The Color Purple:
The most influential text we encountered was “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker. The first letter of the text starts by Celie, the main character, getting raped by her own father, and she’s writing this event in a letter to God. The book is a series of letters, usually written to God, or her sister Nettie. By the second and third letters, Celie’s mother dies, and Celie has two children by her father that she thinks he gave away or killed. After this event, Celie’s father gave her away and she gave herself awayto a man called Mr.____ so her sister Nettie would not have to be with him. In order for Mr.____ to take Celie, her father bribed him with a cow. By the first few letters, it’s very apparent that her life is miserable.
From then on, it’s all just as bad. Mr.____ always takes advantage of Celie. He makes her do all the house work, cooking, and farmwork; and he still beats her for no reason sometimes. This is where Shug Avery comes in the book. Celie sees a picture of Shug, this beautiful successful woman who will shape Celie throughout the book. Sofia appears around this time as well (Harpo’s girlfriend.) Sofia is a strong independent woman who doesn’t take crap from anybody.
The text is very influential because nearly the whole book, Celie gets taken advantage of by every male character. Celie says she never fights back because she just tries to survive and be emotionless. Sofia’s influence in Celie downgraded after Sofia got sent to jail for standing up to the Mayor’s wife. Most readers at this point want Celie to fight back, but Celie saw the consequences from fighting when Sofia got sent to jail.
A major turning point in this book is when Shug helps Celie recovers letters that Nettie has sent. The fact that Mr.____ has been hiding these letters from Celie finally takes her to the breaking point. For the first time in the text, Celie has very strong feelings of hatred toward Mr.____ who she now wants to kill. Through these letters Celie finds out that Nettie is alive, as well as Celie’s kids, which gives Celie the will to live and fight on and re-unite with her family.
Now Celie is about to go and move out with Shug. When Mr.___ says no, Celie finally stands up for herself, telling him that he’s a no good piece of crap. This is the greatest point in the book because now that Celie is more feeling, and confident, life can only go uphill from here.
By the end of the book, Celie is in the business of making pants. It’s very influential that she got this far because in the beginning of the book, Celie was shocked to hear about a successful independent woman, which is the woman Celie now is. It all gets better when Celie and Mr.____ come to terms with each other miraculously. To top even that off, on the last page, Celie is reunited with Nettie, and her kids. From a beat down and miserable dog in the beginning, Celie became a successful, independent, and happy woman finally at peace with the world in the end.
From then on, it’s all just as bad. Mr.____ always takes advantage of Celie. He makes her do all the house work, cooking, and farmwork; and he still beats her for no reason sometimes. This is where Shug Avery comes in the book. Celie sees a picture of Shug, this beautiful successful woman who will shape Celie throughout the book. Sofia appears around this time as well (Harpo’s girlfriend.) Sofia is a strong independent woman who doesn’t take crap from anybody.
The text is very influential because nearly the whole book, Celie gets taken advantage of by every male character. Celie says she never fights back because she just tries to survive and be emotionless. Sofia’s influence in Celie downgraded after Sofia got sent to jail for standing up to the Mayor’s wife. Most readers at this point want Celie to fight back, but Celie saw the consequences from fighting when Sofia got sent to jail.
A major turning point in this book is when Shug helps Celie recovers letters that Nettie has sent. The fact that Mr.____ has been hiding these letters from Celie finally takes her to the breaking point. For the first time in the text, Celie has very strong feelings of hatred toward Mr.____ who she now wants to kill. Through these letters Celie finds out that Nettie is alive, as well as Celie’s kids, which gives Celie the will to live and fight on and re-unite with her family.
Now Celie is about to go and move out with Shug. When Mr.___ says no, Celie finally stands up for herself, telling him that he’s a no good piece of crap. This is the greatest point in the book because now that Celie is more feeling, and confident, life can only go uphill from here.
By the end of the book, Celie is in the business of making pants. It’s very influential that she got this far because in the beginning of the book, Celie was shocked to hear about a successful independent woman, which is the woman Celie now is. It all gets better when Celie and Mr.____ come to terms with each other miraculously. To top even that off, on the last page, Celie is reunited with Nettie, and her kids. From a beat down and miserable dog in the beginning, Celie became a successful, independent, and happy woman finally at peace with the world in the end.
To Negro Writers:
An influential text we were assigned to read during our African American Literature unit was the letter by Langston Hughes called, “To Negro Writers”. The moral of this writing was to influence the other writers of this time (1935) to preach about the potential power the Negro’s can offer. Langston wants to get the other writers to set a goal of uniting blacks and whites in a way of “solid ground of the daily working-class” doing so would end all inequalities of the past if the team could work together and have their voices be heard.
Langston Hughes writes in this letter, to expose more of this effort towards equality: “Negro writers can reveal in their novels, stories, poems and articles.” To convince these Negros writers what he’s getting at, he tries to outrage them by saying how with the second rate equipment they are handed down, the whites did this to whip the dirt of guilty conscience, to make them not feel so bad and look like they give a crap.
Mr. Hughes gets outraged, and hopes his views will rub off onto the other writers. The “false leadership” and corruption of the leaders to the Negro people, the people who know of this are afraid to open their mouth, and it’s time to expose this.
Even in the early years of this country, the black man was by the sides of the whites in the wars, and yet they may have more medals. It means nothing. Since Lincoln, Hughes says the white house positions are just handed to them, not earned like Lincoln, “from the Log Cabin to the white House” he understood struggles and where the Negros came from, what they wanted in life. The people in office of their time just pushed it away, never have been a problem or issue of their personal life, bring into the books they read, and continue the influence,
Everyone he writes to will be effected by the results of every individuals work, where in a “better America” they’ll be no more poor, Jim Crow, lynching’s, munitions makers, need for philanthropy, charity, The New Deal, Nor Home Relief. It is their goal to make a better America and World, and together, these goals can be met. Life will change for generations. Langstons Hughes's one letter of influence will spread like a tree and branch off, and it will influence the work after and branch off and become a big and beautiful result.
Langston Hughes writes in this letter, to expose more of this effort towards equality: “Negro writers can reveal in their novels, stories, poems and articles.” To convince these Negros writers what he’s getting at, he tries to outrage them by saying how with the second rate equipment they are handed down, the whites did this to whip the dirt of guilty conscience, to make them not feel so bad and look like they give a crap.
Mr. Hughes gets outraged, and hopes his views will rub off onto the other writers. The “false leadership” and corruption of the leaders to the Negro people, the people who know of this are afraid to open their mouth, and it’s time to expose this.
Even in the early years of this country, the black man was by the sides of the whites in the wars, and yet they may have more medals. It means nothing. Since Lincoln, Hughes says the white house positions are just handed to them, not earned like Lincoln, “from the Log Cabin to the white House” he understood struggles and where the Negros came from, what they wanted in life. The people in office of their time just pushed it away, never have been a problem or issue of their personal life, bring into the books they read, and continue the influence,
Everyone he writes to will be effected by the results of every individuals work, where in a “better America” they’ll be no more poor, Jim Crow, lynching’s, munitions makers, need for philanthropy, charity, The New Deal, Nor Home Relief. It is their goal to make a better America and World, and together, these goals can be met. Life will change for generations. Langstons Hughes's one letter of influence will spread like a tree and branch off, and it will influence the work after and branch off and become a big and beautiful result.