Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Personal Response
Overall, I did enjoy this novel. I really saw into the different lifestyles for African Americans during the early 1900’s. At first I did not like the way the whole book was written in letters, but by the end of the book I enjoyed this writing style. I admired the many similes the author used because it helped create a picture of what she was explaining in my head. I did not like at times the informal diction that Walker used; at points it was overwhelming. The specific description that Walker used to describe her characters lives was a significant part of the novel for me. The vulgar words that she used to describe some moments in this book were unique, but it made the book so much stronger in portraying her story. The way that she described these appalling moments made the reader able to connect with the characters, and the reader’s emotions were involved. The ending of the book was both significant and pleasurable because throughout all the struggles that each sister had to face, they came out as strong individuals and at the end of the book they were bother truly happy with their lives. This novel showed the struggle of poverty, racism, and sexism, and the life that two African American woman lived to overcome and conquer it.
Text Connections
Text to Text: “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” (155). The mother in Peony in Love, written by Lisa See, felt the same way. She had a daughter, Peony, and she did not believe that Peony should be educated in school related subjects. Her mother was her professor and she only taught her the things that she should do in a household, and the way that she will be useful to her husband. In her culture, it was more attractive for women to have small feet, and it was what all the people in her society did. Therefore, the mother would bind her daughter’s feet and break her bones in order to reshape her feet, so that her husband will see her as beautiful. A women’s sole purpose is to be the most that she can be for her husband. In both cases mothers did not believe that girls needed to be educated for any reason other than the things that will make her a better wife towards her husband.
Text to World: The Olinka women “were promised to old or middle-aged men at birth” (166). Arranged marriages are still an arguable topic to this day, but still exist in many places. The practice of arranged marriage is still accepted in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, India, Bangladesh, some Islam countries, and some other countries. The women are forced to comply whether it defends or refutes their morals.
Text to World: The Olinka women “were promised to old or middle-aged men at birth” (166). Arranged marriages are still an arguable topic to this day, but still exist in many places. The practice of arranged marriage is still accepted in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, India, Bangladesh, some Islam countries, and some other countries. The women are forced to comply whether it defends or refutes their morals.
Syntax
· “Pa say, Whoever listen to anything Addie Beasley have to say. She run off at the mouth so much no man would have her” (10).
· “She say, Nothing but death can keep me from it. She never write” (18).
· “And that we and the Africans will be working for a common goal: the uplift of black people everywhere” (137).
· “Today the people of Africa—having murdered or sold into slavery their strongest folks—are riddled by disease and sunk in spiritual and physical confusion” (139).
· “She’s so weak by now that all she can do is look unfriendly—I could tell I wasn’t welcome” (184).
The quote on page 10 is a prime example of the way women were viewed in this society. Woman were valued by a man’s desire to them. There worth was measured by the man, therefore if a woman was without a man, they were viewed as worthless. In the following quote, the authors’ way of wording makes the statement much bolder. By using a regular sentence followed by a three word sentence makes the statement much more powerful, and has a greater effect. By using dashes, as illustrated in quote 139, is one tactic that Walker uses profusely throughout her novel. These dashes are used because the part of the sentence in between the dashes interrupts the main idea that the sentence is trying to state. This is useful in the case of trying to put more than one main point in a sentence, you can break off and have a side note based on the same idea the sentence is portraying. Following, the next quote has the same idea. The part after the dash is a different topic then the beginning part of the sentence, but the dashes keep them related. Dashes are also used as an effective way of writing because it can make specific parts of the sentence stand out; therefore, making your main points stand out to the reader. Dashes are one of Walker’s main ways of articulating her syntax.
· “She say, Nothing but death can keep me from it. She never write” (18).
· “And that we and the Africans will be working for a common goal: the uplift of black people everywhere” (137).
· “Today the people of Africa—having murdered or sold into slavery their strongest folks—are riddled by disease and sunk in spiritual and physical confusion” (139).
· “She’s so weak by now that all she can do is look unfriendly—I could tell I wasn’t welcome” (184).
