Beloved Major Works Data Sheet - SCHOOLinSITES



Beloved Major Works Data Sheet Due: _______________________________

1. Remember what worked last time you completed a MWDS and what created problems. Think about what you did well and what you needed to work on in order to get the maximum amount of points possible.

2. The completed MWDS is due on ____________________________________________.

3. Since we have done Double Entry Journals for the novel, this MWDS will be a bit different than the one you did for Heart of Darkness. Please follow instructions closely. You must still turn in only 4 pages. More than four pages will result in the loss of 20 points.

4. Page 1—Beloved by Toni Morrison was published in 1987 and is a contemporary novel.

5. Page 1—Characteristics of the genre: (type this exactly as here): As a contemporary novel, Beloved also resembles the ghost story, a mystery, and a work of historical fiction. Morrison’s novel is steeped in popular black culture, its music and folklore. Her novels juxtapose and combine joy and pain, laughter and tears, and love and death. These same combinations are the essence of blues, jazz, and spirituals. The tradition of black female writers is also a strong factor—Phyllis Wheatley and Lucy Terry (1st published black females in America who were also slaves), Zora Neale Hurston (Harlem Renaissance) and Maya Angelou and Alice Walker (Women’s Rights Movement and Black Rights Movement). She relies heavily on both oral tradition, and the slave narrative. Writing in the 20th century, Toni Morrison’s purpose is still a corrective one: the history of slavery must not be forgotten. Her purpose is to ‘fill in the blanks that the traditional slave narrative left.’

6. Page 1—In the biographical information about the author block answer the following questions in paragraph form:

a. What is her full name?

b. When and where was she born?

c. Who were her parents and what kind of people were they?

d. Tell some facts about her education?

e. Who was her husband, how many children does she have, and is she married today?

f. Name other works by her.

g. When did she win the Nobel Prize for Literature?

h. Where has she taught?

i. Where is she today?

7. Page 1—Identify briefly the following in the Historical Significance block:

a. Invention of the cotton gin in 1793

b. Margaret Garner

c. Fugitive Slave Law (1850)

d. Supreme Court Decision of 1857 (Dred Scott Case)

e. Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

f. Thirteenth Amendment (1865)

g. Ku Klux Klan (1866)

h. Reconstruction

8. Page 1—Write a good summary of the novel in the Plot Summary block. I would write it chronologically and not as it is revealed in the book—I think that will be too confusing for you. Even though the novel is divided into 3 parts, I would not do that in your plot summary—just tell the major events—as many as you can fit into the space that remains.

9. Page 2—Describe the author’s style: (Type the following): Morrison uses the present tense throughout Beloved, although the narrative spans a period of some fifty years. Moreover, the readers are often denied vital knowledge. The shifting voice of the narrator, which flits in and out of different characters’ thoughts, conveys a similar process of defamiliarisation for the reader. In Section Two there are four sections that represent the interior monologues of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved. The language in these sections is highly repetitive and circular. This style is called stream of consciousness. She plays with repetition, a musical device, repeating memories and images. She uses numerous metaphors that are self-reflexive, referring to a context and experiences already established by the novel. (You do not need to include an example to demonstrate this style—just type this at the top of the page in a separate box.)

10. Page 2—what you would have used as “Memorable Quotes”—divide the rest of page 2 into 6 boxes—3 in each column. Using the six (6) recurring images listed below do the following: cite between 5 and 7 specific references to that imagery in the book. For example: Morrison uses the imagery of eating and hunger throughout the book: (1) the neighbors disapprove of the excess of food when Baby Suggs has the feast, (2) the neighbors did not eat Sethe’s food at Baby Suggs’ funeral, (3) Denver’s need to eat is what causes her to seek help in the community, (4) Sethe plans a meal at the prospect of sharing a new life with Paul D, (5) when Sethe runs away from Sweet Home, she fears she will meet another white man with ‘mossy teeth, an appetite,’ (6) eating is associated with rape where Paul D describes the morning ritual in the prison camp, (7) Denver’s loneliness before Beloved is compared to a hunger (8) Beloved has an incredible hunger for sweets, etc.

a. The Dehumanization of Slaves (comparing them to animals or other nonhuman entities)

b. Naming (the use of names, changing names, etc.)

c. The Mother Figure

d. Community and Family

e. The Burden of the Past

f. Water (or other liquids—milk and blood)

11. Page 3—Characters—use the following 15 characters for page 3. Since there are so many important characters, do not include the adjectives column this time—just do—name, role in story, and significance for the following characters:

Sethe

Beloved

Denver

Paul D

Baby Suggs

Stamp Paid

Ella

Lady Jones

Mr. Garner

Mrs. Garner

Schoolteacher

the Bodwins

Halle

Sixo

Amy Denver

12. Page 4—do not include significance of the opening and closing scenes this time. Instead I want you to have five sections on Page 4: Setting, Symbols, Explanation of Biblical Allusions, Old AP Questions, and Themes. You may organize how you wish as long as you include all 5 of these topics and only these topics on page 4.

13. Setting: (type this:) Beloved is set during an appalling period in America’s history: the years before, during, and immediately after the Civil War. After the Civil War ended, life was still dreadful for black people, whether slaves or freed. While the action of the novel covers only a brief time, by use of flashback approximately 50 years is covered. Although other places are mentioned, the two major settings are Sweet Home in Kentucky and 124 Bluestone Road outside Cincinnati, Ohio.

14. Symbols: Chose five concrete objects from Beloved that we have discussed as symbols and explain their symbolism. Do not choose people.

15. Old AP Questions: Beloved has been listed on Question #3 the following years: 1990, 1999, 2001, 2002(B), and 2003.

16. Explanation of Biblical Allusions: Identify four Biblical allusions that Morrison uses in Beloved and explain when she uses them and their significance. (Identify the page numbers.)

17. Themes: Write four themes for the novel Beloved. I strongly suggest that you begin with these in your discussion.

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