"At adolescence, says Mary Pipher, "girls become 'female impersonators' who fit their whole selves into small, crowded spaces." Many lose spark, interest, and even IQ points as a "girl-poisoning" society forces a choice between being shunned for staying true to oneself and struggling to stay within a narrow definition of female. Pipher's alarming tales of a generation swamped by pain may be partly informed by her role as a therapist who sees troubled children and teens, but her sketch of a tougher, more menacing world for girls often hits the mark. She offers some prescriptions for changing society and helping girls resist."
The purpose of this subjective assessment is for you to bring the character of Celie, the prolific writer of letters to God in
The Color Purple, to life to this world by understanding her world. Over the course of reading
The Color Purple, you have seen the world through her eyes, as she survives sexual, physical, and verbal abuse, misogyny, among many other types of oppression. In the midst of this turmoil, Celie's only outlet had been that of her letters to God. Throughout the reading of this text, I have attempted to have you further identify with Celie through similar stories such as
Crystal's Story. Though over forty years transpire in
The Color Purple, I want you to consider whether or not there are Celies still in our contemporary world. What do they look like? What can we do about it? Is Alice Walker's portrayal still as relevant and poignant as ever? Please select one of the projects below for your subjective assessment.
Project Options (Choose One)
Project #1: Volunteerism: Local Organizations That Address Various Types Of Abuse.
Project #2: Intertextuality: The Dave Pelzer Trilogy
Project #3: Audio-Visual: Five-Minute Informative iMovie Skit On Abuse
Project #4: Four-Page Essay: A Closer Look At the Women of The Color Purple
Project #5: Concept Poetry: Five Inspirational And Candid Poems Threaded By A Common Theme
Project #6: Drama: A Five-Minute Celie Monologue
Project #7: The Color Purple on Broadway
Instructions
Select a project and click on the Project Page link for more information. Check out all of the projects and choose one that you will really enjoy. Your project work will be started in class but completed outside of class.
Supplementary Material
See The Color Purple on Broadway!
Yona Harvey's "Meditation on the Color Purple"
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws