Bailey Allman

Dr. Brown
EDU 354 Methods
14 October, 2014

Multi-genre Project: Genre 1
Prejudice: Exploring Suffering through Humanity

There is no question that in todays classroom regardless of geographic location, there
will be diversity among students. This diversity could take the form of racial, sexual, religious,
economic etc. For this reason it is important as a teacher to facilitate inclusive discussion around
the many forms of prejudice and inequity. As an English teacher there are many works of
literature that allow this discussion to take place, and The Color Purple is a particularly great
one. The Color Purple by Alice Walker, was written in 1982 and has won numerous awards
including the Pulitzer Prize and The National Book Award. This novel is an excellent resource
to use in an upper level high school classroom to teach about racial injustice, as a response to
many forms of prejudice and to facilitate self-reflection among students. In an article by Sharon
Bernstein, she describes the importance of facilitating conversation in a classroom especially as a
way to break down gender hierarchies that are implicitly there. She says after observing a high
school classroom studying The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison a novel similar in content and
themes to The Color Purple
Ultimately the students created a discourse about sexuality in which female sexuality
remained an object of disgust and disdain and male sexuality was expressed in a context
of racial oppression of black men by white men. Even in the feminist classroom young
people thus constructed race and gender relations that reproduced the status quo.
1


1
Feminist Intentions: Race, Gender and Power in a High School Classroom
Sharon Bernstein
NWSA Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Summer, 1995), pp. 18-34

