Hey Scholars!
This is the place to put your first reflection on Sula. Post your entries as comments to this post. I look forward to reading your thoughts!
Always,
Mrs. Idica
Here are 3 samples from last year, so you have an idea of what to do.
SAMPLE 1
In the first few pages of Sula, Toni Morrison describes the town of Medallion. I liked the creative point of view. Morrison starts from the future and dives into the past first describing how the town is being demolished and then describing how the town was in the past. I enjoyed the insightful point of view Morrison provides.
The concept with the top of the hills being called the Bottom because when God looks down at Medallion, the top is on the bottom was one of those things that make you think and wonder why you haven’t though of that. It made me compare Medallion to society because no matter what status a Negro is in, he is always looked down upon as being on the “bottom.”
Overall the first few pages of Morisson’s Sula gave me an enjoyable beginning for a novel that seems to be quite witty and insightful. It provided me with a sense of excitement that told me to get ready for another “Native Son/No No Boy” type of read that deals with struggle and triumph and all that junk.
SAMPLE 2
I have to admit that I didn’t really understand the first page. But I did understand that later on there was a flashback. So, the beginning starts off later in the story.
I understood the part about how the black slave was tricked into getting the “bottom” land. I thought that the white slave owner was really cruel by deceiving the slave. However, I wondered why the black slave didn’t know about how hilly land is not ideal for growing crops. I guess I just assumed that he would have known, but he didn’t.
I liked the statement about how the black people of the town could look down on the white people. I think they were grateful at least for that small benefit. I think this could suggest that the blacks are better people (kinder, etc.). However, I don’t want to speculate that Morrison is stereotyping. I’m not so sure about this, but maybe after reading the story I will understand what it actually means.
I thought the last paragraph of the prologue was interesting. In a way, it sums up what will happen in the story. It stated that the town was preoccupied thinking about Shadrack and Sula. It grabbed my attention and made me want to keep reading. It felt a bit like gossip. Honestly, I think people like to hear about what’s happening in other people’s lives. That’s why some people are obsessed with celebrities, etc.
If anything, please add on to what I wrote in the third paragraph. I want to know what everyone else thinks about that statement.
I hope I posted in the right place!
SAMPLE 3
Racial discrimination is not an unknown topic to the average high school student that has been exposed to some sort of history course. But, when it is put into the context of literature and elaborated with various literary elements, the whole experience is redefined. The irony of the story causes discomfort. It depicts the cruelty of the white man right from the start because of their little "joke" that they played on the black people. They were very clever in relating the town as "the bottom of heaven---best land there is", but also really knowing that it was truly just "the Bottom", representing the inferiority of the blacks.
I enjoyed how descriptive just this prologue was as it described the hidden pain of the blacks living in this town. It also showed their strength as they had to tend to the agriculture with triple the intensity of the white men in the valley, yet they were still able to dance around and relieve some of their stress. They were able to keep up a happy front in order to deceive any visiting white man into thinking "maybe it was the bottom of heaven."
I didn't really like that last paragraph of the prologue for some reason. I did sound like a form of gossip. Actually, it sounded more like this sketch from the Canadian comedy troop Kids in the Hall. Since they made a parody of some sort of scene that sounded just like that last paragraph, I think I am scarred for life and will never be able to take something like that seriously. But other than that, the whole prologue was greatly put together with the effects of starting from the end, and the use of irony. And honestly, I'm writing this after I've read most of the required chapters, and those chapters are highly descriptive and I found it really hard to put the book down so I could get some sleep.
