The Color Purple Question Packet- AP Literature- Mrs. Leach Complete each question in complete sentences, providing plenty of textual evidence for each. You must use page numbers to reference where you found your information. Be aware that many numbers have more than one questions and you need to answer all!
Letters 1-5
1. Examine what is revealed in Letter 1 and the resulting tone created by the author.
2. Given what the reader learns about Celie in the novel’s opening, what might be her reason for crossing out the phrase “I am” and replacing it with “I have”?
3. Explain the irony of Celie noting that her mother is “happy, cause he good to her now” in Letter 1.
4. Analyze the subtlety with which Walker reveals the details of Celie’s pregnancies in Letters 2 and 3. Note Walker’s use of language, in particular, and the effect on the reader.
5. Account for the passage of time in the first five letters and note the key events.
6. Characterize the relationship between Celie and her mother and what is revealed about Celie’s character as a result.
7. Describe the dynamic in the relationship between Celie and Nettie. What does Celie mean when she says “try to have one good year out of your life,” and why is it ironic?
8. What is the significance of Walker’s choice in not naming the stepmother and Nettie’s boyfriend in Celie’s letters to God?
9. Contemplate the significance of the last paragraph of Letter 5.
10. What are the primary functions of these opening letters in terms of character and theme?
Letters 6-10
1. Compare and contrast Fonso’s attitude towards Celie and Nettie as seen in Letters 6–8. What is implied and explicitly stated about his attitude towards which daughter will marry Mr.____, and how is the reader’s perception of Fonso affected as a result?
2. Examine Walker’s use of language in Letters 7 and 8, in which Fonso is trying to convince Mr.____ to marry Celie instead. How does the author’s diction parallel what one might expect in the description of the slave trade?
3. We have seen, several times, that Celie is protective of Nettie. How do these letters reveal that Nettie cares about Celie? Why, though, is Nettie ultimately unable to help Celie?
4. Explore the shift in tone in Letter 6 and the cause for this shift. How is this shift subtly maintained in the subsequent letters?
5. Describe Celie’s wedding day. How is her current situation ironic?
6. Explain why Celie believes the little girl she sees at the dry goods store is her daughter, Olivia. How does Celie craftily collect information to help her determine if this child is indeed hers? Why does Walker not name the Reverend in this letter?
Letters 11-15
- What can the reader assume is the reason Nettie has come to live with Celie? Why is she then forced to leave?
2. How does Celie’s parenting style contribute to her character?
3. Explore the theme of the power of female relationships in these letters and what Celie learns from these relationships. What other major theme(s) are explored as well?
4. Why does Celie spell out God’s name in the opening to Letter 12?
5. Letter 12 introduces the motif of colors. In this particular scene, what is the symbolic significance of color?
6. What does Mr.____’s behavior in Letter 14 indicate? What subtle, though temporary, power shift occurs in this scene?
7. Explain the symbolic nature of trees in this collection of letters.
Letters 16-20
- In Letter 17, how does Celie’s description of how it feels to pat Harpo further establish the symbolic significance of trees?
2. Explain how the war analogy in Letter 17 characterizes the relationship between Harpo and Sofia.
3. Characterize Sofia. What aspects of her personality is Celie most struck by?
4. Analyze Harpo’s emotional, moral, and physical struggles as seen in these letters and explain how these struggles are tied to a major theme in the novel.
5. Given what we know of Celie as a compassionate and giving person, what logical reason might there be for Celie’s surprising advice at the end of Letter 19? What does this scene say about her character?
Letters 21-25
- Compare and contrast Celie’s and Sofia’s attitudes towards marriage, power, and spirituality as seen in Letter Explain the shift in their relationship which results from their conversation. What revelation does Celie have which alters the course of their friendship?
2. How does the theme of the cyclical nature of abuse play a significant role in Letter 21? What important information do we learn about Sofia that is somewhat surprising and has shaped who she is?
3. Explore the theme of religious hypocrisy seen in Letter 22, paying particular attention to the diction Walker uses.
4. Analyze the effect of the last paragraph of Letter 22. What role do the italics play in the shift in tone here?
5. Discuss the sharp contrast in Mr.____’s character in Letter 23 as compared with what we have seen of him so far in the novel. What is the power dynamic in his relationship with Shug? And what is significant about the fact that we learn his first name only now?
Letters 26-30
1. How does the scene in Letter 26 serve as a transition in Shug and Celie’s relationship?
2. Characterize the relationship between Albert and his father. What parallels can be seen in Albert’s relationship with his own son, Harpo?
3. In what ways are Celie and Mr.____ emerging as allies in this section of the novel and what is the primary cause?
4. Reflect on the literal and symbolic function of the quilt motif in these letters and its role in the novel so far, particularly regarding thematic development.
