76 pages • 2 hours read
White Noise
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After Reading
Discussion/Analysis Prompt
White Noise is a novel about the overwhelming amount of data, information, static, interference, distractions, and media interactions we receive every day. It’s remarkable that DeLillo wrote this novel in an era before the Internet, when The Ubiquity of Technology and Mass Media seems mild compared to today.
How would Jack’s view of reality be different if he lived in today’s volatile media environment, with corporate networks presenting fractured and frequently competing ideas of basic facts? How would these characters respond if they had smartphones buzzing with updates throughout the novel? Most importantly, has the problem of the “white noise,” the static that keeps us from seeing reality, gotten better or worse?
Below are observations that Jack makes about the mass media surrounding him. Discuss how relevant each one would be if White Noise were set today, rather than in the early 1980s. How relevant does each quote remain today? Are there any revisions you would make to these quotations to adapt them to the present day?
- Jack wonders, “Why is that if a thing happens on television, we have every right to find it fascinating, whatever it is” (Chapter 14). How true does this remain today?
- Murray teaches that “we are fragile creatures surrounded by a world of hostile facts. Facts threaten our happiness and security. The deeper we delve into the nature of things, the looser our structure may seem to become” (Chapter 17). Have facts become more or less “hostile” since the publication of this novel?
- Passengers who survived a crash landing only to learn there was no media coverage in the area are disappointed. “They went through all that for nothing?” complains an observer (Chapter 18). Are there any remaining places in America where there is no media coverage?
- Heinrich, viewing the Airborne Toxic Event, complains about the way it is described. “The radio calls it a feathery plume,” he said, “but it’s not a plume….[it’s] a shapeless growing thing. A dark black breathing thing of smoke. Why do they call it a plume?” (Chapter 21). Where would Heinrich get his information today?
Teaching Suggestion: Each of the quotations above offers an observation about the way that our reality comes mediated through television or radio. For the first instance, students might note how facts are indeed weaponized by our polarized political environment through platforms such as Fox News or Internet bots. Passengers in a distressed plane would record their experience on their smartphones with the possibility of going viral. Encourage students to think about, for instance, how Heinrich would be able to register his observations of the Airborne Toxic Event through social media and actually take part in how the reality is described.
Differentiation Suggestion: For students who would benefit from assistance with abstract thinking, it might be useful to set frames or context. For example, students might benefit from thinking about different types of media that they experience today that aren’t available to characters in the book. How, for instance, would this story be different if the characters were able to receive emergency alerts on their phone? Would this make it easier or more difficult for them to understand the reality around them? Graphic organizers, such as a Venn diagram or T-chart, might also be useful for a more visual approach.
Activities
Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.
“How Do Artists Imagine Death?”
In this activity, students will examine works of art over the course of human history to understand how people have tried to make sense of death.
Though he doesn’t seem to realize it, Jack Gladney is not unique in his fear of death. Human beings have always feared the unknown that comes after death, the “[s]ound all around,” as Jack puts it (Chapter 26). Artists have been exploring death as long as there has been art.
Much of Jack Gladney’s troubles come from his many ways of imagining death. It’s white noise. Or an Airborne Toxic Event. Or a man named “Mr. Gray.” Or Adolf Hitler. In this activity, you will research various art from across the centuries that depicts what death means (death rendered graphically, as Jack might put it) and choose one work to analyze.
Create a slideshow of one work of art from the ones in the collection below.
- Explain why you chose your image.
- Analyze the message that the author is saying about death. How is death presented? What is the tone of the artwork? What message about death does the work seem to be sending?
- Compare the artist’s idea of death with Jack’s idea of death. Are their ideas similar? Does the artist’s depiction of death relate to another character’s idea of what happens after death?
- Synthesize your own ideas with that of the artist and the author. How do these works help you understand your own mortality?
Present your slideshow to your peers. Afterward, write a short journal entry in which you reflect on the artworks they chose to share. Did anything about their presentations surprise you or affect your own thinking?
Teaching Suggestion: Below are two links to introduce students to a variety of artworks focusing on death and dying. Ask students to choose one of Jack’s stand-ins for death, such as the Airborne Toxic Event or white noise, and compare the way the painting handles death. Where are there differences? Similarities?
- “Death in Art—Life’s Only Guarantee” by the Art History Project gives many examples of death in art.
- “Death Symbolism & Personification through Art History” from Art & Object also provides many examples.
Differentiation Suggestion: This activity may cause distress to some students; it may be helpful to offer them the option of choosing a song or a poem instead of an image. For English learners, students who may benefit from a more structured or visual approach, and students with executive function differences, consider having students organize their research into a 3-column chart with “Description of artwork”; “Jack’s fear of death”; and “My own thoughts” as the headers.
Essay Questions
Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.
Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.
Scaffolded Essay Questions
Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.
1. There are several differences between Jack Gladney, the man, and J. A. K. Gladney, the academic.
- How is Jack’s behavior at home different from when he is in an academic setting? (topic sentence)
- Cite at least two or three specific incidents in the text that illustrate your point.
- In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider whether there is any location where his academic and personal lives collide.
2. Not all characters view death as something to fear.
- Which characters present a different idea of death to Jack? (topic sentence)
- Cite at least two or three different perspectives on death that other characters offer as consolation, and discuss their effect on Jack.
