Discuss the form Alice Walker uses for this novel. What is this “novel of letters” called in literature? Why do you think Walker writes the novel this way? What advantages or disadvantages does it give her?
Alice Walker utilizes an interesting and less common form for her novel, The Color Purple. Instead of allowing it to read as a story, she places the reader in a secret and exclusive world where an author no longer exists. She removes the wall between the reader and the paper back cover. Walker places a stack of letters into the audience’s hands and encourages a personal experience, right alongside Celie and Nettie. This form, this “novel of letters” has been titled an epistolary novel.
This genre of writing originated in the eighteenth century and is often used to write about women and their personal concerns, seeing as a letter or diary entry is an intimate and secretive outlet. “Female characters in the novels often wrestle with sexual temptation and moral propriety and find that the only way to express themselves honestly and thoroughly is by confiding in a trusted friend through letters” (The Epistolary Novel). Alice Walker uses this form to her greatest advantage. By writing in a form of letters, her characters are able to express themselves openly and freely, providing the reader with a first hand account of their story. Walker is also able to establish several different relationships with the reader by alternating perspectives and characters without getting in the way. She removes herself from the entire picture, creating dimension and a great sense of credibility. The reader is able to witness the various actions and desires of both Celie and Nettie and connect the dots on one’s own terms throughout the novel.
Walker also uses this form of writing to stress the strength and power of communication. Both women grow stronger through their letters but are only saved when they are finally reconnected and able to express themselves to a listening audience. For example, Nettie begins to feel lost and confused when she doesn’t receive responses from her sister Celie. The reader sees her motivations and desires fade and alter themselves until she is rejoined with Celie. It is then that we witness a type of growth and implementation from Nettie, she is finally free. Walker paints a similar scenario with her character, Celie, who loses her faith and free will when she assumes her sister dead. It is when Shug Avery assists Celie in finding Nettie’s hidden letters that everything begins to change for her. She finds strength in communication and in turn, an open window to independence.
Another interesting reason as to why Walker chooses to write her novel in the epistolary form is to illustrate the similarities and differences between African Americans in Africa and the United States. Nettie writes her letters from Africa where she depicts the great amount of oppression of black people, especially black women. This parallels Celie’s experience in Georgia but by a much smaller degree. The reader is able to travel and understand the culture of two geographical locations, which affect both characters’ growth throughout the novel.
While there are many advantages to writing a novel in the epistolary form, many critics claim that because there are various perspectives, it becomes impossible not to compare. Many find Nettie’s letters to be much less interesting than Celie’s and therefore difficult to absorb. This dramatically reduces the pace of the novel and therefore becomes less affective. Another disadvantage is the lack of time. Although Walker does mention several musical artists of that time to put these characters on the map, she does not feel the necessity to provide dates. This allows her to warp, twist, and jump in time but has a tendency to confuse the reader and therefore disrupt the fluidity of the story.
A “novel of letters” might seem like a bold and difficult avenue, but Alice Walker does an impeccable job. The Color Purple would not be the incredible story it is without the vitality and personal struggle of the characters at arm’s length for the reader. Although there are criticisms, I find this epistolary novel to be stimulating and emotionally accessible.
WORK CITED
The Epistolary Novel Criticism. E-Notes, n.d. Web. 22 October 2009.
Dice, Paul. Does Alice Walker’s The Color Purple work successfully as an epistolary novel?. Helium, n.d. Web. 22 October 2009.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Howl
Do some research on the history, reception, and legacy of the "Beat Generation," of which this poem is a part. Use quotes and works cited in your answer.
The “Beat Generation” began to originate in 1952 with John Clellon Holmes’ novel Go, but caught the public’s attention in 1956 when Allen Ginsberg introduced his gritty and daring poem, Howl, to the world. Its racy and scandalous content not only mustered a great amount of attention but obscenity charges, which were later dropped. Many claim that Ginsberg’s reading of Howl was the beginning of it all. His poem objected the traditional literature and social norm of that time. It defied the unwritten rules and regulations and explored fresh, seedy avenues. Allen Ginsberg used his prose to throw the literary world into a vicious shock and in turn, jump-start a cultural phenomenon.
