The Color Purple

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 5

What is the direct result of Celie's father raping her?

The Color Purple

Letters p 1-50

Today

Introduction to Alice Walker

General Questions p 1-50

Little quiz (overview so far)

Continue reading!

nmaahc.si.edu

Do you have a question about the book? Things you don't understand or you want to be explained?

Reread the first letter of the book. What does the writer describe here? What do we get to know about the writer, her personal life, and her living circumstances? Be as complete as you can

"You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy."

Who says this to whom and when?

Who does Mr. initially want to marry?

Why does Mr. "need" a wife?

What kind of man is Mr.?

Why does Celie marry Mr.?

"It took him the whole spring, from March to June, to make up his mind to take me." She is quite simply taken from her home in which she has strived to survive to serve another man and strive to survive. (letter 8)

Sound like another kind of existence we are familiar with from history?

In what way do Mr. and Harpo, his son, differ from each other?

What does Mr. think about Harpo's girlfriend, Sophia?

Harpo tells Celie that Sofia doesn't listen to him. What advice does Celie give him?

In letter 21 Sofia says to Celie:
“All my life I had to fight.
I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to
fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl ain’t safe in a family
of men.”
What does Sofia mean by the last sentence? What does the quotation tell us about her?

"I don’t even look at mens. That’s the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I’m not scared of them."

In what other way could this be interpreted?

Who is Albert?

In Letter 14, when it is announced that Shug is coming to town, why are both Mr. _______ and Celie so happy?

Today

General Questions 

Practice questions for test

Compare the characters of Celie and Sofia and describe the differences. Illustrate your answer by using 2 examples from the book.

Mr.'s dad did not approve of Mr.'s relationship with Shug
Later Mr does not approve of his son Harpo's relationship with Sofia

How is this similar to Celie telling Harpo to beat Sofia while she knows what it is like to be beaten?

How does the relationship between Celie and Shug change throughout the novel?

Alice Walker (the author) is considered by some critics to have a sexist attitude towards men in this novel. Explain how this assumption can be derived from the novel, do you agree? Why or why not?

• Setting analysis
• Character analysis
  
• Motivation/desire
  
• Identity
  

Split into groups of 4 and answer the following questions on the writing sheet, each group will present their ideas to the class. You can find the relevant worksheet in the Jaarbijlage

Each group will be assigned an area of focus, the options are:

Today:

Lesson 1: 

• In class reading
• Discussing setting and conflict

Short break

Lesson 2

• Discussing empowerment and identity
• Freytag's pyramid

Setting

1930s Rural Georgia in USA

No such thing as human rights

• lack of education
  
• crimes of men go unpunished 
  
• how are the independent women portrayed in the book? Think of Shug, Sofia

Segregation after slavery

• open racism
• crimes of white people go unpunished 
• even if you stand up for yourself what happens?

Letter 61: Olinka village in Africa

• similar to Georgia in terms of gender roles (letter 62)
• powerlessness against the white man (letter 62-67)
• Africans' role in slavery
• exploitation of locals 

Let's take Sofia as an example before you do this exercise yourselves.

Literary works have various conflicts, either internal (a conflict they have with themselves) or external (a conflict they have with society or maybe another person

• Sofia's character in the beginning
  
• She's a fighter
  
• She does not accept the idea of being ruled by anyone, not the black man of the house, nor the white man in society. 
• Sofia's struggle and downfall
• Her freedom, dignity, health, as well as her relationship with her husband, boyfriend and children 
• The only way out - first see Sofia’s inner conflict. 
• Sofia’s inner conflict is to learn not to fly off the handle like she is used to but also to remain true to herself
  

You will choose a character and describe the conflicts they face either internally or externally, what do their conflicts say about them?
Present to the class.

Freytag's pyramid

+

EMPOWERMENT

Freytag's pyramid

Now..

Continue reading for next week!