Literature Analysis # 2 : The Color Purple

1. Exposition is describing who Celie is as the protagonist of the Color Purple. She is poor and uneducated. The story takes place in the early to mid 1900's in rural Georgia. The main conflict is Celie and the abuse she has been subject to making her believe she's worthless. The rising action occurs when Celie starts have feelings towards Shug. Shug helps Celie open up about her past. During this time with the help of Shug, Celie finds Nettie's letters that have been kept from her by Mr.___. Celie starts to find her voice from the help of Shug. The Climax of the story is when Celie explodes to Mr.___ for keeping the letters from her, when she believed her sister was dead. Celie stops writing to God and loses faith because of everything she's gone through, but Shug helps Celie see god as a symbol. The falling action occurs when Celie is able to endure the heartache she goes through with Shug and she becomes dependent and realizes she can make herself feel special. After some time  Celie returns to Georgia to find that Alphonso has died and Mr.___ has changed. The story's resolution is when Nettie and Samuel return to Georgia with Adam, Olivia, and Tashi and Celie inherits her family's home and lives the rest of her life there. The authors purpose was to reveal that a person can undergo many heartaches but still find the strength through God, faith, and hope to be happy and successful, in relation to their perspectives.
2. The theme of the novel is personal strength. Celie lived in a time where African Americans had nothing and so people of that race started to believe that. She started out that way but she found in her heart and through hard work and believing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, you can come out of any tragedy with lessons learned and a seasoned life. She found personal growth from others but learned to find it within herself and she proved that the motivation and inspiration that women can give themselves is priceless and it truly makes a difference what you are told and what you tell yourself.
3. The tone was somber and honest. The story is described in a more vulgar way but it is sincere and truthful. For most of the story the tone is in every word to make the reader feel emotion. "I lay there quiet. listening to Shug breathe. It hurt me you know, I say. I was just going on fourteen. I never even though bout men having nothing down there so big. It scare me just to see it. And the way it poke itself and grow." " Well I started to fight him, and with God's help, I hurt him bad enough to make him let me alone. But he was some mad. He said because of what I'd done I'd never hear from you again, and you would never hear from me." "No ma'am say Sofia. I do not love Reynolds Stanley Earl. Now. That's what you been trying to find out ever since he was born. And now you know." 
4.  Ethos pg 1 
"Dear God, I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me."This expresses the innocence of a young girl who is asking for help, because she is confused on the events in her life.
 hyperbole pg 2
- "...you could have knocked me over with a feather." This exaggerates the shock and overwhelming sensation as she gave birth to her first child.

foreshadow pg 5
 - " I look at women tho, cause I'm not scared of them." This how Celie looked at women. Celie felt that could be more close and intimate with a woman because she didn't feel safe with men. 

simile pg 21
- "Shug Avery as black as my shoe." This is used to describe how dark Shug Avery is, when Mr.___ sisters and Celie are talking about her. They are trying to figure out why he is so infatuated with her. 

Irony - " You sure is ugly.." Shug says this to Celie when she first meets her, which is ironic because Shug and Celie end up loving each other.
- Symbolism 

When referencing to the color purple. Cecile finds immense beauty in the color that she never knew existed. This draws a connection with religion and her faith because she discovered the color while experiencing a religious awakening.
- Foils

Sofia and Celie. Sofia is strong and independent while Celie is innocent and doesn't understand who she is yet.
- Style 

The book is made of short chapters and letters. The letters express Celie's struggles and questions and shows her evolution as a character.
- Motif

God is used to display the confessions Celie uses to write her letters. She finds comfort and freedom in writing and talking about her journey and struggles.

- Imagery 

Kate takes Celie out to buy a new dress and the colors symbolize the start of her new life. 

Characterization

1. "...Little Like sleeping with mama, only I cant hardly remember ever sleeping with her." Celie mother died at a young age and this shows her struggle remembering her and yet another struggle she doesn't understand but has to overcome. "We have built another church and school." When the community got torn down and raided, they didn't just give up, they came back and built new what was destroyed this shows the strength of the community and the people Celie is surrounded by. "Shug Avery as black as my shoe." This directly explains Shug and the complex of his skin and how it compares to the things around him to allow the character to imagine how dark this character is to add to the characteization of this character. "He real fat and tall, look like a yellow bear." This exlains the skin color of Tobias and what he physically looks like to help the reader paint a picture in thier heads of how this charcter will act and create the big picture. 

2. The diction is important in this story because it shows the education of the individuals, Celie has short choppy phrases with words out of order and this shows how little educated she is just like when Shug talks. This also shows the social class of the individuals. When Nettie talks, she is more educated and thus the reader can infer that Nettie has had some education and found some higher living than Celie.

3. Dynamic and Round because Celie was a young girl who was uneducated and had no self morality or worth and as she progressed to a women she learned hoe to be dependent on herself and not having to live with someone else. She found her mold in life and she evolved from an uneducated girl who was being brutally abused to an educated woman who made a living for herself and learned how to make herself happy.

4. I felt as if I knew Celie and the struggle she went through. the book was so detailed and explicit that when i read the parts of rape, I teared up because I could never imagine that happening to anyone let alone someone that young. I wanted to help all the people in the book and after reading it it made me think of how grateful we should be to live in a society as the one we do with working parents and college and education and a future. I wanted to show and tell Celie that everything is going to be ok and to get your head up and find that one thing to keep you going because in the end you will come out on top you just have to keep the faith.