5. Compare and contrast Sofia and Celie’s attitudes towards marriage and sex.
6. Examine Harpo’s continued identity struggle and its effects on both him and Sofia. What does Celie try to help him understand? How is his struggle tied to the theme of gender roles?
Letters 31-35
- What subtle and overt details reveal Harpo’s true feelings about Sofia leaving in Letter 31? What is most notable in his children’s reactions? In what ways does he change after she leaves?
2. Explain the symbolic significance of Celie giving the quilt to Sofia as she leaves.
3. In what ways has the relationship between Celie and Shug evolved, and how does their connection illuminate the theme of the power of feminine relationships?
4. Examine closely the dynamic between Shug and Albert as seen in these letters. How has their relationship changed over the course of the novel? How has it remained static?
5. Explain the significance of the first and last lines of Letter 35 paying particular attention to the diction used.
Letters 36-40
1. Explore the theme of gender roles as represented in these letters.
2. Explain the ironic significance of the advice Celie gives to Squeak about her name.
3. In the scene in Letter 37 between Sofia and the mayor, what literary device does Walker use to increase the tension, and what is the overall effect? Compare and contrast this scene with the scene between Sofia and Squeak in terms of situation, intent, and consequence.
4. Analyze the irony of Sofia’s reply when Celie asks her how she is managing in prison in Letter 38.
5. Discuss the irony of Celie’s vision of the angels in Letter 39 and its relevance to an important theme in the novel.
6. What purpose does Letter 40 fulfill in the dramatic structure of the novel in terms of character, theme, and foreshadowing?
7. How do the allusion and symbol used at the end of Letter 40 contribute to thematic development?
Letters 41-45
1. Explain the significance of Shug telling Squeak, “If you can’t tell us, who you gon tell, God?”
2. Analyze the contrasting details in Squeak’s story about the warden in Letter 41 and explain what her story reveals about her character’s development.
3. Examine Harpo’s and Celie’s use of metaphor in these letters to describe Squeak and Grady. What does each metaphor reveal about the character and Harpo’s and Celie’s attitude towards each of them?
4. Discuss Sofia’s attitude towards her employer’s family and their attitude towards her. In what ways is Sofia’s current situation ironic?
5. Explain the distinction Sofia’s son makes when he insists she refer to herself as “a captive” rather than “a slave.” How does the last line of Letter 44 further encapsulate this same sentiment?
6. Explain the meaning of the last line of Letter 44 and how it conveys Sofia’s attitude towards her employer and whites in general?
7. Explore the literal and symbolic function of cars as seen in these letters.
Letters 46-50
- Compare and contrast the portrayal of Albert’s character in these letters with how he is portrayed earlier in the novel. In what ways has he changed? In what ways is he still the same?
2. Explain the dramatic function of Letter 47. How does Letter 50 serve as a parallel in terms of character development and theme?
3. Analyze the literary devices Walker uses in the first paragraph of Letter 48 and explain the overall effect.
4. Explore how the theme of feminine relationships is highlighted in these letters, particularly regarding Shug. Also, note circumstances where these relationships are destructive or potentially destructive.
5. How does the dynamic in Shug and Grady’s relationship provide a commentary on each of their characters?
6. Note the shift in Celie’s character in Letter 50 and the cause for this significant change. Explain how the author conveys this shift.
Letters 51-55
1. Explain the importance of the items found in Albert’s trunk. What does the trunk represent?
2. Explore the theme of fate versus free will in these letters and its relevance to the novel as a whole.
3. Analyze the tone of Nettie’s letters and explain how Walker establishes this tone. What portrait is the reader given of her nature?
4. Compare and contrast Nettie’s and Celie’s situations both physically and emotionally. How are their experiences tied to the theme of racism?
5. Explain how Nettie’s chance encounter with Sofia illuminates the substantial change in Sofia’s character.
6. What role do both spirituality and racism play in these letters? In what ways can Africa be seen as a symbol of both?
Letters 56-60
1. In what way does Letter 56 parallel Letter 39 in terms of allusions to the Bible? In what key way do the two letters differ, however?
2. Compare Nettie’s experiences with blacks and whites in New York City with respect to the theme of racism.
3. Discuss Samuel’s character and Nettie’s attitude towards him as seen in these letters.
4. Explain how the author conveys Nettie’s ambivalent attitude toward both the English and the people of Africa in Letter 57.
5. Analyze the central irony created by Nettie’s description of Monrovia in Letter 58.
6. What is the symbolic significance of pants in Letter 60?
7. At the end of Letter 60, Celie thinks,“A needle and not a razor in my hand.” Interpretthe meaning of this thought.
Letters 61-65
1. Explain Celie’s complicated feelings towards her children.
2. Compare and contrast the relationships of the Olinka women with those of Celie, Nettie, Sofia, and Shug. How do the women interact with one another? How do the men interact with the women?