- In your concluding sentence or sentences, state whether any of these differing ideas alter his behavior.
Full Essay Assignments
Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.
1. Jack repeatedly states his mistrust for plots and people who are plotters. What does he state about plots, and what does he mean by it? At the same time, White Noise itself has a plot, and he is part of it. Does the plot of the novel adhere to Jack’s rule about plots? Cite textual evidence in your answer.
2. Why does Jack choose to become an expert on Adolf Hitler? How does his association with Hitler affect him professionally and personally?
Cumulative Exam Questions
Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.
Multiple Choice
1. How does the barn’s reputation as “The Most Photographed Barn in America” alter its reality?
A) It makes it seem farther away.
B) It makes it impossible to see.
C) It makes it unpleasant to look at.
D) It makes it appear old-fashioned.
2. How does the arrival of the students each September affect Jack?
A) He considers it a reminder of his failures.
B) He uses it as an opportunity to meet parents.
C) He thinks it is a major inconvenience.
D) He sees it as a reassuring ritual.
3. Why does the prospect of the upcoming Hitler conference cause Jack anxiety?
A) He fears that spending so much time on Hitler will send him into a deep depression.
B) He fears his inability to speak German will expose him as a fraud.
C) He worries that Murray’s research on Elvis will overshadow his own work.
D) He worries that his work will not be accepted by the academy and he will lose tenure.
4. What does Wilder mutter in his sleep?
A) Phrases from advertisements
B) The chemicals in the toxic cloud
C) His siblings’ names
D) German words
5. How do Jack’s German lessons proceed?
A) He never shows up to any lessons.
B) His German remains awkward and strained.
C) German comes quickly to him.
D) He discovers the lessons help him in his work.
6. What important commonality does Jack realize he shares with Babette when he confronts her about the Dylar?
A) A fascination with Hitler
B) A fancy for cancer-inducing gum
C) A fear of death
D) A love of television
7. According to Heinrich, what mistake does his incarcerated pen pal admit to?
A) Committing murder instead of going to college
B) Murdering ordinary people instead of famous ones
C) Committing crimes in New England instead of Pennsylvania
D) Using drugs instead of keeping his factory job
8. What is the symbolic importance of Jack’s dark glasses?
A) They conceal his personal identity and give him the confidence to inhabit his academic persona.
B) They help him filter out the white noise and glimpse the “Most Photographed Barn” for what it truly is.
C) They ease his anxiety by making him feel younger and further from death.
D) They create another mediating factor between himself and the Toxic Airborne Event.
9. How does televised disaster footage affect members of the Gladney family?
A) They find it a repulsive phenomenon.
B) They want to see more and more of it.
C) It reminds them of death and activates trauma.
D) It makes them want to go shopping.
10. Why does Orest say he does not fear dying from a snakebite?
A) His snakes give his life meaning.
B) His snakes tell him they would not harm him.
C) His snakes make too much money.
D) His snakes are not dangerous.
11. How does Jack fare at the Hitler conference?
A) He delivers his speech in convincing German and answers questions in the language afterwards.
B) He speaks in German for the first half before concluding in English and answering only Murray’s question.
C) He speaks mainly in words that are identical in English and German and then hides in his office.
D) He gives his speech in English with a German accent that he learned from television and then flees the conference.
12. How does Jack learn the identity of “Mr. Gray”?
A) He finds a receipt while digging through the trash.
B) Babette confesses to him.
C) Winnie provides a clue that leads to the man.
D) He sees footage of a woman in a ski mask on TV.
13. Which statement best describes Jack’s feelings once he learns the identity of Mr. Gray?
A) He is shocked to learn of Babette’s infidelity.
B) He is overwhelmed with fear at the idea of facing the man.
C) He feels an awkwardness that he has never experienced before.
D) He is determined to carry through with his murder.
14. Which of the following best states what Nyodene D symbolizes?
A) Death
B) Mass media
C) Power
D) Artifice
15. What news does Jack learn from the nuns in the hospital?
A) The world is full of people who believe in love.
B) He will only be able to save himself if he loses his fears.
C) They only pretend to believe in heaven.
D) He must lose the need to understand reality.
Long Answer
Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.
1. What does the white noise of the title symbolize?
2. How does Murray’s charge to “let someone else be the dier” affect Jack’s actions in the final section of the novel?
Exam Answer Key
Multiple Choice
1. B (Chapter 3)
2. D (Chapter 1)
3. C (Various chapters)
4. A (Various chapters)
5. B (Various chapters)
6. C (Chapter 26)
7. B (Chapter 10)
8. A (Various chapters)
9. B (Chapter 20)
10. A (Chapter 35)
11. C (Chapter 36)
12. C (Chapter 38)
13. D (Chapter 39)
14. A (Various chapters)
15. C (Chapter 40)
Long Answer
1. White noise symbolizes death. Jack wonders, “What if death is nothing but sound?” (Chapter 26). Later, when he confronts Mr. Gray, he feels he is surrounded by white noise. (Various chapters)
2. Murray’s charge to “let someone else be the dier” gives Jack the impetus to take his mortality into his own hands by finding and attempting to kill Mr. Gray. (Chapter 37)
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By Don DeLillo
