copyright 1999, Sirpa Grierson

Reading Activities (compiled by Matthew Teitter) | Pre Reading | During Reading | After Reading | Before strategies: 1) Kilian, Crawford. “Narrative Voice.” The Fiction Writer’s Page. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.capcollege.bc.ca/dept/cmns/voice.html> This is a good web page to introduce or remind the students of the importance of narrative voice in a story. With The Color Purple, this concept is especially pertinent because Walker emphasizes throughout the novel that the ability to express one’s thoughts and feelings is crucial to developing a sense of self. 2) Fort, Bruce. American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html> This is a powerful resource that will introduce students to the personal lives of slaves and allow them to gain a greater understanding of the institution of slavery. It will also introduce them to some of the vernacular of the black South that is seen in The Color Purple. 3) Content Navigator: Jacobs, Harriet A. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/digs/wwm97255/@Generic__BookTocView/1579;hf=0;pt=1579> This is perhaps the most famous of the personal slave narratives and deserves special attention. The author Harriet Jacobs correlates very well with many of the characters found in The Color Purple as she is a black woman from the South that must somehow survive both racism and sexism. 4) “Sexual Abuse Statistics.” Pandora’s Box. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.prevent-abuse-now.com/stats.htm> This site will be useful for introducing students to the difficult and sensitive topic of child abuse. It demonstrates how prevalent the abhorrent practice is even today and also reinforces that young girls are the most common victims. 5) “Gender role.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role> Because the disruption of traditional gender roles in one of the central themes of the novel, this entry from the encyclopedia will be useful for illustrating not only what the traditional gender roles are but also the history and controversy that is associated with them today. 6) Carafi, Christian. “The Epistolary Novel.” The Color Purple. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9089/colorpurple-epistolary.html> Even though this site was created by a sophomore English class with the help of their instructor, it contains very useful information that is both in-depth and accurate. This page will help introduce students to the tradition of the epistolary novel, one that proves pertinent to the way in which the story of The Color Purple is related. 7) Lunn, Donna. “Rural and Wife Assault.” Education Wife Assault. 21 Nov. 2001. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.womanabuseprevention.com/html/rural_and_farm_women.html> This site addresses the issue of wife abuse in rural farming communities. It discusses what instigates the abuse and what compounds the problem even further with geographic isolation and limited contact with outsiders of the town or community. The site would provide a good segue to Celie’s experiences in the novel. 8) Davis, Ronald L.F. “Creating Jim Crow.” The History of Jim Crow. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/history/creating2.htm> The author Ronald Davis gives a thorough background on the origins of the Jim Crow laws. He provides the history and context of the Reconstruction era after the Civil War and also the rulings of several court cases that helped create the Jim Crow South. This site would be useful as a historical context class for the novel. 9) “Jim Crow Inside the South.” The History of Jim Crow. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/geography/geography.htm> This site would provide students with an interactive map that illustrates the previous Confederacy that attempted to secede and the subsequent legislation produced by the Southern states during the period of Reconstruction. The state of Georgia would be especially pertinent to the novel and should be the focus in using the map to give students historical context. 10) Danielle, Chris. “Alice Walker.” Quick Facts. March 1999. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://members.tripod.com/chrisdanielle/alicephil.html> This site would be useful in giving the class a quick background on the author of the novel. It makes passing references to her literary history, personal history, personal religion, and literary honor and awards that she has one. This is a good introduction to Alice Walker. During strategies: 1) Anniina’s Alice Walker Page. 25 Feb. 1996. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/alicew/index.html> This is a more thorough introduction of Alice Walker and goes into her childhood, her education while growing up, and the various locations where she has lived. It also provides several links to other related sites. For students wanting to know more about the novelist, this would be an excellent site to teach. 2) “Maps and Geography.” National Geographic.com. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/> This is a popular site for finding locations throughout the globe. Using this resource, a teacher will be able to illustrate to the students the locations of West Africa and Harlem in relation to the South, specifically Georgia. Further discussion could also include triangle trade routes. 3) Davis, Ronald L.F. “Surviving Jim Crow.” The History of Jim Crow. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/history/surviving2.htm> Another wonderful essay written by Ronald Davis on what the blacks in the South did to survive during the Jim Crow era. It makes references to the church or religion as a refuge and the private enterprises of individual blacks that occasionally were succesful. Segues to Celie’s character abound here. 4) Doughty, John L. Jr. “Junior’s Juke Joint.” 27 July 1997. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.deltablues.net/> This is an excellent site to show students in order to help them understand what a juke joint actually is. The site contains information and pictures and will help the class better relate to the character of Shug. 5) Johnson, William H. “The Harlem Renaissance.” 16 Feb. 2000. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.fatherryan.org/harlemrenaissance/> This is an award-winning site that will help students understand the phenomenon that was the Harlem Renaissance. It should be used in conjunction with the discovery by Celie of Nettie’s letters. 6) North by South. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://northbysouth.kenyon.edu/1998/index.htm> This site covers the Great Migration of blacks to the North. It also discusses some of the disparities experienced by blacks when traveling or living in the different regions. This should also be presented in conjunction with Nettie’s letters. 