Beloved
Essay Test - 1
Choose one of the following essay prompts. Write a four to six page paper in which you use MLA citation, have three direct quotes, three paraphrases, and a strong introduction paragraph.
How does Beloved help Denver gain an independent identity?
The novel is packed with supernatural events. For example, Baby Suggs has premonitions, Stamp Paid hears voices, and Beloved seems to be some sort of ghost. How do supernatural phenomena refute schoolteacher’s “scientific” approach to the world? The text suggests more than once that Beloved may be an ordinary woman recently escaped from years of captivity. Why might the book make this move to “explain” the supernatural? Significantly, Lady Jones, another, though kindly, “schoolteacher” also refutes supernatural explanations. She is skeptical of Denver’s story about Beloved and considers the town ignorant for believing it. What effect does this have on the reader’s own interpretation of the seemingly magical events in Beloved?
The novel is narrated from the perspectives of former slaves and their families. At different points we get Sethe’s, Paul D’s, Stamp Paid’s, Baby Suggs’s, Beloved’s, Lady Jones’s, and Ella’s varying points of view. Yet the climax of the novel—Sethe’s act of infanticide—is depicted according to schoolteacher’s point of view. Why does Morrison choose to disclose the circumstances of Sethe’s tragedy as they appeared to schoolteacher? How does this influence the reader’s reaction to the story?
What does Morrison mean by "rememory," and how does Beloved fit into this idea? Is she a rememory or something that appears apart from memory, apart from an experience of this world?
Sethe has very mixed (re)memories of Sweet Home. The place that provided the reason for her to kill her daughter also "rolled itself out before her in shameless beauty." Garner, the creator of Sweet Home, tried to treat his slaves like people, allowing them choices and listening to them. Ultimately, is Sweet Home’s legacy beneficial for or detrimental to Sethe? Consider both the positive and negative effects.
Argue that in Beloved Morrison neither idealizes black people nor condemns white people. Analyzing two black characters and two white characters, demonstrate that the author honors human beings of both races with an irreducible range of emotion and morality. The paper should indicate what you consider to be Morrison’s overarching view of human nature.
Beloved is not an easy character to interpret because she is mutifaceted, both on the literal and symbolic levels. Examine at least two of her facets, perhaps contradictory ones, to demonstrate Morrison’s intended functions for her title character. You may want to look at Beloved’s relationships with Sethe, Denver, and Paul D.
Think about the novel’s complex structure. Why does Morrison choose this particular way of telling Sethe's story? What does the way the story is told suggest about Morrison's view of the human mind and its workings?
Reflect on the detailed attention that Morrison gives to experiences that will certainly claim your attention (and will probably shock and disturb you): Paul D. on the chain gang, locked in the box; Paul's experience of the bit; the milking of Sethe; School Teacher's recording of the slaves' animal characteristics; Sixo's death. What is the effect of those experiences, on those who live them and on us as readers?