Sweet Home Alabama

I love this movie because it does have a romantic plotline but it isn't that sappy. Reese Witherspoone plays Melanie Smooter who actually goes by the name Melanie Carmichael. She was born and raised in Alabama in a small town and she was known as a wild trouble maker. She left Alabama and moved to New York where she became a designer and a successful one at that. WE are introduce to her in the beginning getting engaged to the mayor of New York's son. however, she can not get married until her divorce goes through with her ex. An ex that know one, except her alabama friends and family whom she hasn't seen in 7 years, knows about. She changed her identity and she pretended to be a completey different person than a Southern tomboy.
She is forced to go back to her home town and see her parents, friends and ex-husband Jake, that she is still married too. She goes to get him to sign the divorce papers, but he continues to refuse or avoid it until they are in an all out war with eachother. We then find out that she left jake after having a miscarriage. She had gotten pregnant in highschool and they got married. After she lost the baby she left jake and her past behind. The problem is, Jake never stopped loving her and in the beginning of the movie we are shown two little kids on the beach in the rain and it is Jake and Melanie. Jake is telling Melanie that he is going to marry her some day. It is a very cute seen that is repeated again at the end of the movie when Jake and Melanie are all grown up. S
She finally finds herself again by going back to her roots. She also discovers she still loves Jake and she was running away from not only her identity but her true love as well.
I feel that this movie shows what true love really is. It is not about getting along all the time and everything being perfect. It is about pushing eachother to be better people and not letting eachother get by with anything that they shouldn't. Jake and melanie do this and it is their butting of heads that actuallly makes them good for eachother. This movie is different than most romantic movies because it shows the finding of love again and examines the meaning of what it is like to lose yourself in a world you created. I love this movie. i love how Reese witherspoone plays a spunky women who does not take anything from anybody. She portrays a strong woman.

"A Patch of Blue"

"A Patch of Blue," starring Sidney Poitier and Elizabeth Hartman, depicts the budding relationship of Selina D'Arcey and Gordon Ralfe. As the story progresses, Gordon broadens Selina's view of the world and she begins to understand that there could be more for her than just the shambling apartment she shares with her lush of a grandfather and abusive mother. Gordon also realizes that many small freedoms he has taken for granted are denied others for reasons beyond skin. My favorite scene is when Gordon and Selina visit the supermarket together. Ignoring conventions, they eagerly pursue their errand and it becomes an amusing excursion for the both of them

The Notebook

One of my favorite romance stories is the movie The Notebook. In this movie, set in the 1950's, two high schoolers from two very different backgrounds find summer love in each other. Once summer ends, Allie's parents make her move away because they disapprove of the romance. Noah writes her letters everyday, but her mother makes sure she never gets them. Allie finally moves on and becomes engaged but knows she still has feelings for Noah. She decides to go visit him so she can move on and be happy with her soon-to-be husband. Once there, Noah and Allie fall back into love and realize that they cannot live without each other. She ends up leaving her fiance for Noah.

One of my favorite parts in the movie is when Allie wakes up and looks next to her, expecting to find Noah. Instead she finds a note that says he went for breakfast and to follow the rose petals. These petals lead all the way to a special room he made for her. It is a room for her to paint in that over looks the river, something she had said she wanted when they were 17. I love this scene because it really shows his love for her. After all this time he still has not moved on and he remembers everything she had wanted. Most guys cannot even remember your birthday, let alone something you asked for in passing five years ago. I think this plotline is very similar to many romantic movies except for the fact that it begins and ends with Noah and Allie as adults, and then looks back on the relationship through a story they wrote about it. I find that very interesting.

movie blog: Almost Famous

*WARNING: SPOILERS IN FIRST PARAGRAPH, IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE*

Almost Famous is so well-written, that each time I watch it, I hate to see the movie end. A high school kid named William, by leaving out a few important details, gets an opportunity to write an article for Rolling Stone. His assignment is to interview Black Sabbath, but he ends up interviewing Stillwater, and up and coming band opening for Sabbath. The band takes a liking to him, and invites him to go on tour with them. He meets a groupie named Penny Lane, and is immediately captivated by her. However, her current love is Russell Hammond, the group's lead singer. William and Penny Lane grow closer as the tour progresses, even though she is still sleeping with Russell and various other musicians. When Russell's girlfriend joins the tour, Penny Lane becomes severely depressed. She tries to overdose on sleeping pills in a hotel room, but William chases after her and saves her life. They never really end up being together, but they both realize that after the music stops playing, you still need someone to love. Meanwhile, an angry Rusell learns that William is planning to include everything that went on during the tour, in his article to Rolling Stone. He contacts Rolling Stone, and tells them that William's article is filled with lies. He tries to contact Penny Lane, and she agrees to see him. After giving him William's address, he arrives unsuspectingly at his front door. After reconsidering his behavior, he lets Rolling Stone print William's article.

I picked this movie because of the multiple definitions of romance at work in the plotline. Both William and Penny Lane have a love affair with music, and perhaps love music more than people. Penny Lane never really loved Russell; she was in love with the rock and roll lifestyle he represented. The only true romantic relationship in the flim was between William and Penny Lane. The members of the band, William, and Penny are all experiencing a romantic attachment to the rock and roll lifestyle, and by extension, each other.

Boiled down to the nuts and bolts of the plotline, Almost Famous is a somewhat traditional romance. There is the heroine, the knight in shining armor, and the villain that gets in the way. Yet it also represents a very non-traditional idea of romance, because music itself is the center of romantic focus. All relationships are secondary to the love of the music. This film explores how music can essentially create relationships, and how people can simultaneously destroy each other.

Love Actually

This is one of those movies that I can watch over and over again and never get tired of it. I'm typically not one for sappy movies but do love a good love story which is probably why I've watched this movie several times and surely watch it again. The movie tells multiple love stories from the good beautiful aspects of love to the heart-renching, painful parts of it. Along with the love stories, the movie is set around Christmas time, which is, of course, romantic in itself. It brings tears, smiles, laughs, and sighs. I wouldn't say this is my FAVORITE but definitly sets in the top 5 list. It has an amazing cast, is genuine, personal, and captivating. I think this one is a bit different because it covers multiple aspects of different love stories instead of just focusing on one. It's theme is really about love, how we all need love regardless of location, gender, occupation, sexual orientation, age, etc. It really focuses on the beauty of love and how it's all around us and can be found in different people in different ways. WATCH IT! Then watch it again! It's amazing!!!! It's not one that makes you want to go find your significant other specifically but one that makes you want to tell everyone close to you how much you love them. It's great.

King Kong

The remake of King Kong shows a romantic relationship between a woman and a giant ape. It is not necesarily a traditionaly romantic film becasue a sexual relationship and marriage etc., the goal of most human relationships. The film begins with a native tribe on a mysterious island saccrificing the young Anne Darrow to the beast Kong. He snatches her and falls immediately in love with her. Thoughout their relationship on the island, Kong saves her from the dinosaurs and the men. Ann realizes the beasts compassion, though she is scared of her situation. She is glad to see the 'hero' of the story (Adrian Brody) when he comes to save her, he has also falled in love with Ann. However, when she realizes the plot of the men is to attack Kong and render him unconscious in order to take him back to america, she looks into his evey and crys out for him. The scene that is most telling of the romance between the woman and the ape it at the end when Kong goes looking for Ann. He sees many women who look like her, but he knows it isnt her. Ann runs through New York city to find Kong and when he goes to defend her and himself from the troops, she cannot let him leave her in a safe place and climbs the Empire State building to be with Kong. This film is different from others becasue of the impossible and terrifying nature of the romance, however it follows a romantic plot line similar to other movies.

Romantic Movie: Hitch, Due 7/23/07

The movie I chose for this assignment was Hitch. It's a romantic comedy that has the ability to make you laugh or cry. I chose this movie because it seemed like it dealt with relationships in a different way than most. The tagline of the movie is "Hitch: The cure for the common man." The premise of the movie is that there is a man named Hitch who is a dating doctor. He can help any man obtain any woman that he chooses but ironically can't help himself. One of my favorite scenes of the movie was where Sara, who is played by Eva Mendes, invites Hitch to a fish eating event. Because Hitch is trying to impress Sara, he continues to eat the fish even though he is allergic to it. As the night progresses, Hitch's face swells to the size of a balloon. Sara takes him to a pharmacy to get allergy medication. The night ends as Hitch (drunkenly) and Sara take a romantic walk through the park. Back at Sara's place, they share a little bit of conversation before they separately go off to bed.
I think this plotline is different from others because of the way things disasterously work out for Hitch. Usually, the man in movie, always tried to impress the lady, and in my opinion, most of the time it works. For most of Hitch and Sara's relationship, it was just disaster after disaster, untill when it really mattered the most. Hitch told Sara that even though he might mess up all the time, he couldn't bear to lose her.

Sula part duex

After finishing the book, I was able to reflect on it and find a few different themes and even sub themes. There was obviously a theme of death throughout the book and even ended with the main character, Sula dying. I think this has a meaning that's deeper than surface level. I think it says a lot about the lives they led and the struggles they all faced. Moreso, there are subthemes such as a connectedness. The book opens with Shadrack then we don't see him again until the last chapter which brings the story full cirlce. On that topic, my first passage I've chosen is the last line of the book which reads, "It was a fine cry--loud and long--but it had not bottom and it had not top just circles and circles of sorrow." (174) The quote, circles and circles, I feel is very symbolic of the book. Each person in this town had such a strong impact on each other and what one did affected the others dramatically. It reminds me of a pond when something small is dropped in and the ripples span out from the center, each getting bigger and each being created by the previous one. Even with characters that came across to us as being independent were strongle affected by those around them.