7) “Concerns Mount Over Female Genital Mutilation.” bmj.com. 29 July 2000. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7256/262> This is an article that discusses the practice of female circumcision and the issues and dangers that are related to it. This should be used in conjunction with a class discussion involving Tashi’s ritual circumcision. 8) “Industrial Education.” The Progress of a People. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/aapindus.html> This page talks about and provides links to pages that talk about the difficulties that confronted former slaves once they were freed. It makes specific references and discusses the figure of Booker T. Washington and his Tuskegee Institute. This page should be employed when the class discusses Celie’s attempt at economic independence through private enterprise. 9) Davis, Ronald L.F. “Resisting Jim Crow.” The History of Jim Crow. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/history/resisting2.htm> The page continues Davis’ analysis of the Jim Crow era but this time illustrates how blacks began to successfully rebel against the oppressive system. He makes specific mention of the fact that women were often more successful at it than men. This could be used to the women of the novel gaining their independence from their male counterparts. 10) Wenner, Sara. Animism. 2001. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/animism/animism.html> This would be a good introduction for students to the concept of animism as a religion. It should be used at or near the conclusion of The Color Purple as Celie reassess her religious life and turns towards the natural world around her as her god. After strategies: 1) Washington, Booker T. “The Atlanta Compromise.” History Matters. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/39/> Booker T. Washington’s famous address would provoke a good classroom discussion on how black society could and should have lifted itself up from the institution of slavery. Discuss in conjunction with themes from the novel, specifically with reference to Celie’s decision to open her own pants-making shop and whether it agrees or contradicts Washington’s argument. 2) Du Bois, W.E.B. “The Souls of Black Folk.” Bartleby.com. 24 Feb. 2005 http://www.bartleby.com/114/3.html Presented here is a chapter of Du Bois’s famous writing which in part was a response to the philosophy of Booker T. Washington. This article can be discussed in conjunction with the Atlanta Compromise or as a separate class topic and perhaps can tie into a discussion about the different experiences of Celie and Nettie and how they progressed in society respectively. 3) Bland, J. “Differences.” About Gender. 1998. 24 Feb. 2005 http://www.gender.org.uk/about/00_diffs.htm The author of this page discusses the supposed differences between the genders and what has proven to be scientifically true versus conjecture or theory. This could be used to aid in a resolution to the traditional gender roles controversy. 4) The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. Sept. 1995. 24 Feb. 2005 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/index.html This page provides links to the issues that were discussed during the World Conference on Women. Many of them prove to be applicable to the same issues raised in the novel and could be used to place the issues in a modern context. 5) “Roots of Racism.” Flagpole.com. 23 Feb. 2005 http://www.flagpole.com/Issues/11.17.99/slavery.html This page discusses the roots of racism in the South as well as the Biblical defense of racism used by many Southerners to perpetuate the institution. This should be used in talking about Celie’s conversion from traditional Christianity to a more animistic approach. 6) Walker, Alice. “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens.” Ms. (1974) In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1984. 231-244 In this essay, the author Alice Walker discusses the oppression of women, and more precisely black women, in the history of the South. She quotes generously from Virginia Woolf and uses Phillis Wheatley as a primary example of an unparalleled intellect being oppressed. The essay could be used as supplementary reading material to aid in understanding and explaining the obstacles of the black female writer. 7) Walker, Alice. “The River: Honoring the Difficult.” The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult. New York.: Scribner, 1996. 21-46. This is a chapter from Alice Walker’s book which revisits in different ways her novel/movie The Color Purple, only this time ten years later. Here Ms. Walker reveals the difficulties that she has encountered in her life during those ten years and some of the hardships or obstacles which arose when trying to adapt the novel to film. Her thoughts prove to be enlightening and would be excellent supplementary reading material to the primary text. 8) Lauret, Maria. Alice Walker. New York: Macmillan, 2000. 90-120. Chapter 4 of this book discusses the various criticisms of The Color Purple and reveals many of the weaknesses and the strengths found in the plotline, writing style, and character development. This would be a good chapter to read before having students write their own response/review to the novel. 9) Light, Alison. “Fear of the Happy Ending: ‘The Color Purple’, Reading and Racism.” Essays and Studies 1987: Broadening the Context. Ed. Michael Green. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities, 1987. 103-117. This is a more sophisticated essay that would probably be more appropriate for an Advanced Writing or AP class. It discusses several of the issues brought up by the novel in the text and also issues that have arisen indirectly from the novel. The article also makes allusions to different types of literary theory that have been used to engage the text. For the class ready to take the next step in critical thinking, this would be an ideal supplementary text. 10) McPheron, William. “Harold Bloom.” Stanford Presidential Lectures in the Humanities and Arts. 1998. 24 Feb. 2005 <http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/bloom/> This page would introduce the students to the influential critic Harold Bloom and would allow for exposure to his argumentation concerning the Western Canon. The students would then be allowed to express their opinion either for or against his take on reading such books as The Color Purple. Essentially the students could openly express whether they think this novel deserves a place in the curriculum or not.

 

Reading Resources and Unit Guide for this Novel