Color Purple
While setting is extremely important in most stories, it is essential to Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Celie's life is extremely tragic, but it is important to the outcome of the story for one to view Celie, not as a victim, but as the protagonist, and, eventually, the hero. In order to view Celie in this manner, it has to be clear that she begins the story without any options as to how to escape from her father and later, Mister. In a time and place where child protective services and women's shelters provide options, it is hard to understand Celie's mindset and her life circumstances. Therefore, it is necessary to be transported to the South during the Jim Crow era.
It is only within the context of this setting, where men where prized above women and blacks had few rights, that one can really understand what a strong person…...
Regular sex instead is a cure for many things, including the frustration that is at the root of many acts of violence.
The only limit that I would place upon enjoying regular sex is that it should be done in a manner to ensure the maximum safety of all partners involved, and that everybody involved should be consenting adults. Any occasions where people are being hurt or tortured for the sexual pleasure of the person inflicting the pain should not be allowed. If such pain is however induced for the pleasure and with the consent of everybody, I don't see why I should judge.
In terms of homosexuality and the other "perversions" mentioned above, I have also modified my views. Sex has more than one purpose. While one happy connection with the act can indeed be children, sex can also be driven by sheer physical need, or by a deeper emotional…...
mlaBibliography
D'Emilio, John & Freedman, Estelle. 1988.
Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, San Francisco / New York: Harper & Row
Walker, Alice. 1990. The Color Purple. London: The Women's Press.
I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men" (46).
Sofia is brazen and outspoken and has little in common with the often-beaten and intimidated Celie. Celie says, "I like Sofia, but she don't act like me at all. If she talking when Harpo and Mr. ____ come in the room, she keep right on" (42). This is in complete opposition to the fearful respect that Celie has learned to show to the men in her life. Celie is also resentful of the fact that Sofia looks on her in pity because she obeys Albert's commands without question. Harpo felt that Sofia needed to be more deferential towards him, and he asked Celie for advice. Celie gave him the only advice she knew: she told Harpo to beat…...
mlaWorks Cited
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Pocket Books, 1982. Print.
Expressions Through Writing
In The Color Purple, symbolism is used to reflect the struggles of the main characters. The main protagonist is Celie, who is a young African-American girl in the South. She is not fitting in with society for a number of reasons. First, she has a very low social standing, being part of the underclass. But in addition to this, she is abused by her father, Alphonso. Celie is also involved in a sexual relationship with Shug, which also makes her even more of a social misfit, because that sort of relationship is not accepted either in her family or in society in general where and when the novel is set. The story covers a fairly large portion of Celie's life as she seeks to deal with her place in society and find happiness on her own terms.
The color purple of the title is a reference to color as…...
mlaReferences
Dickens, C. (1860). Great Expectations.
Walker, A. (1982) The Color Purple Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Color Purple, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the eponymous novel by Alice alker, recounts the tale of Celie Harris and the obstacles she had to overcome in order to achieve the freedom she longed for and deserved. The Color Purple deals with many social issues including racism, sexism, and poverty, but a major underlying theme within the film is belonging. There are many ways in which the theme of belonging is expressed in The Color Purple. ith the film, belonging can refer to the concept of being part of a family, social class, or community. Another way to look at belonging within the film is the concept of belonging to someone else, whether it is physically or spiritually.
The Color Purple tells the story of Celie Harris, later Celie Johnson, and the tumultuous life that she leads. At the beginning of the film, the audience is introduced to…...
mlaWorks Cited
The Color Purple. 1985. [DVD] Steven Spielberg. Los Angeles: Warner Brothers.
"The Color Purple." 2011. [online] SparkNotes. Available at:
[Accessed 6 July 2011]
Whitted, Q., 2008. "The Color Purple." [online] New Georgia Encyclopedia. Available at:
Sofia believes that given the mindset of current society her son will most certainly grow up to become a racist.
She points to the ways that Black are treated and the way men feel about themselves as a product of such treatment and explains that there is no way her son will fail to develop racist tendencies. If it were another time in society, he would have a chance of growing up "color blind" however; Sofia understands that society itself will mold her boy regardless of her influence.
The goal that she believes she can carry out however is the goal of raising him to undersand it is wrong to abuse females. She and others decide that by speaking strongly back to the abusive men in their lives they can force those men to change their thinking about the way they treat women and in turn Sofia's boy will grow up…...
mlaWorks Cited
Walker, Alice, the Color Purple. Pocket; Reissue edition (April 1, 1990)
He even tried to hurt her spirit by hiding the letters and she is not able to believe that where she says "Mr.____ mean sometimes, but he not that mean"(Walker). This is a conflict in her that she thought that he was not such a bad human being and she never expected that he would do such a thing to her even if he treated her badly.