Participants in this “Beat Generation” worked to battle against social conformity and traditional styles of writing. They used their literary pieces to question mainstream politics and culture. With the end of World War II came repair techniques to get society back on its feet. Television began to paint portraits of extremely functional families that could never exist in real life. Many products were being introduced to the market with an advertising gimmick that promised to make life better. The Beatniks, as they were often called, opposed this disillusionment. They encouraged self-discovery through drug use, casual sex, Buddhism, and music. These authors were not concerned with pleasing the world they brought their literature into but shattering the rigid society that surrounded them. “Ginsberg's willingness to experiment with his writing and break social taboos made him one of the key figures of the Beat generation, a movement aimed at breaking the conformist and often stifling atmosphere of the late 1940s and 1950s” (Groundbreaking Book).
When reading literary works from the “Beat Generation”, it is apparent that the authors didn’t hesitate to write exactly what they felt; sexual escapades, homosexuality and drug use were favored topics. Many authors utilized drugs when writing to achieve a sort of transcendentalism, including Ginsberg. Howl was actually inspired by his stay in a mental hospital where he had a peyote-induced vision. He imagined the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco, California turned into Moloch, the Phoenician God and sacrificed children by fire. "Society had no room for the crazy people or the people of genius or anyone who is different," Morgan said. "That's what he is raging about in 'Howl” (Stetler). The “Beat Generation” embraced the people society rejected, which often earned them a negative stereotype. They were thought of as people dressed in all black, with incredibly pale skin, who spent all of their time in coffee shops reading poetry or walking around town muttering obscene poetry under their breath. Although the stereotype was just an accusation, one characteristic held true. Most of the authors did spend the majority of their time in coffee shops exchanging pieces with one another, often making them up on the spot. “'Howl' and other pieces composed for this type of performance are better heard and understood aloud - this type of poetry is known as spoken word poetry, and still goes on today in coffee houses across the world” (The Beat Generation). This spoken word improvisation had a direct correlation to the jazz music of that time. Artists such as Charlie Parker and Miles Davis centered their music around extemporization. Beatniks attempted to write their words just as they heard jazz music.
This exploratory generation of authors brought an entirely fresh approach to literature. Things that were always dubbed taboo were now words on a page. Ideas that were unspoken were yelled into the streets. Society was challenged by the “Beat Generation”, the generation that all begun with one public reading. “'Howl' was the poem by Allen Ginsberg that really brought the Beat movement into the world. There is rhythm in it, and it is full of free-association and an accurate (depending on how you look at it) portrayal of American disillusionment” (The Beat Generation).
WORKS CITED
The Beat Generation. BBC, 27 May 2002. Web. 16 October 2009.
Groundbreaking Book: Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg (1955). The Academy of American Poets. Web. 16 October 2009.
Stetler, Carrie. “Howl” at 50: Beat Generation’s Cry. The Seattle Times Company, 6 November 2006. Web. 16 October 2009.
The “Beat Generation” began to originate in 1952 with John Clellon Holmes’ novel Go, but caught the public’s attention in 1956 when Allen Ginsberg introduced his gritty and daring poem, Howl, to the world. Its racy and scandalous content not only mustered a great amount of attention but obscenity charges, which were later dropped. Many claim that Ginsberg’s reading of Howl was the beginning of it all. His poem objected the traditional literature and social norm of that time. It defied the unwritten rules and regulations and explored fresh, seedy avenues. Allen Ginsberg used his prose to throw the literary world into a vicious shock and in turn, jump-start a cultural phenomenon.
Participants in this “Beat Generation” worked to battle against social conformity and traditional styles of writing. They used their literary pieces to question mainstream politics and culture. With the end of World War II came repair techniques to get society back on its feet. Television began to paint portraits of extremely functional families that could never exist in real life. Many products were being introduced to the market with an advertising gimmick that promised to make life better. The Beatniks, as they were often called, opposed this disillusionment. They encouraged self-discovery through drug use, casual sex, Buddhism, and music. These authors were not concerned with pleasing the world they brought their literature into but shattering the rigid society that surrounded them. “Ginsberg's willingness to experiment with his writing and break social taboos made him one of the key figures of the Beat generation, a movement aimed at breaking the conformist and often stifling atmosphere of the late 1940s and 1950s” (Groundbreaking Book).