Because there is still this divide in the classroom between the voices of male students and female
students, coming of age and self-acceptance novels are incredibly important. By the end of The
Color Purple students learn that the most important lesson to take away from this book is that
intense prejudices have a way of bringing people together instead of tearing them apart.
The Color Purple takes place in rural Georgia during the early 1900s. The novel spans
the course of the protagonist Celies life, from pre-teens (age 14) through adulthood. She is
confronted with many forms of prejudices; racial, sexual etc. but finds peace at the end through
her empowering relationships with others. Celie forms bonds with other impoverished black
women, and together they fight oppression and find comfort in each others companionship. This
novel is written through a series of letters either addressed to God or Celies sister Nettie which
allows the audience to witness the emotional connection between the two women and Celies
developmental journey throughout the text. Celies sister Nettie is working as a missionary in
West Africa and encounters her own forms of racism directly connected to those that her sister is
experiencing in Georgia. Because of the time period in which this novel is set, Celie as a poor,
powerless black woman, in particular encounters a lot of direct male oppression- a sign
throughout the novel that male dominance knows no race. Interestingly the plot shifts towards
the end of the novel from an emphasis on the oppression of female characters to the male
characters struggles with their own masculinity. This allows for thoughtful classroom discussion
about mens struggles in the novel in comparison to the womens- therefore the boys reading The
Color Purple in a classroom wont necessarily feel like they are reading a novel strictly for
women. At the end of the novel Celie makes a living as a tailor with her area of expertise being
her well-crafted pants. So much of the prejudice Celie suffers throughout the novel is sexual in
nature, so this image of her creating pants is incredibly empowering. While there is blatant
abuse and assault towards women in The Color Purple, this shift at the end makes it more
teachable. The end conclusion of the novel is that prejudice and suffering bring a group of
people encountering the same form of oppression closer together, and in turn stronger and more
self-aware.
A text as rich in themes as The Color Purple, lends itself to many connecting texts. As far
as those in the typical canon, four that best connect with The Color Purple are; Things Fall
Apart, Chinua Achebe, Beloved, Toni Morrison, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, and Cry the
Beloved Country, Alan Paton. Most of these books are on most high school reading lists- To Kill
a Mockingbird and Cry the Beloved Country in the earlier grades and Things Fall Apart and
Beloved in the upper grades. All of these novels address forms of prejudice that most students
have encountered in a history class and are pretty generic for most high schools to teach. A
modern novel particularly well-suited to be paired with The Color Purple is Kindred by Octavia
Butler. In this novel the protagonist Dana is a young aspiring writer who is magically
transported from her modern day home in California to a pre-civil war plantation. She there
suffers alongside her ancestors and fights against the oppressive white American slave owners.
This text would be especially valuable in a high school classroom because it is easy for a modern
audience to connect with. Dana reacts to racism as a modern reader would-completely shocked
and horrified. The Color Purple is set in the early 1900s and a teacher runs the risk of losing
interest in her students because they dont feel the text is applicable today. Teaching Kindred or
at least excerpts helps students better understand historical prejudices and how they have either
improved or stayed the same. The poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou is another relatable text,
discussing an African-American woman overcoming adversity and challenging social
stereotypes of women and people of color. The speaker encounters some of the same struggles as
the protagonist Celie in a modern setting. Finally, the poem Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy is a
tragic representation of what happens to young girls if they are heavily influenced by the harsh
realities of societal expectations.
She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs. (7-11)
This modern poem exemplifies beautifully the dangers of conformity and subservience to those
in oppressive power. As with the last three connected texts, modern examples help students
understand that issues of racism, sexism, and prejudice in general have yet to disappear.
As with any thematically difficult work of literature, a teacher needs to be able to assess
their students level of comprehension in more than just pop quizzes and end of unit tests.
Luckily, a text like The Color Purple which emphasizes the importance of personal expression
and self-reflection, lends itself to many different types of assessment. A great project for this
novel would be this: midway through The Color Purple, the students should begin to feel
comfortable with the style of writing and content present in Celie and Netties letters. At this
point, students should begin to write their own series of letters to form a book. The prompts for
these letters will be assigned by the teacher and cover a broad range of topics that weave together
to encapsulate the theme of prejudice. In each letter the students will write from the perspective
of a character from the book and should respond in a way that would mirror this characters
behavior. In an article published by Ted Lardner in The English Journal he describes the
importance of incorporating various forms of writing into your classroom, especially letter
writing. He says These kinds of languages-poetry and letters-afford a break from the
everydayness of typical textbook English.
2
The students will have to engage with the text and
their level of comprehension will be obvious through their writing. There would be a total of 10
letters. This type of project would fall under the category of formative assessment. There also
needs to be at the end of the unit some form of summative assessment. The following project
builds on the procedure of the formative assessment, which helps give meaning to the letters the
students wrote previously. For this assignment students will choose their favorite letter from their
letter book and exchange with a classmate. Each student will respond to the letter they received
in a thoughtful and respectful way. This assignment makes the text more interactive and
encourages classroom participation and pride in students work.
However, some of the rich themes in this novel are exactly what makes The Color
Purple a difficult book to teach. The language is especially controversial, use of slang is
prevalent, and explicitly described sex scenes would make it hard to teach in a classroom below
grade eleven. After close analysis of the text, one can conclude that it can be done, and very
successfully if the teacher approaches the text with these concerns in mind. Constance M. Perry
says in regard to the specifically sexual language written by Celie:
Celies account is an accurate verbal evocation of her oppression and the horrors she
endures. Later, when Celie uses the same language to describe her sexual experiences
with Shug, the students should be prepared to read her vocabulary as a realistic aspect of
characterization.
3


2
Research and Practice: Voices Seldom Heard: Poetry and Letters in a High-School English Classroom
Ted Lardner
The English Journal, Vol. 79, No. 5 (Sep., 1990), pp. 100-101

3
Teaching a Controversial Novel to a Conservative Classroom: The Color Purple
Constance M. Perry
Feminist Teacher, Vol. 2, No. 3 (1986), pp. 25-3
Nonetheless, the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to teaching The Color Purple.
It is a strong text that brings to the surface many situations and themes that high schoolers are
usually not comfortable talking about. It allows for discussion about combatting issues such as
racism and sexism- and showing through connecting texts that these issues still impact our
society today. Most importantly, if done maturely and sensitively, it can create a strong and
respectful community in a classroom.

































References:
Feminist Intentions: Race, Gender and Power in a High School Classroom
Sharon Bernstein
NWSA Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Summer, 1995), pp. 18-34

Teaching a Controversial Novel to a Conservative Classroom: The Color Purple
Constance M. Perry
Feminist Teacher, Vol. 2, No. 3 (1986), pp. 25-30

Why Doesnt This Feel Empowering
Elizabeth Ellsworth
Harvard Educational Review Vol. 59, No.3 August, 1989

Research and Practice: Voices Seldom Heard: Poetry and Letters in a High-School English
Classroom
Ted Lardner
The English Journal, Vol. 79, No. 5 (Sep., 1990), pp. 100-101