Celie is shown the path to independence by her husband's lover who shows her that there much more to life and she deserves to be happy. She found the strength to leave her husband after she found out that he had been hiding her sister's letters from her and she was able to confront him where in the past she would never have been able to do so. Also in the end it is seen that she picks up the hobby of sewing…...
mlaBibliography
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Harvest Books, 1982.
Interview with Two Southern omen -- One hite, One Black. Both Oppressed by Socially Constructed Southern Norms from forming Political Unity.
Over the course of the interviews, it was extremely difficult to 'draw forth' the individual known as Miss Celie. hen inquired as to the relevance of voting, the Democratic Party, or the status of women in Celie's daily life, the Black woman shrugged and said that she didn't know and didn't think it was appropriate for a woman of her station and color to think of such things. The fact that the interviewer was white, however, may have affected her attitude, as did the fact that her husband was standing in the background and frequently expressed impatience that his wife needed to get back to work. Miss Celie's husband said that the couple was poor and had a great deal of difficulty getting by in terms of their material circumstances.
Miss…...
mlaWorks Cited
Eleanor Roosevelt -- Biography. (2004) Retrieved on June 17, 2004 at http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ar32.html
'The Color Purple." (1985) Directed by Steven Spielberg. Warner brothers.
"Rambling Rose." (1991)
Women's Bureau Home Page. (2004) Retrieved on June 17, 2004 at http://www.dol.gov/wb/welcome.html
However, she soon realizes that she has given Harpo that advice because she is jealous that Sofia is capable of fighting back against abuse, when she herself is not. Sofia responds that her close bond with her five strong sisters has helped her. Throughout the novel, the theme of women bonding to fight oppression emerges and re-emerges.
Sofia is a strong and independent woman who refuses to be oppressed. When Harpo tries to beat his wife he ends up hurt himself. Later, the mayor's wife notices how clean Sofia's children are and asks Sofia to be her maid. Sofia responds with, "Hell, no." The mayor slaps Sofia, and Sofia knocks him down. Because Sofia refuses to submit to oppression of any kind, she is punished. She is sentenced to twelve years in jail and the sentence is commuted to twelve years of labor as the mayor's maid. Sofia committed no…...
In short, it's mentally and emotionally taxing to grow up believing physical abuse is warranted, objectification of women is normal, and whatever a man says happened, happened. Thankfully, in later chapters, Celie slowly starts to become disabused of these ideas.
In A Lost Lady Mrs. Marian Forrester is an aristocrat. And, therefore, she is not subjected to some of the personal atrocities that Celie is subjected to (i.e., Mrs. Forrester's babies are stolen from her and presumably murdered by her stepfather). Nevertheless, like Celie, Mrs. Forrester lives in an era where men objectify women. Like Celie, she is something to be possessed.
"If she merely bowed to you, merely looked at you, it constituted a personal relation. Something about her took hold of one in a flash; one became acutely conscious of her, of her fragility and grace, of her mouth which could say so much without words; of her eyes,…...
mlaWorks Cited
Cather, Willa. A Lost Lady. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. Print.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Florida: Harcourt Press, 1982. Print.
They tear her nose loose on one side. They blind her in one eye. She swole from head to foot. Her tongue the size of my arm, it stick out tween her teef like a piece of rubber. She can't talk. And she just about the color of an eggplant" (Walker, Part 2, pg. 87).
In this case, the color purple is used as a symbol of the oppression of the black woman. Because a black women hit a white man, Sofia was put in prison. After she got out, she was made to work as a maid for the mayor's wife for another 20 years. Black women were not allowed to defend themselves in any manner and had to take their beatings. Fear was the major tool used for the oppression of black women in the Old South. Their purple bruises were the outward symbol of their oppression.
Dreams Never…...
mlaReferences
Bloom, H. Alice Walker's the Color Purple. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House. Place of Publication: Philadelphia. 2000. pp. 181.
Byerman, K. Desire and Alice Walker: The Quest for a Womanist Narrative. Johns Hopkins University Press. 1989. p. 321.
Cutter, M. Philomela Speaks: Alice Walker's Revisioning of Rape Archetypes in the Color Purple. MELUS. 2000. pp. 161.
Magill, F., Kohler, D., and Mazzeno, L. Masterplots: 1,801 Plot Stories and Critical Evaluations of the World's Finest Literature. African-American Literature Series. # 47. Salem Press. 1996.
The school incorporates a lot of natural light and has all updated materials in excellent condition. The Lea school is about 30 years old and, like many Philadelphia public schools, lacks adequate facility funding. Many of the materials and building are outdated and deteriorating.