When reading literary works from the “Beat Generation”, it is apparent that the authors didn’t hesitate to write exactly what they felt; sexual escapades, homosexuality and drug use were favored topics. Many authors utilized drugs when writing to achieve a sort of transcendentalism, including Ginsberg. Howl was actually inspired by his stay in a mental hospital where he had a peyote-induced vision. He imagined the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco, California turned into Moloch, the Phoenician God and sacrificed children by fire. "Society had no room for the crazy people or the people of genius or anyone who is different," Morgan said. "That's what he is raging about in 'Howl” (Stetler). The “Beat Generation” embraced the people society rejected, which often earned them a negative stereotype. They were thought of as people dressed in all black, with incredibly pale skin, who spent all of their time in coffee shops reading poetry or walking around town muttering obscene poetry under their breath. Although the stereotype was just an accusation, one characteristic held true. Most of the authors did spend the majority of their time in coffee shops exchanging pieces with one another, often making them up on the spot. “'Howl' and other pieces composed for this type of performance are better heard and understood aloud - this type of poetry is known as spoken word poetry, and still goes on today in coffee houses across the world” (The Beat Generation). This spoken word improvisation had a direct correlation to the jazz music of that time. Artists such as Charlie Parker and Miles Davis centered their music around extemporization. Beatniks attempted to write their words just as they heard jazz music.
This exploratory generation of authors brought an entirely fresh approach to literature. Things that were always dubbed taboo were now words on a page. Ideas that were unspoken were yelled into the streets. Society was challenged by the “Beat Generation”, the generation that all begun with one public reading. “'Howl' was the poem by Allen Ginsberg that really brought the Beat movement into the world. There is rhythm in it, and it is full of free-association and an accurate (depending on how you look at it) portrayal of American disillusionment” (The Beat Generation).
WORKS CITED
The Beat Generation. BBC, 27 May 2002. Web. 16 October 2009.
Groundbreaking Book: Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg (1955). The Academy of American Poets. Web. 16 October 2009.
Stetler, Carrie. “Howl” at 50: Beat Generation’s Cry. The Seattle Times Company, 6 November 2006. Web. 16 October 2009.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Using quotes from the text, chart Janie's character growth through the course of the novel. Show how her character changes over time.
“It’s uh known fact, Pheoby, you got tuh go there tuh know there. Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh themselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (183). The character, Janie, from Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is often referred to in literature as a character that makes dramatic discoveries while embarking on a personal journey to find spiritual enlightenment and a strong sense of identity. She is credited for disrupting gender roles and developing an astonishing sense of independence. Not only can a reader chart her growth throughout the novel through her three husbands which act as pillars in the backbone of this novel, but her use of language and discovery of her own voice.
In the beginning of this novel, Janie is skeptical of who she is as a person and woman of the world. She is also unsure of what she wants to make of herself. Her personal journey begins when she has a revelation under the blossoming pear tree. The pear tree symbolizes a harmony within nature, which Janie longs to be a part of. She often refers to the perfect type of love as a harmony of both souls and the nature that surrounds them. “She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree…She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid” (32). This marriage of nature initiates her desire to unearth this harmony and begin growing as a woman.
The first growth the reader sees in Janie is after another perfect day with Joe Sparks. He tells her how fond he is of her and that he wishes she would leave Logan and run away with him. That evening, Janie reveals that she will never worship Logan the way that he wishes. She leaves their home and sets off to meet Sparks to begin their life together. “The morning road air was like a new dress…she came to where Joe Sparks was waiting for her with a hired rig. He was very solemn and helped her to the seat beside him. With him on it, it sat like some high, ruling chair. From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom” (61). She has opened a new chapter of her life, moved on to the second landmark of the novel – her marriage to Jody. She immediately celebrates her freedom and hopefulness to experience love just as she imagined, which is why she describes her new life sprinkled with flower dust and springtime, a perfect description of harmony with nature.
