Jazz | Teaching Key Figures

Character Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major characters in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Characters

The Narrator - This entertaining, insightful and lyrical character knows and sees much more than any one character, yet is not aware of everything.

Violet Trace - This character is fifty-years-old, toothpick-thin and works as an unlicensed hairdresser.

Joe Trace - This character is adopted by Rhoda and Frank Williams and works as a waiter and part-time salesman for Cleopatra cosmetics.

Malvonne - This character is the antagonist of the novel and cleans office buildings at night.

Dorcas - This seventeen-year-old character is shot at a party and dies.

Alice Manfred - This...
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