GCSE: Alice Walker
61 GCSE Alice Walker essays
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The Colour Purple - letter to Celie
Celie you proved your Pa wrong. Your heart is made of gold and I know your habit of sewing has made you a very wealthy woman. I know now I put you through a lot of misery. You spent your wedding day with a bandage on your head 'cause Harpo laid your head open. You must be very angry 'cause I didn't punish him, just told him don't do that.
- Essay length: 500 words
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In what way does Walker present the developments of the character Celie in the novel, and what are the influences which cause her to change?.
In her first letter, Celie asks for direction because she does not understand what is happening to her. Alphonso Celie's father, has turned to Celie for sexual pleasure because Celie's mother is ill and can no longer continue with Alphonso's sexual demands. He threatens Celie by saying "you better not never tell nobody but God, it'd kill your mummy" this is a multiple negative command. This means that not only is Celie being abused by her father; she is also being blackmailed of killing her mother from misery if she was to tell on him. This quote proves that Celie's father has always made Celie feel guilty for what was never her fault to begin with.
- Essay length: 1317 words
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Examine The Ways In Which Alice Walker Uses Language To Reflect Celies Growing Maturity And Confidence.
Nor does the reader feel any sense of distaste towards Celie. Instead, Walker succeeds in depicting Celie as merely an ignorant and innocent child. Another early indicator of Celie's immaturity is found in her sentence structure. Celie's writing is colloquial in that she writes as she or a contemporary would speak. For example, a sentence in the first letter begins with 'and' as many young children or those inexperienced with language rules would speak or write. Moreover, despite the fact the second letter is written more than nine months later than the first, Celie's naiveté is still apparent.
- Essay length: 856 words
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Essay on The Colour Purple
She repeats the words 'He' and 'She' that refer to her mother and father. The repetition of those words shows she has very little respect and has a lot of hate for them. In this letter the audience can also see that she really does not like men for the way she stresses the word 'he' which refers to her father, who she does not name as she does not like him since he has been raping her from as long as she can remember.
- Essay length: 1148 words
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I am going to use the film 'The Colour Purple' to look at the way Steven Spielberg uses media techniques to look at the injustices faced by black people in South America in the 1930's.
Then Celie to a new home with Mr. (who's name we do not know). But Mr. Prefers Nettie. Nettie then later moves in with Celie and Mr. Who then tries to rape Nettie on her way to school, but she fights back and stops him from doing so. When Nettie returns Mr. Kicks her out. She then promises to write to Celie but none of her letters reach her. Later on Celie meets Shug Avery who Mr falls in love with. When Celie grows up, Shug Avery helps Celie to find the letters when Mr went away.
- Essay length: 1758 words
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The Color Purple is too concerned with the personal experiences of Celie to be a successful political novel
The violence aspect is presented in a variety of ways, most predominately rape itself. Walkers exploration of a patriarchal society is at its most powerful in her portrayal of Celie's rape by her father .The book opens with this image, which eludes you to the rest of the book when it states plainly " ...he grab hold of my titties. Then he push his thing inside my pussy. When that hurt I cry...You better shut up and git used to it".
- Essay length: 4489 words
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GCSE DRAMA COURSEWORK
We did this exercise to help us get to grips with the character of Netti and this allows us to be able to play her better, and allows us to know her character better. We also had a brainstorming session to help us connect emotional words to the character of Netti and we then created frozen images expressing these feelings that Netti would have felt, and we did this because this helped us to play the character better and allowed us to explore the mind of Netti.
- Essay length: 862 words
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Discuss how Walker and Atwood present the self awakening of key characters within the Colour Purple and Margaret Atwood poems.
This is a similar opinion to that of Richard Wesley, who states that, "No one in America, Black America especially, should be telling writers what they may or may not say." Celie is strongly disempowered by sex. The novel starts with her being raped by Pa, showing an immediate inability to resist on her part. When she is married to Mr., he mistreats her as much as Pa did. Celie describes sex as something which is done to her, but never as something which she enjoys.
- Essay length: 3104 words
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How does the author use descriptive language to show how Myop changes throughout the story? After reading the story 'The flowers' by Alice Walker I observed that Myop, the main character in the story, slowly matures throughout
She is not shocked or surprised when she hits the chickens. She is only 10 years of age and has nothing to worry about apart from the task at hand; she taps to the tune of her song. The words used are fair and light. They describe the happiness that Myop is feeling. 'Myop watched the tiny white bubbles disrupt the thin black scale of soil and the water that silently rose and slid away down the stream' this shows that she is getting more observant of her surroundings and if fascinated by a small happening.
