White Noise

White Noise

• Genre: Postmodern fiction; satire
• Originally Published: 1985
• Reading Level/Interest: Adult
• Structure/Length: Novel divided into parts and chapters; approximately 326 pages; approximate audiobook length 12 hours and 48 minutes.
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: White Noise is a postmodern satirical novel by Don DeLillo that explores the absurdities of contemporary American life and consumer culture. The central conflict revolves around Jack Gladney, a professor of Hitler studies and the head of a blended family. Jack's life becomes increasingly surreal as he grapples with the fear of death, the consequences of toxic exposure, and the artificiality of modern existence. The novel satirizes the prevalence of media, consumerism, and the human obsession with mortality in an age of information overload. DeLillo's storytelling combines wit, humor, and philosophical musings to create a thought-provoking and darkly humorous narrative.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence; catastrophe; themes of mortality, consumerism, and existential crisis

This Teacher Guide references the 1985 Penguin paperback version, 40th printing. ISBN 0 14 00 7702 2.

Don DeLillo, Author

• Bio: American author known for his contributions to postmodern literature and his exploration of contemporary culture and paranoia; his novels often engage with themes related to technology, consumerism, and the human condition in the modern world; DeLillo is celebrated for his works, including Underworld and Libra
• Other Works: Underworld (1997); Libra (1988); Mao II (1991)
• Awards: National Book Award (1985); PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction (2010); Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction (2013)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• Fear of Death
• The Ubiquity of Technology and Mass Media
• Spiritual Fulfillment Through Modern Consumerism

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the epistemological concerns regarding knowledge or justified belief about an external world that impact characters in the novel.
• Study paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Fear of Death, The Ubiquity of Technology and Mass Media, and Spiritual Fulfillment Through Modern Consumerism.
• Research and analyze different works of art to understand how humans have imagined death over the centuries, and connect one work’s message to beliefs held by the novel’s characters.
• Analyze the differences between Jack, the man, and J. A. K. Gladney, the academic, to draw conclusions in structured responses about reality and artifice in the novel.