3. Analyze the significance of Nettie’s comment, “But I am not the mother of anybody’s children … and I am something,” and explain how it relates to the theme of gender roles in these letters.
4. How does the road in Letters 64 and 65 function as a symbol?
Letters 66-70
1. Explain the key plot points revealed in these letters regarding Nettie’s and Celie’s familial relationships.
2. What purpose in the dramatic structure of the novel does Letter 68 fulfill, and how?
3. What do Corrine’s actions and reactions reveal about her character?
4. In what sense is Fonso’s behavior in Letter 69 consistent with what we already know about him? In contrast, what is somewhat surprising?
5. Describing Fonso’s house and its surroundings in Letter 69 Celie says, “It wasn’t this pretty.” Is her statement accurate? Why or why not?
Letters 71-75
1. What function or functions does the quilt motif serve in these letters?
2. Cite a minimum of two astute observations Nettie makes about human nature and evaluate their relevance to the novel as a whole.
3. Analyze Shug’s views on God and religion and explain the impression they make on Celie. Ultimately, how does Letter 73 highlight the significance of the novel’s title?
4. When Shug says, “Man corrupt everything” at the end of Letter 73, she is most likely referring to what when she says “man”?
5. Explain how these letters contribute to the theme of freedom and independence.
6. Analyze Celie’s attitude towards Mr.____ and the ways in which she expresses that attitude.
Letters 76-80
1. In what ways does Celie’s arrival in Memphis parallel Nettie’s arrival in Africa? Whatother similarities between their lives can be seen in these letters?
2. How has the relationship between Shug and Celie evolved, and how does this evolution reflect changes in both women’s characters?
3. How does each pair of pants Celie makes reflect both Celie and the person for whom she is sewing them?
4. Discuss the overall tone of these letters from the perspective of both Celie and Nettie.
5. When Celie and Shug are reading the human interest portion of the newspaper together, Shug says, “All these faces look happy enough … Eyes clear and innocent, like they don’t know them other crooks on the front page. But they the same folks.” What implicit judgment is Shug making about human nature? What in her own life has led Shug to this kind of assessment?
6. Examine how these letters further elaborate on the theme of gender role stereotypes.
7. To what extent has Celie’s curse on Albert in Letter 75 come true and how has he changed as a result? What is most significant about the process of his recovery and his present attitude towards Celie?
8. Explain the literal and symbolic function of the roofleaf in Letter 80 and to what theme this symbol is tied.
9. Compare and contrast Doris Baines with other European women of her class and with other missionaries.
10. Note an example of religious hypocrisy in Letter 80.
11. Contrast Nettie’s and Samuel’s current attitudes towards their work with the Olinka people in Africa.
Letters 81-85
1. Explain the significance of the Olinka’s facial scarring practice and its tie to the theme of racism. What are the effects of Tashi’s decision on her and on Adam?
2. Cite examples of irony from these letters.
3. In what ways does Letter 83 paralel Letter 50 in terms of tone, character, and theauthor’s use of literary devices?
4. Cite another example of a parallel between the Olinka in Africa and the blacks in
America in Letter 84.
5. How does Albert’s shell collection symbolically represent the changes in his character?
6. What does the series of questions Albert asks Celie in Letter 84 indicate about how his
character has developed?
Letters 86-90
1. Who are the mbeles and why have Tashi and her mother run away to join them? In what
way do the mbeles exemplify the theme of racism?
2. Compare Nettie’s and Albert’s spiritual revelations with Celie’s own journey.
3. What are Nettie’s primary concerns in moving Olivia and Adam to America? How are Tashi’s concerns similar?
4. In what ways does Shug bind Celie and Albert together inextricably? How does she help to heal their relationship?
5. How do these letters further elaborate on the theme of the power of female relationships?
6. Contrast Celie’s attitude towards herself in Letter 87 as compared with how she felt in Memphis.
7. Explain the significance of the following lines in Letter 87: “… but both of us hear the way the iron sound when Sofia put it down. The sound have a lot of old and new stuff in it.” What theme do these lines help develop?
8. Why do the Olinka believe that “white people is black people’s children” and how is their assumption tied to the theme of the cyclical nature of oppression and prejudice?
9. Explain the surprising shifts in gender roles in this last section of the novel and the effects on the characters involved.
10. Discuss how the following characters can be considered dynamic: Albert, Harpo, and Sofia.
11. In Letter 89, Celie says, “And then I figure this the lesson I was suppose to learn.” How does this statement reflect a fundamental shift in Celie’s character?
12. Explain the significance of the colors and the frog in Celie’s new room.
13. How does Celie’s salutation in Letter 90 illustrate the result of her spiritual journey?