Unfortunately, Janie once again, finds herself restricted. Jody forces her to wear her beautiful hair in a wrap while she works in the shop, a symbol of her free will clouded and smothered. When Joe Sparks is near death, Janie uses her reserved power to verbally lash out at him, a sign of finding her voice. Once Joe passes, Janie “[tears] off the kerchief from her head and let[s] down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (104). Even though she found herself halted by a male obstacle, she continues to grow through her voice and free will.
When Janie meets Tea Cake, the reader feels Janie has found the man who is able to harmonize with her and nature. "Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place" (122). It becomes apparent that Janie progresses further with her inner voice. She is now able to control her speech and able to be silent when she chooses. When Janie is talking to Pheoby, she tells her that talking doesn’t amount to anything unless it is connected to actual experience. She has not only discovered who she is and what she wants to do with her life but what part of her voice is most important to share. After Tea Cake passes, Janie returns to Eatonville, prepared for the gossip and rejection of her own community. In the beginning of the novel, the negative opinions of the women on the porches would have greatly affected her but instead she pities them. Janie tells Pheoby that she has been to the horizon and back and has experienced true love, something that none of the woman can claim. The story of her journey has been told, through her voice of independence, experience, and new found harmony; harmony not between a man and herself, but between herself and nature.
WORK CITED
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. Book.
“It’s uh known fact, Pheoby, you got tuh go there tuh know there. Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh themselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (183). The character, Janie, from Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is often referred to in literature as a character that makes dramatic discoveries while embarking on a personal journey to find spiritual enlightenment and a strong sense of identity. She is credited for disrupting gender roles and developing an astonishing sense of independence. Not only can a reader chart her growth throughout the novel through her three husbands which act as pillars in the backbone of this novel, but her use of language and discovery of her own voice.
In the beginning of this novel, Janie is skeptical of who she is as a person and woman of the world. She is also unsure of what she wants to make of herself. Her personal journey begins when she has a revelation under the blossoming pear tree. The pear tree symbolizes a harmony within nature, which Janie longs to be a part of. She often refers to the perfect type of love as a harmony of both souls and the nature that surrounds them. “She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree…She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid” (32). This marriage of nature initiates her desire to unearth this harmony and begin growing as a woman.
The first growth the reader sees in Janie is after another perfect day with Joe Sparks. He tells her how fond he is of her and that he wishes she would leave Logan and run away with him. That evening, Janie reveals that she will never worship Logan the way that he wishes. She leaves their home and sets off to meet Sparks to begin their life together. “The morning road air was like a new dress…she came to where Joe Sparks was waiting for her with a hired rig. He was very solemn and helped her to the seat beside him. With him on it, it sat like some high, ruling chair. From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom” (61). She has opened a new chapter of her life, moved on to the second landmark of the novel – her marriage to Jody. She immediately celebrates her freedom and hopefulness to experience love just as she imagined, which is why she describes her new life sprinkled with flower dust and springtime, a perfect description of harmony with nature.
Unfortunately, Janie once again, finds herself restricted. Jody forces her to wear her beautiful hair in a wrap while she works in the shop, a symbol of her free will clouded and smothered. When Joe Sparks is near death, Janie uses her reserved power to verbally lash out at him, a sign of finding her voice. Once Joe passes, Janie “[tears] off the kerchief from her head and let[s] down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (104). Even though she found herself halted by a male obstacle, she continues to grow through her voice and free will.
When Janie meets Tea Cake, the reader feels Janie has found the man who is able to harmonize with her and nature. "Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place" (122). It becomes apparent that Janie progresses further with her inner voice. She is now able to control her speech and able to be silent when she chooses. When Janie is talking to Pheoby, she tells her that talking doesn’t amount to anything unless it is connected to actual experience. She has not only discovered who she is and what she wants to do with her life but what part of her voice is most important to share. After Tea Cake passes, Janie returns to Eatonville, prepared for the gossip and rejection of her own community. In the beginning of the novel, the negative opinions of the women on the porches would have greatly affected her but instead she pities them. Janie tells Pheoby that she has been to the horizon and back and has experienced true love, something that none of the woman can claim. The story of her journey has been told, through her voice of independence, experience, and new found harmony; harmony not between a man and herself, but between herself and nature.
WORK CITED
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. Book.
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