- Essay length: 679 words
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The impact of 'The Color Purple' is emotional rather than intellectual and this exemplifies the fact that for the society presented in the novel intellectual pursuit is futile
He says 'she ain't smart...but she can work like a man' (page 97). Most women in the novel seem to be looked upon as cleaners, cooks and child raisers - a view that has been encouraged by a patriarchal world. Celie's education is terminated because she is 'big', so her sister tries to teach her what she has learnt at school. She is devastated when Alphonso says she cannot go to school anymore, but Nettie says that their teacher thinks 'Celie smart too' (page 11). However, it could be suggested that Pa sees their teacher (Miss Beasley), an educated women as a threat, but he comments on how no one will marry her, so she had to be a teacher.
- Essay length: 2980 words
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In 1982, Walker published her most famous novel, The Color Purple. For the novel, which chronicles
Two years later, Walker transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in New York and eventually traveled to Uganda as an exchange student. When she returned for her senior year, Walker was shocked to learn that she was pregnant, and, afraid of her parents' reaction, she considered suicide. However, a classmate helped Walker obtain a safe abortion, and she graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1965. At this time, Walker composed two early landmark pieces: "To Hell with Dying," her first published short story, and Once: Poems, her first volume of poetry.
- Essay length: 532 words
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'The Flowers' is a short story written by Alice Walker. Walker is a black American writer, who is renown around the world, especially because of the 'book, turned movie'
This suggests she is young and holds no major responsibilities, there are also connotations of lower class roots. The story goes on to describe her mini- travels throughout the fields, picking flowers and singing songs. This suggests the innocence she possesses as a young child. " She was ten, and nothing existed for her but her song". This openly tells the reader her young age, thus her lack of responsibility, which allowed her to skip around the fields aimlessly. The structure of the short story is basic.
- Essay length: 1066 words
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In an essay of not more than 1500 words explain how this statement informs your reading of The Colour Purple, and one other prose fiction text form Literature and Gender.
She is not able to defend herself due to her multiple jeopardy, of being a woman, being black and being uneducated. Celie is a woman who, through being raped and beaten by her 'Pa', is 'taught to fear men and devalue herself' (p.55 LG). As her letters progress, she grows in confidence within and about her own language. In an early letter to God, written when her Pa stopped her going to school after he got her pregnant the first time and her younger sister continued to go, shows how she wanted to be educated, 'I feel bad sometime Nettie done pass me in learnin' (p.12 TCP).
- Essay length: 1759 words
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'Impertinent voices: a Woman's struggle'
The unrelated narratives complement what is happening in Jeanette's life, or her emotions about a particular issue. For example, when Jeanette disagrees with the idea of perfection, she thinks up a lengthy story critiquing the idea of perfection itself. Likewise, when Jeanette is forced to leave her home, she describes her circumstances by telling the tale of Winnet Stonejar. The events in Winnet's life mirror those in Jeanette's but by telling them through a made- up fictional character Jeanette is able to depersonalize her circumstances. As she grows old, Jeanette's imagination becomes the place that she can run to when times get tough.
- Essay length: 1917 words
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ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT Compare and contrast the two characters of Celie and Jeanette. Consider the influence of religion on the two main protagonists.
She left her parents in 1975 after starting a relationship with another woman. She attended St. Catherine's College in Oxford and graduated from there with a degree in English. Over the years she has published many stories mainly involving lesbian fiction, as well as film scripts. Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944 into a family of sharecroppers near Eatonton, Georgia. Her father, Willie Lee Walker, was the grandson of slaves. She named the character of Nettie in, "The Color Purple" which she wrote in 1982 after her grandmother. Alice is a world traveller and considers herself to be a spiritual explorer.
- Essay length: 1926 words
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In Love and Trouble- A Book of Women with Triple Burden
Living in a white-dominant society, they are oppressed by the white. Their race also leads to their poverty. Being in a male-dominant society, they are abused by their husbands who are themselves abused by the white. "These women [are] simply defeated in one way or another by the external circumstances of their lives" (Washington 89-90). In Roselily, Roselily is also a victim of the triple burden. Although there is no direct description of how she is oppressed by the white, it is implied: "She can imagine God, a small black boy [my emphasis], timidly pulling the preacher's coattail" (4).
- Essay length: 2368 words
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Compare racial and cultural struggles in Alice Walker's The Color Purple as well as Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.
In The Color Purple, Celie's original intended audience is a white, male God who does not listen to her prayers, and her letters remain anonymous. Celie explains that she stopped writing to God because he gave her 'a lynched daddy, a crazy mama, a lowdown dog of a step pa and a sister [she] probably won't ever see again.' Celie distrusts a white male God because he does not listen to 'poor colored women.' Shug encourages Celie to reject 'religious beliefs which reinforce sexist and racist domination' and insists on 'the primacy of a spiritual life'.
