Tag Archives: Beloved

Homework, Week 9

Beloved

Leave a comment

The passage I choose to reflect on is found in chapter one when Sethe first reunited with Paul D.

“I got a tree on my back and a haint in my house, and nothing in between but the daughter I am holding in my arms. No more running from nothing.  I will never run from another thing on earth.  I took one journey and I paid the ticket, but let me tell you something, Paul D Garner: It cost too much! Do you hear me?  It cost too much.  Now sit down and eat with us or leave us be.”

In this passage Sethe’s grief about her troubled life was on display to Paul D and her daughter Denver after Paul D suggested she move from the house at 124.   The tree on her back was the pattern of scars from whipping  she received while living as a slave at Sweet Home.   She was powerless in her home because the baby ghost who haunted her house could at any given time cause supernatural things to occur.  She said, “this haint my house,” in this manner to indicate the absurdity of the situation.  Between the sorrow of what was happening in her home and caring for her daughter Denver she had nothing else in between to look forward to.   Because she had a very bad experience when she ran away to be with her children, she was prepared to stay and face her problems rather than revisit the horrors she had endured when she first ran away.  She felt when she ran away the cost was too much, not in terms of money but in terms of the emotional and psychological problems that she encountered that was vividly imprinted in her memory.  Repeatedly telling Paul D, “it cost too much,” indicate that her statement has deeper meaning than money.  She gave him the ultimatum to sit down and eat or leave because she felt that she was the one who was  living in that terrible situation and was capable of knowing when to leave.

 

0
Homework, Week 9

A Better Understanding of “Beloved”

Leave a comment

The passage I want to get a better understanding is in Page 19-20. It states, “I had milk,” she said. “I was pregnant with Denver but I had milk for my baby girl. I hadn’t stopped nursing her when I sent her on ahead with Howard and Buglar
” “All I knew was I had to get my milk to my baby girl. Nobody was going to nurse her like me. Nobody was going to get it to her fast enough, or take it away when she had enough and didn’t know it. Nobody knew that she couldn’t pass her air if you held her up on your shoulder, only if she was lying on my knees. Nobody knew that but me and nobody had her milk but me. I told that to the women in the wagon. Told them to put sugar water in cloth to suck from so when I got there in a few days she wouldn’t have forgot me. The milk would be there and I would be there with it.” “Men don’t know nothing much,” said Paul D, tucking his pouch back into his vest pocket, “but they do know a suckling can’t be away from its mother for long.” “Then they know what it’s like to send your children off when your breast are full.” “We was talking ‘bout a tree, Sethe.” “After I left you, those boys came in there and took my milk. That’s what they came in there for. Held me down and took it. I told Mrs. Garner on em. She had that lump and couldn’t speak but her eyes rolled out tears. Them boys found out I told on em. Schoolteacher made one open up my back and when it closed it made a tree. It grows there still.” “They used cowhide on you?” “And they took my milk.” “They beat you and you was pregnant?” “And they took my milk!”

I believe this passage is stating that Sethe was pregnant with Denver at the plantation, Sweet Home, but as a slave the children that she bore did not belong to her. Earlier in the text, it states that her other children, Howard and Buglar, were taken away, so I believe the plantation owners did not want Sethe to wean her child less there be any mother and child bond. The children that Sethe bore was just another piece of property to Sweet Home owners that can be used in the fields of that plantation. Therefore, the plantation owners stole Sethe’s milk, so that she did not get attached to her child.   Furthermore, in the process of stealing Sethe’s milk, the plantation owners “open up her back” or broke the skin of her back by whipping her with cowhide. With the whippings that she received, her wounds eventually gave a scar that looked like a tree.

This scene was a reality to many blacks during the times of slavery in America (1600-1800’s). Slaves that had masters (plantation owners) were physically and emotionally branded and debased by the whippings of their owner. Also, if you look at a picture of a slave’s back after they got whipped, the scars looks liked a tree growing on their back. This scene also reminds me of the film, Glory. In, Glory, Private Trip, Denzel Washington, is accused of deserting his company, so, his superior officer, who is white, flogs him. In that scene, when you look at Private Trips back you can see the “tree” or scars from the many whippings he has endured as a slave. Furthermore, in Glory, the setting of the story is in the late 1800’s during the time of the civil war. So, maybe Beloved was also in that time period or earlier than the civil war.

