Matriarch: A Memoir

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussions of racism and discrimination.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Discuss your overall impressions of Matriarch. Which aspects of Tina Knowles’s story were the least and/or most surprising to you, and why?

2. How does Matriarch compare to other celebrity memoirs you’ve read? For example, compare Knowles’s title other works in the genre, such as Ina Garten’s Be Ready When the Luck Happens or Cher’s Cher: The Memoir, Part One.

3. How does Knowles present herself in the text? How would you describe her storytelling style and its effects on you?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Discuss your response to Knowles’s representations of her marriage to Mathew Knowles. How did these sequences challenge your own notions about intimate relationships? Have you ever felt limited by a relationship the way Knowles did?

2. True to the memoir’s title, Knowles explores the complications of motherhood throughout the text. Which aspects of Knowles’s relationships with her mother and with her daughters resonate with your own mother-daughter experiences, and why?

3. Knowles explores the challenges involved in negotiating public and private arenas. How do her challenges in vocational and familial settings compare and contrast with your own?

4. Knowles’s memoir traces the adversity she has faced being a Black woman and entrepreneur throughout her life. Have you faced similar forms of adversity or social conflict? If so, did Knowles’s response to this adversity offer any fresh perspectives on your own experience?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Knowles details her experience growing up in the American South during the Civil Rights era. How did this cultural and historical backdrop impact Knowles’s sense of self throughout her life?

2. As the mother of entertainment icon Beyoncé, how does Knowles’s personal memoir relate to notions of female empowerment and strength? What is your impression of her maternal role in Beyoncé’s story?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Knowles acknowledges people who have played a key role in her life, particularly through friendship or mentorship. Pick a secondary figure in the memoir, such as Lydia, Johnny, or Monica. How is this person depicted? What is their wider significance in the memoir?

2. Compare and contrast Knowles’s relationship with her mother to Knowles’s relationships with her daughters. How are these generational relationships relevant to Knowles’s sense of self? How does Knowles create parallels between these mother-daughter dynamics?

3. Explore Knowles’s relationship to Galveston. How does Knowles describe Galveston as a setting? How does her connection to her hometown change over the course of the memoir?

4. Analyze Knowles’s personal growth over the course of her life. How has she changed? In what ways, if any, has she remained the same?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine that you are adapting Matriarch into a documentary. How would you structure the film? Who would you interview? Which aspects of Knowles’s story would you give less or more attention? Share your ideas and discuss your reasoning behind the choices you would make.

2. Imagine that your child displayed marked musical or artistic talent at a young age. Would you respond in the same way as Knowles? What would you do similarly or differently, and why?

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