10/18/2012 American Lit Notes In-Class Assignment/Announcements Write an exam styled answer regarding the community or characterization of a character

er in Sula For exam, 5 automatically off if you do not bring a blue book

Sula and Ajax Their relationship is the one and only time she admits to love someone Sula wasnt like everyone else o This is important because she can see how easy it can happen o The green ribbon signals it P.131 Sula began to discover what possession was o It can be a commitment or an enslavement o She realizes shes having sex with someone who she doesnt even know o It was a faade o Process of a relationship: In love>who you are>a change> upheaval o Sula tries to change the terms of the relationship and Ajax responds by leaving

Purpose for Sula P.118 Invocation of the divine trinity o All happens for a divine reason o The existence of Sula and what she stands for tells the community (The Bottom) what they are and what theyre not o Epigraph- they dont what that in no ones heart This elevates Sula to the divine level o The community has a consensus about wat Sula is

Shadrack, Sula & National Suicide Day (NSD) Shadrack instituted NSD because he is afraid of the unexpectedness of death With this day it places order within his and others lives where all death is scheduled to happen on one day. Shadrack suffers from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Distorder) as a black man from a poor community fighting in a war that has nothing to do with him. This signifies his loss of innocence like in Moths How do you go back to your regular life after seeing someones head blown off and their body continuing to walk? The Monstrous hands like bull hands of the girl in Moths symbolizes the horrible things he has done particularly in the War (WWI). NSD is Shadracks coping mechanism because no one else can relate to his experience in war.

The Pursuit of Order Prof. Perez says imagine life with unbelievable hardship- life in the Bottom o Imagine economic, racial, and community discord o You need some type of catharsis o The community demonizing Sula helps with this order o NSD also calls members of the community to assess their situation and if they cannot cope they can go ahead and choose death on this designated day o The last time Shadrack goes out to conduct NSD the people of the community are finally riled up enough to participate and the die but they die in an act of agency

Shadrack & Sula They have a connection because they both have seen death. Shadrack saw it in the war Sula saw it in Chicken Little and her mothers death The belt that sula wore that shadrack kept also shows this connection

The End How do you know you was the good one Sula Nel wanted out of the bottom but it was Sula that got out Sula and Nel were indistinguishable, two halves of the same person Nel doesnt mourn Jude or even Sula but the sisterhood they shared.

Chicken Little incident Jude p.168 Tell me how you killed that little boy to Never was not difference between you and her Sula and Nel have always been the same person and they switched places so easily Sula loves orderliness of Nels house & Nel likes Sulas house Nel gives up this me-ness to marry Jude Sula leaves as a response Sula sleeps with him to free Nel (from what I dont know but this is her motivation) but in the end Nel still passes judgement on her. When Nel gets married, Sula cant watch and she leaves When the incident happened it was inexplicable Events of the novel attempt to explain why it happened

p.169 Chicken little to over her enjoyment Sula cried but Nel remained calm Sula feels but Nel observes When they speak it is hard to distinguish who says what; ther is no Nel said or Sula said in the text Chicken littles death showed the separateness between them but also fortified the bond between them Sula watches not sees Hannah burn and Nel watches chicken littles death o Curiosity and panic Eva couldnt watch Plum die o Although eva killed plum purposefully o She did it because he was killin himself with his heroin addiction which was his coping mechanism for what he saw in WWII. o Eva ends his pain in her mind

Childhood it is a privilege Shadrack had a meaningful connection with other people. He is probably the one who told Eva about what happened at the water w/ chicken little Rochelle & Sula A woman who is self-possesed of ther body is either a whore or a whore according to the community. Whether you charge for sex or not you are still a whore if you claim ownership of your body ( I didnt understand this)

Community It falls apart when Sula dies Sula was still a part of the community.

Assignment Discussion Whenever answering a question you can make an assertion but you also need proof Perez stresses to be specific She suggest you pick trhe aspects of community according to the definition she gave and give an assertion and proof for each. She will upload the powerpoints of all definitions to blackboard soon.

Key Terms from this Unit Community-Pick one for each work and describe it per the community definition Realism- Can we talk about Sula as realism? Rhetoric- Washington and Dubois are relevant for this o Decorum- deals with effectiveness. Who is more effective Washington or Dubois? Characterization For Exam there are 10 IDs but choos 6.