The color purple is an epistolary novel, made up of letters written by celie to god and by nettie to celie. Alice walkers novel is unique in its preoccupation with spiritual survival and with exploring the. A black child born into poverty, walker started life with many disadvantages. I focus my research on the audience reception, adaptation, and performance of the color purple in these three media, to investigate the impact of portrayed blackness in the color purple. From the view of a reader, the title of the book, the color purple represents the pain and the bruises that had been given to celie through her pitiful life. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 295 pages and is available in paperback format. Early in the novel, alphonso describes celie to mr. Alice walkers the color purple, published in 1982, tells the story of celie, a black woman in the south. Literary analysis essay the color purple in the novel the color purple, alice walker creates an ambiance of hardship, selfdiscovery, and love through the descriptive journal entries of a young girl growing into a woman. The color purple essay 88 words 6 pages there are numerous works of literature that recount a story a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. The color purple, alice walker the color purple is a 1982 epistolary novel, by american author alice walker, which won the 1983 pulitzer prize, for fiction and the national book award for fiction. Alice walker the color purple letter 1 of 90 genius. Colours such as purple in this novel play a very important role in the way that they signify liberation and increasing freedom. Have the writers at paper masters custom write your project on the color purple or use the outline below to explore some of the themes and characters within alice walkers brillent novel.
Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the color purple, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. At the start of the novel, celie is a fourteenyearold, vulnerable, abused black girl who addresses her letters to dear god. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Colors can express emotions and feelings, so that writers tend to use color to modeling features of the characters. More evidence is here supplied that pa has a penchant for young woman. Combine this with the extended family structure and the reader perceives a very dysfunctional family situation. The color purple is written in first person in epistolary. The color purple, by alice walker is a historical novel showing how an uneducated, fourteenyearold black girl living in rural georgia between 1910 through 1940 can overcome years of abuse and betrayal, and become an independent, confident woman. Walker presents celies thoughts in the vernacular, with poor grammar and spelling. Some other characters are celie and nettie s stepfather, celies husband, and celies lover, shug.
The main characters of this classics, fiction story are nettie, albert. It seems that marriage vows are quite loose in this community. The book vividly portrays the harsh life of rural, poor african americans especially women in the precivil. The color purple is one of the most successful and controversial books ever written by a black woman. Its basically all about black people in a racist time period. The color purple research paper read a free book report. The color purple, by alice walker, is a very intense book to read. The color purple thesis statements and important quotes. The color purple cliffsnotes study guides book summaries. Petry states that walker has always had a small but enthusiastic following, while her many essays, published in black and feministoriented magazinespetry. The color purple by alice walker alice walker book the color purple is based on racism. Celie, a nearly illiterate black georgia girl, writes a short note to god, confiding to him that shes only fourteen, but already she is burdened with cooking, cleaning, and caring for a multitude of brothers and sisters because of her mothers failing health.
The color purple by alice walker is a book about a young girl named celie whose character undergoes a huge transformation in attitude from a passive and quite girl to a strong and courageously confident woman color 1. A powerful cultural touchstone of modern american literature, the color purple depicts the lives of african american women in early twentiethcentury rural georgia. Walker does social criticism in her novel, mostly criticizing the way black women were treated in the early twentieth century. When it was written, the color purple stirred up a storm of controversies, and walker was accused of representing the black society in a very harsh light and tarnishing the blackmale image. Themes in the novel the color purple research paper. The first edition of the novel was published in 1982, and was written by alice walker. The color purple won the american book award and the pulitzer prize in fiction in 1983.
The color purple can be read and understood from both a feminist and a womanist perspective. The beginning of this section is marked with the arrival of mr. The color purple research papers research papers on the color purple account for the hardship that a young african american woman endured. She is also the author of three collections of short stories, three collections of essays, seven volumes of poetry, and several childrens books. The color purple research papers for literature courses. The color purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by american author alice walker which won the 1983 pulitzer prize for fiction and the national book award for fiction.
In the color purple, in the color purple, nettie and celies daughter and son travel and they start to try and raise money for their missionary jobs in africa. In studying the text, the reader needs to try to examine it objectively and also take into account how their own ethnicity and gender might affect the way in which the narrative is interpreted. If you find papers matching your topic, you may use them only as an example of work. If you need an original book report essay written from scratch, place your order at.
Susan kim the authors style plot summary historical information about the period of publication characteristics of the genre in the color purple, celie tells her story through series of letters written to god. The color purple is a novel by africanamerican author alice walker. In her renowned book the color purple, alice walker narrates the journey of an african american woman, celie johnson harris, who experiences racism, sexism. Alice walker wrote the color purple in order to capture and illuminate the hardship and bitterness african american women had to face in the early 1900s. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name. Pdf the color purple book by alice walker free download. Eventually, pa marries celie off to a man who is just as abusive as pa. A feminist work about an abused and uneducated african american womans struggle for empowerment, the color purple was praised for the depth of its female characters and for its eloquent use of black english vernacular. All of the important quotes from the color purple listed here correspond, at least in some way, to the paper topics above and by themselves can give you great ideas for an essay by offering quotes about other themes, symbols, imagery, and motifs than those already mentioned. Her central character triumphs over adversity and forgives those who oppressed her. Celie is abused and raped by her pa, who takes away her children after theyre born.
Separated as girls, sisters celie and nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other winner of the pulitzer prize and the national book award. Literary analysis essay the color purple someonesdaughter93. The color purple, book reports college term papers. By intense, it is a book touching very difficult and hard aspects of life of a poor, black oppressed woman in the early twentieth century. Readers may note from this exchange how the men view women. Her other novels include by the light of my fathers smile and possessing the secret of joy. E also color purple essay questions portray elliptically shaped scatterplots. Chapter 5 pages 102125 in this section, shug and mr. The color purple by alice walker goodreads share book.
See a complete list of the characters in the color purple and indepth analyses of celie, shug avery, mr. This central theme of the triumph of good over evil is no doubt the source of the book s great success. Explain the title of the color purple in relation to its theme. The novel is told in an epistolary style, through the usage of 90 different letters written by the characters.
Free download or read online the color purple pdf epub book. The color purple is considered a classic womanist text. Take our free the color purple quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Critical analysis in alice walkers the color purple, celie leads a life filled with abuse at the hands of the most important men in her life as result of the women who surround and help her, celie becomes stronger and overcomes the abuse she experienced the three. The color purple won the pulitzer prize for fiction in 1983, making walker the first black woman to win the prize. The color purple, novel by alice walker, published in 1982. You can say what you want in your the color purple essay. The color purple term papers 31 59 please enter a keyword or topic phrase to perform a search. Alice walkers the color purple is one of the most celebrated and groundbreaking novels of the past forty years. The traditional male and female roles that take place in celies life in the american south often mirror the gender roles in her sister netties african culture. He touts celies better qualities, avoiding mention of her looks, which suffer in comparison to his other daughter, netties. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. Today in schools and churches around the nation, fundraising different things for their club or church to help them either travel or help pay the expenses of things. Biography alice walker was born in eatonton, georgia on february 9, 1944.
Read the full book report essay paper on the color purple research paper. All quotes from the color purple contain page numbers as well. The novel, the color purple, is about the main character, celie, and her sister nettie. Later on, it won the pulitzer prize and is now accepted as a modern classic.
Alice walker won the pulitzer prize and the national book award for her novel the color purple. The color purple is a 1982 novel written by alice walker. A comparison of the racial discrimination of the scottsboro boys and sofia in the color purple by alice walker. Netties assumption in letter 86 that her nephew, adam, went looking for tashi in the forest was correct. Celie writes letters to god in which she tells about her lifeher roles as daughter. It was an international bestseller, won both the american book award and the pulitzer prize, and in 1985 was made into a muchdiscussed movie directed by steven spielberg. In 1983, walker became the first african american woman to win a pulitzer prize for fiction with her novel the color purple, which also won the national book award. The color purple is truly an amazing book and one i wish i could give double the 5 stars to. The color purple term papers available at, the largest free term paper community. The primary theme of the color purple, though, reflects walkers desire to project a positive outcome in life, even under the harshest conditions. Some justify this approach as epitome of realism and some call it as wanton cynicism. This man hates shug and tries to discourage the family from letting her stay. Flags of the handbook, chapters as diverse as conceptual con structs we take up both the process of producing a logical leap. Essence banner winner of the pulitzer prize and the national book award bio bestselling novelist alice walker is also the author of three collections of short.
The theme of violence and suffering in the color purple. It explores the modern search for wholeness, connection of people in an age of fragmentation and exploitation. Read a plot overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter summary and analysis. The book opens as young celie address god with her fears about the future. The color purple study guide contains a biography of alice walker, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a. In both worlds, women are considered inferior and therefore are subservient to the males surrounding them. Color purple essay questions free plagiarism check. In the first few letters, celie tells god that she has been raped by her father and that she is pregnant for the second time with his child. Need help with letter 72 in alice walkers the color purple. It was published in the united states in 1982 and won the national book award for fiction and the pulitzer prize for fiction in.
The color purple is composed of very short chapters, written as letters to god, that explain in the shortest possible ways the trials and tribulations celie and, later, nettie experience. More than a third party via the internet and technology. The book tells the story of celie, an african american teenager raised in rural isolation in georgia, who narrates her life through painfully honest. Violence and suffering in the color purple are typically depicted as part of a greater cycle of tragedy taking place both on the family level and on a. Book summary alice walkers the color purple weaves an intricate mosaic of women joined by their love for each other, the men who abuse them, and the children they care for. Our website is a unique platform where students can share their papers in a matter of giving an example of the work to be done. In america specifically, african americans endured racism heavily, especially in the south, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s.
In 1983, the book won the pulitzer prize for fiction and the national book award for fiction. Parents need to know that the color purple is a moving, inspirational novel told in letters that includes an abundance of mature content explicit sex, rape, incest, sexism and violence toward women, and a lesbian relationship. Book report or research paper in seconds or we will write a brand new paper for you in just a few hours search results. The color purple is an american novel of permanent importance. It is about being a woman and a black, living in the frame of male civilization, racist and sexist, being subject to all possible forms of oppression. This custom was prevalent throughout the world at the time of the color purple s setting circa 1930. The color purple study guide contains a biography of alice walker, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and an. She uses different colors to express different emotions of the main character celie in the book the color purple. Having first seen the film on a flight to vancouver, i knew this would be a good story but i was unnerved by the epistolary approach, the dialect and the first person pov.
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