- Essay length: 2925 words
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COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE DEPICTION OF CELIE'S STRUGGLE IN STEVEN SPIELBURG'S FILM VERSION OF 'THE COLOR PURPLE' AND THE NOVEL
This having been said, each media handles the topic in very different fashions. Alice Walker enforces explicit imagery of rape onto the reader, so as to comprehend some of this girl's evident pain; on the other hand, Spielburg chooses to jump straight into a vision of an agonizing birth of Celie's second child, hence showing the consequences of the terrible abuse she has suffered. Both interpretations are particularly disturbing and provoke interest from the audience or reader, considering the unequivocal, abusive language present in Celie's opening letter, and the dreadful screams that we are to witness after only minutes of the film.
- Essay length: 618 words
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The Colour Purple - Analyse Walker's language carefully in letters 43 and 44. What do we learn about Miss. Millie, her family - her household and their attitudes towards Sofia.
The description of his hair also signifies his position, presumably the Black population all had black hair, therefore the description of him having brown hair again, raises him above the two ladies before him, because he is white. After unsuccessfully achieving his goal of getting Sofia to throw him the ball, he proceeds to walk over to Sofia and attempt to kick her, only Sofia moves her leg, consequently he kicks a rusty nail, signifying Sofia's power over the young boy, she doesn't have to pass his ball, and when she is threatened with violence, she can simply avoid it, except in this case, it had a satisfying affect, as the young boy injured himself.
- Essay length: 1287 words
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An Analysis of Daughters of the Dust and The Color Purple using Black Feminist Theory
Her 1982 book Women, Race and Class sets about exposing the previously overlooked assumptions of American feminism by revealing the racism and classism of white feminists, while stressing the strategic interdependences of gender, race and class. In this book she problematises the white feminist concept that sees all women as a homogenous group, and sets about correcting previous histories of slavery illustrating how black women have always been actively involved in resistance struggle. She also depicts how the priorities of white feminists are vastly different from black feminists, because of their differing histories, and offers a more accurate historical account of black women's roles during slavery.
- Essay length: 4172 words
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Review of Alice Walker's essay on the creative spirit of her female ancestors
Walker speaks about how creative spirit can be passed down from generation to generation. At the age of 17 Walker's mother ran away from home to be married. While taking care of six children, Alice's mother also had to battle with a white landlord over her children's education, make clothes for all of her children, make sheets and towels, can vegetables and fruits, and still find some time in the day to make quilts. Alice's mother barely had time to deal with obstacles pertaining to her own creative spirit.
- Essay length: 1142 words
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Ideas and themes in 'The Flowers' By Alice Walker
Walker also highlights the setting around Myop, playing on the character's senses. "The harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash made each day and golden surprise". By doing this Walker reveals more about Myop's background. We can see from the crops used "cotton and squash" that her family are obviously farmers. We can also see how Myop's senses are important to her and her reactions to the crops around her show off her child-like qualities. "A golden surprise that caused excited little tremors run up her jaws".
- Essay length: 1077 words
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Analysing 'The Colour Purple' Film
This is effective because it shocks us the audience and is hard hitting. Spielberg also creates this mood by tracking the girls running around in the flowers, we as the audience see a close up of the purple flowers, which establishes their freedom. As the girls are running around in a field of purple flowers, the flowers are representative of the title of the film, the suffering and bruises and also the celebration during the film. When Celie emerges from the field and we see that she is pregnant, Spielberg chooses to use a long shot of Celie which pauses
- Essay length: 4344 words
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Alice Walker's depiction of men in The Color Purple has been controversial. Explore the opinions of the two critics and explain your own views of the way Walker presents men in The Color Purple.
In many ways Walker's novel opens people's eyes to an unheard of topic and encourages discussion on it. I disagree that Alice Walker's intentions in the novel were to portray all black men as abusive, uncaring people. I believe Walker had more interest in exploring the female role. How they were treated, how they thought and behaved, and their unexpressed feelings. The protagonist in the novel is Celie who accompanies us throughout the entire novel. In my opinion the novel is about Celie's life from a child and the obstacles that she must overcome to develop into the strong woman that she becomes.
- Essay length: 2404 words
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To what extent do you find
So this shows "the color purple" in an optimistic light. The use of an authentic black voice is optimistic. The book is an epistolary, and the letters in the book are written in the way the characters would speak. Words are abbreviated and the sentences are usually very short. The vocabulary is often limited although the thoughts of the characters are often complicated. Phonetic spelling is also used for example "kilt" (killed) and "yawl" (you all), the grammar used in the book is often unconventional for example "us surrounded".
- Essay length: 1124 words
