Literature Analysis #3

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1. Celie is a poor, uneducated, black 14 year old living in Georgia. Her dad Alfonso constantly rapes and beats her. Celie had two children with her father and he supposedly killed both of the children. A man named Mr.___ wants to marry Celie's younger sister Nettie, but Alfonso gives Mr.___ Celie instead.Nettie runs away and lives with Celie and Mr.___ but after discovering that Mr.___ still wants Nettie, she runs away from them as well. Mr. ___ sister felt bad for Celie and told her to fight back against the abuse and unhappy marriage. Mr. ___'s son Harpo marries Sophia and they have a kid. He tries to abuse her, but she eventually ends up leaving and taking the kids. Shug, Mr. ___'s lover becomes ill and stays at their house. Celie takes care of her and they become very close and intimate. Harpo has a new girldfriend named Squeak. When Sophia comes to visit she gets in a fight with the mayor's wife and is forced to be their maid for 12 years. Shug is now married but continues to have a relationship with Celie. Shug tells Celie that she's seen Mr.___ hide numerous letters, which turn out to be from Nettie. Nettie is on a misionary trip with Samuel and Corrine in Africa. They have two children that to Corrine, look a lot like Nettie. The two children turn out to be Celie's biological children; Alfonso never killed them. And Alfonoso is really their step-dad pretending to be their dad to inherit their house and property from their mother. At first Corrine doesn't believe Nettie that she is their aunt but finally believes her right before she passes away. Alfonso confirms this story to Celie; she losses her faith in God. Celie is done putting up with Mr.___ and she, Shug, and Squeak move to Tennessee. Celie starts a tailoring business. Celie returns to Georgia, gets her land back, and becomes friends with the new Mr.___. Nettie and Samuel get married and Samuel's son, Adam, marries a woman from Africa; he must face African rituals. Celie and Nettie are reunited and even though they are old, Celie has never felt younger.
2. I believe that the main theme of this book is the power of a voice. Throughout the majority of the book, Celie didn't use her voice. She didn't believe she had one. Celie let people walk all over her. She believed that to get through something she just had to be quiet. Celie didn't know how to assert herself. Her actions and words, or lack of, displayed that she didn't feel like she had the power to change her life. By the end she established that her voice did matter and she used it to take her life into her own hands.
3. The author's tone is very serious. The book is written from the point of view of Celie in her letters to God. They are very confessional. The tone of this book is very honest, bringing up hardships and struggles that Celie had to face.
4. Symbolism: Shug tells Celie that God does little things for people, like creating the color purple, just to make people happy and give them pleasure in their lives. The color purple represents all the good in the world that Celie didn't see at the beginning of the book.
Allusion: "It's time to leave you and enter into the Creation."
Point of View: It is clear in the letters between Nettie and Celie that Nettie is quite educated while Celie's letters lack proper grammar and spelling. Having the story narrated by Celie shows that even the point of view of an uneducated, victimized woman is still important.
Syntax/Diction: Celie's writings prove that she is uneducated as well as unhappy. By the end of the book, her letters get longer and more developed, showing that she is much more happier with her life.
Personification: "For six months the heavens and the winds abused the people of Olinka. Pain came down in spears stabbing away the mud of their walls."
Imagery: "The looking glass hang crooked, the curtains torn. The bed look like the stuffing pulled out."
Motif: "Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear everything. Dear God."
Anaphora: "By time I git back from the well, the water be warm. By the time I git the tray ready the food be cold. By the time I git all the children ready for school it be dinner time."
Oxymoron: "Hm, she say, look like a little fat white woman was on one."
Epigraph: Stevie Wonder's song "Do Like You"
Characterization
1. Direct: "I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl."
"Samuel is a big man. he dresses in black almost all the time, except for his white clerical collar. And he is black. Until you seen his eyes you think he is somber even mean, but he has the most thoughtful and gentle brown eyes."
Indirect: "He beats me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church."
"I talk to myself a lot, standing in front the mirror. Celie, I say, happiness was just a trick in your case. Just cause you never had any before Shug, you thought it was time to have some, and that it was gon last. Even thought you had the trees with you. The whole earth. The stars. but look at you. When Shug let, happiness desert."
The author uses both direct and indirect characterization approach to make the story deeper and more diverse. It allows the reader to know exactly what the authors wants them too as well as allowing the reader to make an opinion of the characters on their own. The indirect characterization allows the reader to form their own understanding.
2. In a way I believe the author's (or narrator's) syntax/diction changes over time. At the end of the book, Celie's letters were longer and more detailed; she seemed happier with her life. In Nettie's letters, her education showed while throughout the whole book, Celie proved to be uneducated. Also, when Celie was talking about certain characters, she talked about them in a happier tone. When talking about Shug or Nettie, Celie's diction and syntax was the complete opposite of the darkness she was overwhelmed with when talking about Alfonso or Mr.___.
3. Celie is a dynamic character. In the beginning of the story she was someone who took orders and didn't question what people did. By the end of the book Celie was someone who stood up for herself to pursue the life that she deserved. Celie is also a round character because she is developed.
4. After reading this book I felt that I met a real person. There are a lot of women in real life that have been abused and continue to take it. Once they break free from this life they can find happiness. Celie tells her story as if she is talking to someone she knows. Getting a look inside something was personal feels like there is an understanding and connection.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