The quote on page 10 is a prime example of the way women were viewed in this society. Woman were valued by a man’s desire to them. There worth was measured by the man, therefore if a woman was without a man, they were viewed as worthless. In the following quote, the authors’ way of wording makes the statement much bolder. By using a regular sentence followed by a three word sentence makes the statement much more powerful, and has a greater effect. By using dashes, as illustrated in quote 139, is one tactic that Walker uses profusely throughout her novel. These dashes are used because the part of the sentence in between the dashes interrupts the main idea that the sentence is trying to state. This is useful in the case of trying to put more than one main point in a sentence, you can break off and have a side note based on the same idea the sentence is portraying. Following, the next quote has the same idea. The part after the dash is a different topic then the beginning part of the sentence, but the dashes keep them related. Dashes are also used as an effective way of writing because it can make specific parts of the sentence stand out; therefore, making your main points stand out to the reader. Dashes are one of Walker’s main ways of articulating her syntax.
Diction
· “Last spring, after little Lucious come I heard… She say It too soon, Fonso, I ain’t well… A week go by, he pulling on her arm again” (1).
· “…but she say I ain’t dumb” (9).
· “Dear God” (1).
· “Dear Nettie” (192).
· “Trifling, forgetful and lowdown” (35).
· “You not that good a cook either” (205).
Within this novel, informal diction is used to portray the different aspects of this progressing story. The first page begins with informal dialect, letting the reader know that Celie is uneducated. This corresponds to most of the African Americans living in the same town because blacks are underprivileged and do not receive a proper education. This novel is told through the main characters— Celie and Nettie— letters. This portrays Celie’s faith even through the horrific experiences she has gone through. Throughout the book there is a volta where Celie no longer writes her letters to God, but writes them to her sister, Nettie. This demonstrates her loss of faith throughout reoccurring events that she has suffered. The quote on page 35 is a statement of terse words used to demonstrate Celie’s feelings toward men, and the generalization that she has towards them. Even African American men at this time were uneducated—as shown in the quote on page 205— where Mr. ____ is talking to Celie. He often talks like this to Celie to put her down, and make her feel she has no worth without him. Diction is played as a big role in this novel in making her sentences have more value and representing her voice in a bolder way.
· “…but she say I ain’t dumb” (9).
· “Dear God” (1).
· “Dear Nettie” (192).
· “Trifling, forgetful and lowdown” (35).
· “You not that good a cook either” (205).
Within this novel, informal diction is used to portray the different aspects of this progressing story. The first page begins with informal dialect, letting the reader know that Celie is uneducated. This corresponds to most of the African Americans living in the same town because blacks are underprivileged and do not receive a proper education. This novel is told through the main characters— Celie and Nettie— letters. This portrays Celie’s faith even through the horrific experiences she has gone through. Throughout the book there is a volta where Celie no longer writes her letters to God, but writes them to her sister, Nettie. This demonstrates her loss of faith throughout reoccurring events that she has suffered. The quote on page 35 is a statement of terse words used to demonstrate Celie’s feelings toward men, and the generalization that she has towards them. Even African American men at this time were uneducated—as shown in the quote on page 205— where Mr. ____ is talking to Celie. He often talks like this to Celie to put her down, and make her feel she has no worth without him. Diction is played as a big role in this novel in making her sentences have more value and representing her voice in a bolder way.
Rhetorical Strategies
· Imagery: “First he put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then he grab hold my titties. Then he push his thing inside my pussy” (1).
· Rhetorical Question: “What about the scandal his wife cause when somebody kill her? And what about all this stuff he hear bout Shug Avery? What bout that?” (6). “What good it do?” (21). “What make him pull through?” (224).
· Hyperbole: “She bout ten thousand times more prettier then me” (6). “She got one hundred pretty dresses” (109). “…you could have knock me over with a feather” (245).
· Simile: “Her hair like somethin tail” (6). “She can work like a man” (8). “…a wood stove look like a truck” (12). “Shug Avery black as my shoe” (20). “He black as the inside of a chimney” (27). “I sleeps like a baby now” (42). “…steeping out of the car, dress like a moving star…” (283)/
· Repetition: “You got to fight. You got to fight” (17). “Come on in... Come on in” (45). “I got love, I got work, I got money…” (215). “I’ll tell them what to do with their bloody road and their bloody rubber plantations and their bloody sunburned but still bloody boring English planters and engineers” (231). “Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God” (285).
