Revision Overview

Whether you are revising for an exam or reviewing your notes in preparation for a coursework essay, the following seven aspects will help you organise your knowledge.   Deepen your understanding by adding textual examples, letter references (you could number them) or page references.

1. Structure
· Epistolary novel (letter form)

· Advantages:
- personal, intimate, sense of character and honesty
- having two letter writers adds variety to point of view
- involves the reader, makes you work harder to understand.

 · Disadvantages:
- no authorial voice
- can sound artificial when used to present narrative
- first person accounts can be partial, biased, inaccurate.


2. Narrative
· spans generations
· spans continents
· involves different families
· revolves around different kinds of prejudice and oppression.


3. Themes
· A wide range, both disturbing and uplifting.


· Disturbing:
- power/powerlessness
- prejudice and oppression (racial, sexual, family, social, economic, imperialism)
- violence, war and destruction

 · Uplifting:
- spirituality and religion
- creativity and self-expression
- education
- independence and freedom
- self-knowledge and self-fulfilment
- love
- progress
- family, friendship and solidarity.

4. Setting
· moves in time – over forty years
· moves in space – three continents: America, Europe, Africa
· settings show contrasts in customs, treatment and qualities
· shows similarities too e.g. oppression in different cultures.


5. Characters
· women support each other in America, e.g. Celie, Sofia, Shug, Squeak, Nettie
· women can be divided and jealous in Africa, e.g. Corinne
· men tend to be divided and outsiders in America, e.g. Pa, Mr ___ , Harpo, Buster (some improvement towards the end)
· men are presented as supportive and honest in Africa, e.g. Samuel and Adam
· female characters tend to be victims; male characters tend to exert power.

6. Images and symbolism
· names, e.g. Shug = sugar; Squeak reverts to Mary Ann to express self-respect
· religion and spirituality – letters to God, nature (pantheism), roofleaf in Africa
· creativity – quilt-making, pants, cooking, singing, sexuality, nature (e.g. stars in quilt)
· freedom and self-fulfilment – Folkspants Unlimited offers emancipation, economic, personal and sexual freedom
· nature – stars, flowers, trees and wood, animals, weather (pathetic fallacy)
· purple – bruises, royalty (e.g. Shug’s clothes), religion, purple frog (reconciliation).

7. Language and style
· Black English gives authenticity to American deep south setting, characters and social class (begins with a naïve, poor and uneducated narrator)
· change in Celie’s narration reflects her maturity and progress in life
· to reflect differences between characters, e.g. Celie and Nettie
· letter form uses direct address to involve the reader in the personal narratives
· a series of climaxes keeps the reader interested, e.g. not knowing if Nettie has died in the sinking ship
· exchange of letters allows for a gradual development of the narrative.