Literature Analysis 2

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

1) This novel is about Celie, a poor, black girl and her younger sister Nettie. Alphonso, the girls' farther, beats and rapes Celie. She has two children with him, both of which he steals and kills. Their mother dies, and Alphonso continues to beat Celie. The girls realize that a man, Mr.____ wants to marry Nettie, but Alphonso instead offers him Celie, and he finally agrees. When Celie moves out, Alphonse begins to beat Nettie and she runs away to her sister. Mr.____ still wants Nettie, and when he tries to pursue her again she runs away from the house, and Celie thinks she is dead.  Shug Avery, Mr.____'s lover comes to town and is invited to stay in the house.  At first she & Celie don't get along but they eventually become friends are sexually attracted to each other.  Shug gets married to a man but continues her relationship with Celie.  Shug finds letters from Nettie to Celie that Mr.____ has been hiding.  Nettie is still alive and is living with two missionaries, who have two adopted children.  These children turn out to be Celie's, who weren't really dead.  Nettie also explains that Alphonso wasn't really Celie & Nettie's father, only a man who took their mother's land when she died.  Celie starts a business in Tennessee and Shug works for her.  The missionary's wife dies and Nettie marries him.  Celie comes back to Georgia when Alphonso dies and she takes the property that is rightfully hers.  


2) The theme is feminism and the power of feminine relationships.  Throughout most of the book, Celie can't speak for herself or believe that she is worthy of even having her own ideas.  Her relationships with Shug and Nettie are what finally help her to realize that she is a person with feelings and that she can be whoever she wants to be.  She also realizes that she needs to stand up for herself and not let herself be put down by others.  She learns from Sofia, Mr.___'s daughter-in-law, that women can be just as powerful as men and that they have all the potential to succeed.


3) The tone of the novel is very sincere and personal.  It is told in Celie's letters to God, so she is being completely open and searching for herself.  

He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church. I may have got somethin in my eye but I didn’t wink. I don’t even look at mens. That’s the truth.

But what bout me? First time I got the full sight of Shug Avery long black body with it black plum nipples, look like her mouth, I thought I had turned into a man.


What I love bet bout Shug is what she been through, I say. When you look in Shug’s eyes you know where been where she been, seen what she seen, did what she did. And now she know.


4) Syntax- This story is told in the first person, through Celie's letters to God.  This shows exactly how Celie is thinking and you can completely see the change in her once she realizes she can really be herself.
"Well, us talk and talk about God, but I’m still adrift. Trying to chase that old white man out of my head. I been so busy thinking bout him I never truly notice nothing God make."


Diction- Celie is uneducated, so the speech she uses is not always grammatically correct.  This is sometimes hard to read but it shows that she she also didn't value herself because she had no education.
"Us sleep like sisters, me and Shug."


Symbolism- Purple is a color that symbolizes royalty and beauty.  Celie never sees herself as beautiful or worthy until her relationship with Shug becomes closer.  The color of her new room at the end of the novel is purple, symbolizing that now she finds herself beautiful.


Characters- Celie makes a complete change because of the new characters in her life.  Shug and Sofia are both independent and teach Celie that she can be too.

Tashi is very intelligent, I said. She could be a teacher. A nurse. She could help the people in the village.

Contrast- Celie is drastically different from Shug and Sofia.  They are everything that she wishes to be, and you see the huge difference between who Celie was at the beginning of the novel and who she becomes at the end.
The Olinka do not believe girls should be educated. When I asked a mother why she thought this, she said: A girl is nothing to herself; only to her husband can she become something.

Tools That Change the Way We Think

"Back in 2004, I asked [Google founders] Page and Brin what they saw as the future of Google search. 'It will be included in people's brains,' said Page. 'When you think about something and don't really know much about it, you will automatically get information.'

'That's true,' said Brin. 'Ultimately I view Google as a way to augment your brain with the knowledge of the world. Right now you go into your computer and type a phrase, but you can imagine that it could be easier in the future, that you can have just devices you talk into, or you can have computers that pay attention to what's going on around them and suggest useful information.'

'Somebody introduces themselves to you, and your watch goes to your web page,' said Page. 'Or if you met this person two years ago, this is what they said to you... Eventually you'll have the implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer."

-From In the Plex by Steven Levy (p.67)


Extensive use of technology, media, and internet often changes our thinking for the worse, rather than expanding it. Both technology and the internet is full of potential, but I think that we don't always know how to use it successfully. I love the internet and I use it all the time, for an array of things. Yes, social network sites are often distracting but they can bring people together. Also, the internet has helped me get a lot of information. If I need help in any subject, I can start searching around and usually find something. For example, when I don't understand my physics homework, I research some of the topics, and often find practice problems and all the information I need. The other day I was in a conversation about how exactly cell phones work, and since no one was sure, we looked it up instantly and were able to learn something new. We have grown up with technology and so we are more easily able to adapt to it, whereas explaining cell phones or computers to my grandparents is more trouble than it's worth. I think that if we expand our use of the internet from the random, silly things to the more important, thought provoking things then our thinking will expand rather than contract.