· Personification: “She so mad tears be flying…” (21). “I think my heart gon fly out my mouth…” (45). “…having exhausted his own knowledge” (164). “And words long buried in my heart crept to my lips” (238).
· Anaphora: “Not to dance. Not to drink. Not to play card” (25). “He stagger in… He tired. He sad. He weak. He cry” (26). “Love her singing. Love her perfume. Love her dresses. Love to wear…” (219). “I love his big nose. I love his brows. I love his feet” (238). “Why us suffer. Why us black. Why us men and women” (282).
· Onomatopoeia: “…Chop, chop…” (64). “…thump, thump, thump…” (67). “…tap-tap-tapping…” (178).
· Metaphor: “They are so black, they shine” (141).
· Metonymy: “Then the old devil put his arms around me and just stood there on the porch with me real quiet” (271).
· Cliché: “…as far as the eye can see” (142). “Over my dead body…” (199).
· Allusion: “Adam and Eve prove it” (274).
· Analogy: “I missed you more than I missed my own mama” (283).
Throughout this novel, rhetorical strategies are used consistently to make Alice Walker’s writing stronger. Similes are the most reoccurring strategy that is used in this novel. There purpose is to create an image in the readers mind. Similes allow the two different topics to be clearly separate, despite the similarity being made. Within the first page, a scene is depicted of Celie, at fourteen years old, being raped by her father. Walker uses imagery in describing this horrendous event to produce a feeling of mental and physical abuse. Anaphora and repetition are used repeatedly in the novel to create a powerful effect, while reinforcing a specific idea. These many diverse techniques are exercised to communicate thoughts, and form a deeper connection between the reader and the story.
· Rhetorical Question: “What about the scandal his wife cause when somebody kill her? And what about all this stuff he hear bout Shug Avery? What bout that?” (6). “What good it do?” (21). “What make him pull through?” (224).
· Hyperbole: “She bout ten thousand times more prettier then me” (6). “She got one hundred pretty dresses” (109). “…you could have knock me over with a feather” (245).
· Simile: “Her hair like somethin tail” (6). “She can work like a man” (8). “…a wood stove look like a truck” (12). “Shug Avery black as my shoe” (20). “He black as the inside of a chimney” (27). “I sleeps like a baby now” (42). “…steeping out of the car, dress like a moving star…” (283)/
· Repetition: “You got to fight. You got to fight” (17). “Come on in... Come on in” (45). “I got love, I got work, I got money…” (215). “I’ll tell them what to do with their bloody road and their bloody rubber plantations and their bloody sunburned but still bloody boring English planters and engineers” (231). “Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, dear peoples. Dear Everything. Dear God” (285).
· Personification: “She so mad tears be flying…” (21). “I think my heart gon fly out my mouth…” (45). “…having exhausted his own knowledge” (164). “And words long buried in my heart crept to my lips” (238).
· Anaphora: “Not to dance. Not to drink. Not to play card” (25). “He stagger in… He tired. He sad. He weak. He cry” (26). “Love her singing. Love her perfume. Love her dresses. Love to wear…” (219). “I love his big nose. I love his brows. I love his feet” (238). “Why us suffer. Why us black. Why us men and women” (282).
· Onomatopoeia: “…Chop, chop…” (64). “…thump, thump, thump…” (67). “…tap-tap-tapping…” (178).
· Metaphor: “They are so black, they shine” (141).
· Metonymy: “Then the old devil put his arms around me and just stood there on the porch with me real quiet” (271).
· Cliché: “…as far as the eye can see” (142). “Over my dead body…” (199).
· Allusion: “Adam and Eve prove it” (274).
· Analogy: “I missed you more than I missed my own mama” (283).
Throughout this novel, rhetorical strategies are used consistently to make Alice Walker’s writing stronger. Similes are the most reoccurring strategy that is used in this novel. There purpose is to create an image in the readers mind. Similes allow the two different topics to be clearly separate, despite the similarity being made. Within the first page, a scene is depicted of Celie, at fourteen years old, being raped by her father. Walker uses imagery in describing this horrendous event to produce a feeling of mental and physical abuse. Anaphora and repetition are used repeatedly in the novel to create a powerful effect, while reinforcing a specific idea. These many diverse techniques are exercised to communicate thoughts, and form a deeper connection between the reader and the story.
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