0
Homework, Homework Instructions, Week 9

Close readings of Beloved through p. 100

Leave a comment

We’ve started an interesting discussion about setting, characterization, narration, and plot in Beloved. I’ve set up a poll (see the sidebar) to see globally what you’re thinking about the novel. To take our thoughts into the text and focus more carefully on it for this week’s homework, choose a passage that stands out to you, one that you want to spend more time thinking about. Write a post that includes the following:

  • the passage, for all of us to read (you probably want to choose something about a paragraph long so you have enough material to focus on, but it might instead be a section of dialog or a piece of a longer paragraph)
  • what you understand the passage is saying. This is a chance for you to say what the passage says, but in your own words. You might decipher any difficult or figurative language, or clarify any references to previous plot points. This is like a translation of the passage into language we will all understand clearly.
  • what  you think it means: this is where you analyze the language and ideas in the paragraph. What is significant about it, and why? This is where you can look closely at particular words or images and analyze their meaning.

Posts should be approximately 350-450 of your own words in addition to the passage.

Choose the category Homework and subcategory Week 9, and the tag Beloved, plus any additional tags you want to add or create.

Finally, please read your classmates’ posts and click the thumbs-up if this is a passage you want us to discuss further.

0
Homework, Week 8
Leave a comment

in reading a bit of the chapter one of beloved, it feels like a person was living in a memory and the history of slavery and  someone is trapped in their past life living with a sense of fear. as you read in chapter 1 she assumes that there is a ghost in the house wish you lived in Ohio. the death of her daughter and her experience in sweet home was very sad I would think. as reading it feels like she still was living in her past which is slavery. she has been free for a very long time but still has the memories of slavery. That’s just my opinion. also I am predicting that this person it’s going to be trapped freedom because she still living in the past.

0
Discussion

Beginning Beloved

25 Comments

With the midterm behind us, we can begin looking forward to Spring Break. In the intervening week before Spring Break, we will begin reading and discussing Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel,  Beloved. Remember to get your copy: ISBN 978-1400033416. The City Tech bookstore still has copies, or you can find it in any bookstore. Look online if you want a used copy–you should be able to find one for only a few dollars. We have several weeks devoted to our discussion of Morrison’s acclaimed novel, and we’ll use the time to consider how our study of fiction can apply to a longer text, how we can bring research into our examination of the novel, and can even consider film within our study of narratives–all really exciting opportunities.

By next Wednesday, April 1, please read through page 100. If you want to get started before you have a copy of the book, you might start reading here, but I expect you to have a copy of the book that you can mark up in class. In case you start there, our reading for the week ends approximately halfway through Part 1 with the words “‘That’s pretty, Denver. Real pretty.'” You can use the find function to locate the end point for the week.

For our discussion (due Sunday night, 3/29), there are so many directions we can go, and collectively we can cover a lot of material if we don’t duplicate each other’s comments but instead build on each other’s comments or move the discussion in a new direction. If your comment contributes to what someone else has added, please reply to that comment so we begin to group together like topics. To get started, let’s each choose something from the list below to focus on:

  • setting
    • location
    • time
    • social or cultural situation
  • characterization
    • who are the characters? focus on one to bring them into our discussion
  • narration
    • who is the narrator?
    • is the narrator consistent throughout these chapters?
  • imagery
    • what descriptive language helps you visualize the story?
    • do you see symbolic meaning in the descriptions?
  • themes
    • choose a theme that has begun to emerge and trace it in the story so far
    • do any of the themes connect to our previous readings?
  • quotations
    • are there any passages that stand out to you that you want to bring to the class’s attention?
  • questions
    • what questions do you have for clarification?
    • what questions do you have to move our discussion forward?

 

0