, Flyora, is drafted by the Soviet resistance and enlisted to wage guerrilla warfare against the Nazis. While fighting, Flyora witnesses an unceasing torrent of violence, which gradually desensitizes him; forty years after the end of World War II, this film captures the lingering hatred of the Nazis by people living in Russia and Soviet bloc countries.
This middle chapter of Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy focuses on the coming-of-age of a young Bengali boy who, over the course of three films, moves from the rural village of his upbringing to Kolkata. In Aparajito, Apu is a teenager on the precipice of going to college, struggling with his mother’s traditional point of view and the inevitability of growing apart from her as he pursues his education. Like the other two parts of the Apu Trilogy, Ray’s approach is highly rooted in realism that lends itself to sensitive portrayals of the characters’ complicated emotions.
Directly taking on the Sri Lankan Civil War in its subject matter, this meandering and pensive meditation on life in a combat zone follows a group of young people as they struggle to make sense of a contingent future. Director Vimkuthi Jayasundara conjures a variety of poetic images meant to evoke the space between life and death, sometimes bringing those two opposites into uneasy co-existence.
This deeply felt work of realistic Sri Lankan cinema set in and around a rural fishing village comes from second revolution filmmaker Dharmasena Pathiraja; political and economic discord erupts between a predatory local fisherman and the others who are tired of his exploitation. Against a backdrop of generational change, a young leftist tries to find his place among his youthful cohort.
This documentary film from Canadian filmmaker Helene Klodawsky profiles Rajini Thiranagama, a real-life revolutionary who joined and then left the Tamil Tigers after falling out with its leadership over violent tactics. Thiranagama was the victim of an assassination in 1989, responsibility for which has remained officially undetermined. The film’s reliance on archival footage and dramatic reenactments raises interesting questions about the intersection of fact and fiction.
Available to watch via the National Film Board of Canada website
Stranded in a poor neighborhood of Mumbai when his train fare back to his rural village is stolen, young Krishna works as a tea delivery boy for a community of drug addicts and prostitutes, trying to earn enough money to get back home. Director Mira Nair’s first feature film is a colorful, but unromantic look at life in a tough city that draws upon various tried-and-true strategies of realistic filmmaking, including the use of real locations and actual children instead of professional actors.
In this most mythic of American Westerns, reluctant gunslinger Shane finds himself caught in the middle of a range war between battling cattle barons. Befriended by the adoring young boy Joey who idolizes him, Shane wrestles with the necessity of picking up his guns again, wanting to leave a life of violence behind. Directed by George Stevens, the film is typical of the Western genre in its exploration of the use of violence as necessary for securing the integrity of the community.
Civil war-torn Africa is the setting for this contemporary look at the violence both suffered and perpetrated by a boy named Agu, who is pulled into a guerrilla faction by an unnamed Commandant played by Idris Elba. Adapted from Uzodinma Iweala’s novel of the same name by screenwriter and director Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film spends significant time on the seductive pull of violence for its impressionable young protagonist, who doesn’t realize he is becoming a monster.
High School Activities and Assessments
Dear Educator,
Thank you for considering integrating Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan into your classroom as part of the College of DuPage’s 2026-2027 Great Read Series!
This will be my first year linking my dual credit and Transitional English classes to the Great Read Series. After attending the program launch, I asked Dr. Ortega if I could share some of my linked assignments on the Great Read Series site. When I created these assignments, I tried to consider the different constraints high school teachers might encounter with linking Brotherless Night.
It is not easy including a new text into the classroom. Every school district places unique constraints on new curricular materials and activities. Some might be able to purchase a copy of Brotherless Night and have time for an extended novel study whereas others will not have access to the book and might have limited time to devote to a linked task. Wherever your class falls on this spectrum, I hope some part of any of these assignments can help you link your class to the Great Read Series. Please adapt these assignments as needed for your courses.
Assignment 1: Why I Write — (Limited reading of Brotherless Night)
Inspired by one of my favorite passages of the book, this prompt asks students to reflect and write about their own experiences as writers, including describing previous challenges they’ve experienced with writing as Sashi does in the passage cited on the document. When I developed this project, I borrowed some elements from John Warner’s “Who are you as a Writer” assignment found in The Writer’s Practice and considered the different “Why I Write” essays by George Orwell and Joan Didion. I plan to use this project as the first assignment in my transitional English course, but it could also work for dual credit courses as a way for students to introduce themselves as writers.
Assignment 2: Discourse Communities — (Moderate reading of Brotherless Night)
This project would require the reading of Chapter 5, “What the Women Said.” While the chapter could be read in isolation, the preceding chapters provide important context for the events of the chapter. Unlike the “Why I Write” project, which is a personal essay, this assignment is an expository task where students apply their understanding of discourse communities to analyze the Mothers’ Front, a movement composed of Tamil women protesting the mass detainment of Tamil men by the Sri Lankan government. I created this assignment with my district’s dual credit course in mind, and I see it as a way to assess the students’ knowledge of discourse communities, which aligns with English 1101’s second standard: “analyze rhetorical situations as they relate to discourse communities.”
Assignment 3: Recruitment and Belonging (Complete reading of Brotherless Night)
Like Assignment 2, this project aligns with English 1101’s second standard: “analyze rhetorical situations as they relate to discourse communities;” however, this project stresses the rhetorical act of recruiting new members into a group rather than analyzing the traits of a single discourse community. I attempted to create a literary and rhetorical analysis with this project. Students need to understand Sashi’s character before developing a rhetorical analysis explaining how a discourse community persuades her to join their respective group. I plan on using this assignment as a final project for my first semester dual credit course.
Please refer to the other COD Great Read Series Resources on this website for further reading. I hope these assignments will help you link your classroom and engage students with the Great Read Series events throughout the year, which culminates with V.V. Ganeshananthan’s visit to COD March 1, 2027.
Best,
Ryan Smith
Naperville North High School
rlsmith@naperville203.org
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