Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple' / Hogan's 'Mean Spirit' / Selfhood. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page paper comparing Alice Walker's The Color Purple to Linda Hogan's Mean Spirit. The paper focuses on the two protagonists, Walker's Celie and Hogan's Belle, and observes that Celie is the more fully realized character because the book is centered on her quest for selfhood; Belle is just a symbol for the Indian race. Bibliography lists one source.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Walkerh.doc
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
nations history that our white culture has attempted to justify, whitewash, or (in most cases) ignore altogether. And both feature strong female protagonists who easily earn the support and admiration
of the most hard-hearted reader. However, the similarities end there, and for a very good reason. The reader closes Walkers book uplifted and inspired. Celie has suffered through so many
terrible experiences in her life -- some of which she can barely articulate, because Walker leaves it to us, the reader, to feel the full horror of how terrible they
are -- and yet she finds support in Shug and Nettie, and she finds her center in herself. We admire her so tremendously, and best of all, she makes us
feel that we can go out and do that too. We can overcome. In Hogans novel, on the other hand, nobody wins. Hogan does an excellent job of creating a
community of people for whom we can truly care. She gives us in Belle Graycloud a true role model -- someone we respect from the very start -- but she
does not let Belle decisively win. Belles foster-child Nola names her baby Moses as a symbol of the Indians departure from Watona in search of a Promised Land, but they
are still fleeing nonetheless. From the moment Grace Blanket is murdered until the closing pages of the book, the Indians seem to be victims. Is their situation tragic? Absolutely.
But as much as we would like to say we identify with victims because we understand their victimization, as readers we dont really want to identify with them because it
makes us feel powerless too. Surely, however, Hogan must have had a reason for writing her book this way. What was it, and how does it differ from the
...