1. Prufrock thinks that there is plenty of time for him to do the important stuff, yet he doesn't know if he should. He pushes it off to the side because to him he has plenty of time. The poem goes back and forth from past to future and he ends up running out of time and the opportunity has passed.
2. The allusion to Hamlet is to show the similarities between the characters. At first Prufrock is similar to Hamlet because they are both indecisive. In the end he proves to be more like Polonius in the fact that even indecision is too decisive for him. All he does is follow orders and he is very superficial.
3. Lines 40-44 
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair-
[They will say: "How his hair is growing thing!"]
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin-
[They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!"
These lines display that Prufrock is superficial and cares about what everyone thinks about him. He is coward-like. He is indecisive and wants to blend in so people don't judge him.

Poetry Remix

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BeodFHlvIF1ImNxliVaQdK6tjo4dCVFpveSCJslWUb4/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=10000

Comparing Poems

Poetry has been a work of art for years, expressing emotions and connecting to readers. Poems can reach to depths that traditional essays usually cannot do. They're meaningful and unique to oneself. Some poems may be completely different from each other while others may be quite similar. Working Together by David Whyte and Everything is Going to Be Alright by Derek Mahon are two of these poems that share a similar message.

Working Together by David Whyte is about the connection between tangible things and the intangibles. It shows how they work together, resulting in positive outcomes. Humans (tangibles) work everyday with air, gravity, etc. (intangibles). These things cannot be seen yet we trust them. When reading the poem you completely agree and understand, yet it makes you question. You know the force and connection between tangibles and intangibles is true, they're so natural, yet you can't help but wonder more about it. Everything is Going to Be Alright by Derek Mahon displays struggles and hardships, but yet these negatives aren't what matter the most. The positives and good in life will always triumph the bad. Somehow, someway, things will turn out okay and everything is going to be alright.

Both of these poems have a tone of positive optimism and assurance. Both of these poems are truths you live everyday. They are hopeful and inspiring. As a reader, the poems make you feel a sense of ease and calmness. You can take away from these poems that we are all greatly influenced by the life around us. Sometimes you have no control over things, you just have to accept it how it is and trust in life.

Intro To Poetry

1. The significance of the title is to show the significance of tangible things (humans) working with intangible things to create positive outcomes.
2. The tone of the poem is uplifting. It's positively optimistic, yet true.
3. I trust the poem and understand it but yet it makes me question.
4. There is a shift where the author says, "I am thinking of the way." The poem shifts from talking about working together to intangible things.
5. The theme is to trust in things you can see, but also things you can't see.

I feel like these questions are almost a format, or steps, to better understand a poem. Going through these questions one at a time allows the reader to analyze the poem and establish what they know.