Students at Penn Alex were significantly more positive than students at Lea regarding their school and rated wall color, variety of wall color, amount of lighting, amount of art work on display, personally having art work on display, overall appearance of the school, peers opinion of overall appearance, and elements that should be changed all higher. In addition, Penn Alex students had more positive attitudes including proud to show visitors, school makes them feel good, school appearance is not distracting, adults care about how the school looks, appearance is fine the way it is, and feelings of responsibility for taking care of the school. Students at…...
mlaReferences
Ballast, D.K. (2002). Interior design reference manual. Professional Pub. Inc.: Belmont, CA.
Boyatzis CJ and Varghese, R. (1994) Journal of Genetic Psychology; 155(1) 77-85
Hupka, R.B, Zbigniew, Z, Jurgen O., Reidl, L. And Tarabrina, L. The colors of anger, envy, fear, and jealousy: a cross-cultural study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 28.(2)156-162
Kuller, R. (1976). The Use of Space -- Some Physiological and Philosophical Aspects. Paper presented at the Third International Architectural Psychology Conference, University Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France.
The lack of a distinct focus or perspective in the painting also makes it difficult to define a specific purpose or intent apparent in the work. Throughout his work, Kandinsky was obsessed with almost paradoxical contrast, as though any statement of a "fact" has inherent inconsistencies with reality. In Yellow-Red-Blue, this is exemplified in the moods and suggestions of representation created by primarily the colors used, and secondarily the shapes, suggesting a worldview of undefined balance; an all-encompassing reality that resists efforts to be broken into its constitutive parts. Such a worldview, like the painting, contains both cheery and somber elements, and is an outgrowth and creator of both order and chaos, day and night.
Applying meaning to or interpreting meaning from art is always a dangerous task, and much more so when dealing with abstractions. No abstraction is pure, however; in good art, there is always an intent. Kandinsky…...
Color in the Nun by Otto Dix
Otto Dix's painting, "The Nun," is a striking piece of visual art. This painting evokes a sense of emotion in the viewer for a number of different reasons. The three figures rendered in the work are decidedly abstract, including the titular nun and the two figures on either side of her. Additionally, the artist's sense of depth and perspective are highly unusual, characteristics which aid in the work's abstract nature. Yet the most singularly remarkable thing about this work of art is its coloring. Many of the techniques that Dix utilized to make this work noteworthy are based on the elaborate colors utilized within the painting.
Perhaps the most eminent aspect regarding the color scheme that the artist employed in "The Nun" is the shading and tones that are applied to the nun herself. Her preeminence in this work is not only underscored by her…...
Desciptive statistics wee used to summaize data. The esults evealed that paticipants had stonge positive feelings about the wods that wee in yellow vs. The same wods that wee in bown. The wods in bown aveaged a "4," so the espondents still ecognized the wod as somewhat positive. Both males and females scoed the yellows similaly, and males scoed the bown highe than gils.
DISCUSSION
The esults of this study suggest that wods ead online o in pint have diffeent emotional esponses based moe on the colo of the wod than they do on the wod itself.
This efes back to the Jones (1997) and Gacia and Bohle (1986) studies noted above who wee analyzing business maketing and communication emotional esponses on vaious audiences.
They found that mateials in colo bette gabbed the attention of the eades/viewes when in colo vs. black and white. Thei studies wee concened only with the colo diffeence,…...
mlareferences Perceptual and Motor Skills, 34, 724-726.
Clore, G.L., Ortony, a., & Foss, M.A. (1987). The psychological foundations of the affective lexicon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 751-766.
Hemphill M (1996) a note on adults' color-emotion associations. J Genet Psychol.157(3):275-80.
Hupka Ralph B, Zbigniew, Zaleski, Jurgen Otto, Lucy Reidl and Nadia V. Tarabrina the colors of anger, envy, fear, and jealousy: a cross-cultural study. Journal of Cross- Cultural Psychology 28.(2)156-162
Jaensch E.R. (1930) Eidetic Imagery, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.,
Selecting Essay Topics that Cover a Book
1. Character Analysis
Topic: The protagonist's struggle with identity and purpose in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Focus: Examine the protagonist's evolving self-awareness, the challenges they face, and how their journey shapes their character.
2. Theme Exploration
Topic: The theme of prejudice and its impact on society in Alice Walker's "The Color Purple."
Focus: Analyze how the novel portrays different forms of prejudice, its consequences, and the characters' responses to it.
3. Symbolism and Imagery
Topic: The use of symbolism and imagery to create atmosphere in Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights."
Focus: Discuss how specific symbols....
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