In Search Of

Today in class we watched a video on internet filters and how they affect what we see on the internet.  Websites like facebook and google filter certain results in order to only provide information that "suits" you.  While this may seem beneficial, oftentimes you aren't getting the whole picture.  You are only seeing what is formed for you.  Your information isn't being expanded, and your horizons are not broadening.  I realized that we aren't sure of how much information we are missing out on.  It could be really interesting, brilliant things.

With this new information, I researched Shakespeare again.  This time, I did a few searches, and looked at more results than just the top two or three.  I googled "Shakespeare facts", "Shakespeare history", and "Shakespeare background."  I did end up with different results and different information as well as the same website I had found yesterday.

Notes on Hamlet

When we first started reading Hamlet, I was really dreading it.  I didn't think I could understand it, or that I would be able to understand what was going on.  After reading the first part about the ghost appearing, I was even more lost and confused.  I didn't know if Hamlet was sane or crazy, because I hardly felt like I knew what happened.  Since then, I have a much better understanding of what is going on.  I think that Hamlet does have some psychological issues but I don't think that he is completely crazy.  He actually really thinks about things and doesn't act on impulse.  I honestly don't know where the play will go from here but we'll see!

Who was Shakespeare?

There are not many solid facts about Shakespeare.  Most people can agree that he was born in 1564 and lived in England.  His parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden.  His father was a landowner and glovemaker.  He was married at 18 to Anne Hathaway.  They had a daughter and then two twin girls, but one died.  He died in 1616 and is said to have written or collaborated on 32 total plays.  To find this, I googled "Who was Shakespeare?" And I was sent to this website~ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html

Shakespeare scares most students.  I know that I dread it.  Old English writing is so difficult to understand, and with the iambic pentameter causing some words to be shortened, you can't just skim along or read for enjoyment.  I have to really study it and take it slow, piecing it together.  I have to read it more than once.  If I only read it once I have absolutely no idea what is going on.  I am learning to understand the writing a little bit better through practice, but it is still difficult.  I think that the more I see it and read it, the easier it will be to comprehend.

To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

The MySpace days were quickly dying and more and more people were joining Facebook.  Everyone said how much better it was, how it was more user friendly, and that it was the next best thing.  MySpace was surely drifting away, so I quickly hopped on the Facebook wagon to see what it was all about.  After only having it for one day, I already had about 40 friend requests.  Compared to MySpace, this was hopping.  I quickly became hooked.  I have always been careful about what I put on Facebook, because my MySpace had been hacked and private conversations had gotten out.  Since this incident I have always been careful about what I put online.

There are both benefits and risks to using Facebook.  One benefit is that it can connect you with almost everyone.  With millions of users, you can find a long lost friend or just reconnect with someone.  Homework help?  Someone is online.  Need to chat?  Someone is online.  I enjoy keeping up with my family and friends through Facebook.  I like looking through the pictures, because you get to see a glimpse of their memory or experience.  The worst part of Facebook I have noticed is that people just don't know when to stop talking or what is appropriate to put online.  They go on and on about their personal problems that are often too much.  This also leads to bullying.  People feel stronger behind a computer because they aren't face to face with the people they are talking to, although it still does the same damage.

Reading the article in class made me double think what my security settings were.  Those settings aren't generally something I pay much attention to, but everyone needs to be aware of what exactly is going on with what you post online.  You should know the facts, and always be careful.

Also, no one likes when you hash tag on Facebook.

Don't Be Hamlet

"To be or not to be." To exist, or to cease to exist. Hamlet's dilemma is that he cannot decide if life is worth living. He goes back and forth, talking to himself, but never using the words "I" or "me."  He doesn't directly mention himself, instead looking at a broader picture of life and life after death, rather than applying his ideas to his own situation.  Hamlet looks at all aspects of life, death, and afterlife, but tries to keep it separate from his own life.

Hamlet cannot make this discussion with himself about himself, because it is too difficult for him to imagine this situation actually happening to him.  He is a prince, he had a loving family, and his parents cared about each other.  Now his whole life has turned upside down.  His father is dead, and his mother has become a person that he doesn't recognize.  With no family, he turns to Ophelia, but he can't trust her either.  He feels like he has no one on his side.

Betrayal, tragedy, lies, and heartache quickly fill Hamlet's life and leave no room for love, happiness, or trust.  He doesn't have anything to live for anymore.  Suicide becomes an option for Hamlet.  He can't decide if ending his life would be a helpful thing, considering no one is sure of what happens in the afterlife.  He doesn't know if the afterlife will make his life on earth seem perfect or if it will actually release him from his troubles.  Also, according to his religion, suicide is a sin, and hell is described as endless torture.

Endless torture or a life not worth living?  Both are gloomy thoughts, and Hamlet has trouble deciding between them.  He says that ending life is not the scary part, he wouldn't mind ending his life.  The scary part is the unknown, and what comes next.  This is what Hamlet gets hung up on.  Don't be like Hamlet.  Don't think ending your life is the only option you have.  Also, don't over analyze everything. If you made it through today, then surely you can make it through tomorrow.