Secondly, I've also chosen the passage from page 131. I'm not going to type it because it's a half of a page long. It's the scene where Sula is looking the the mirror, tracing lines on her face. She puts a ribbon in her hair which is out of Sula's character. This scene shows a moment of weakness from a woman that has previously shown to be shamless and disreguarding of other's judgements and thoughts. She shows a very vulerable, soft side of herself and I, as a reader, felt like I was seeing something I wasn't supposed to. It's a moment, that I feel like, she is almost realizing that she may not be the person she WANTS to be or has put her self up to be in the preceeding time. We have seen her softer side before like when she over hears her mom saying that she loves Sula but doesn't like her, but not like this. What upsets me the most is that it wasn't family or friends that makes her reach this moment of weakness and complete honesty but a man. I think that says something and opens up discussion on women's issues.

Sula #2

The first passage from Sula that I would like to comment on is: "Here she is in the midst of it, hating it, scared of it, and again she thought of Sula as though they are still friends and talked things over. That was too much. To lose Jude and not have Sula to talk to about it because it was Sula that he had left her for. My reaction is that I feel that Nel is hurt and the only friend that she could count on in times of need caused her pain. When Nel gave the thought of going to her ex-friend to be consoled she had forgot that it was this friend that caused it. This relates to the other passages in this book because it shows the girls true relationship. That even though they grew apart for awhile Sula was the first person that Nel needed for comfort. Some themes are about the women in Sula's life and the way they were with men, and the fact that Sula grew to be just like her mother who she despised.

The second passage that I had a strong reaction to was: "Although you could never tell. She wondered for an instant what Nellie wanted; why she had come. Did she want to gloat? Make up?" My reaction to this is that Sula is acting very ungrateful because Nel is being a good person to come help even though Sula had betrayed her. I am surprised that Nel would actually started talking to her again, but I feel that this is significant for toward the rest of the book. This relates to other passages because again it shows the true nature of their bond. Nel had become like all those other women and shut Sula out but when Sula needed help Nel came to her rescue. Thats how their relationship is to me throughout the whole book.

Roses to rattlesnakes

"And the other one, the one with the scary black thing over her eye, laughing softly and egging their mother on.... this slight woman, not exactly plain, but not fine either, with a copperhead over her eye.... that her wide smile took some of the sting from that rattlesnake over her eye."

Earlier in the story, Sula's birthmark was referred to as a budding rose or a rose and stem, all suitable analogies in view of her age and physical growth. As a young girl, she was like a blossoming flower, which adheres to the common stereotype likening women to flowers; however, it should be noted that she was likened to a rose with its stem that bore thorns. It could be thought that whatever viciousness that was within Sula to give her thorns as a child flourished wholly once she left since the mark is scary and serpentine upon her return to Medallion. As the imagery changed, I noted the shift and my apathy toward Sula's character changed to fearful apprehension. She was no longer a child victim of the oddities around her, but a woman instigating unrest. With the rose above her eye, she is mere witness to her mother's death. With a snake, a scary black thing, above her eye, she is the render of kin, destroying Nel's marriage and unconsciously prompting Jude to abandon his children. The birthmark is definitely a symbol of Sula's identity. In fact, it is one of the first things mentioned about her in the book and one is given the sense of its impending darkness. If only I had recognized that as a foreshadowing of her character, I would have anticipated her wicked ways.

"Of the few who were not afraid to witness the burial of a witch and who had gone to the cemetery, some had come just to verify her being put away but stayed to sing "Shall We Gather at the River" for politeness' sake, quite unaware of the bleak promise of their song."

"You reap what you sow." I feel nothing of surprise, only justice. It causes me to wonder if that means I am already a bitter woman. Not truly a witch, the anger and evil ways of Sula mark her a witch. All her bold declarations of hell and awaiting it reiterate the idea, a witch being one allied with the Devil. The song seems to reflect her first dark act, the death of Chicken Little, whose funeral was attended by mourners that truly seemed to care for him in contrast to the anxious spectators of Sula's funeral. It seems death is also the reflection of identity and the way others reflect upon oneself as seen in these two funerals.

Sula the second half

"In spite of their fear, they reacted to an oppressive oddity, or what they called evil days, with an acceptance that bordered on welcome. Such evil must be avoided, they felt, and precautions must naturally be taken to protect themselves from it. but they let it run its course, fullfill itself, and never invented ways either to alter it, to annihilate it or to prevent its happening again. So also were they with people."

This passage in the first part of the second half of the book is talking about the arrival of the birds and Sula. It seems to connect the "plague" of the birds with evil which then suggest that Sula herself brought the birds with her return after being gone for ten years. She seems to be the "people" that this passage refers to. Evil seems to be a big issue; especially in the second part of the book and Sula is the one who is deemed evil by the towns people. In many ways she acts according to her whim and her actions could be considered evil. Such as sleeping with Nell's husband. But their are many places throughout the book where evil takes place but is less emphasized. For instance, Eva burns her own son. She thinks she is doing it out of love but to most normal people that could be seen as evil. Sula's mother Hannah sleeps with all types of men even if they are married and that could be seen as evil to most people, but isn't given as much attention. However, sula is deemed evil because she watched her mother burn, watched when chicken drowned, put her grandmother in a nursing home and slept with her friends husband. All of those things are bad, but she never actually lit someone on fire and her mother slept wiht more married men then she did. So it is interesting to me how evil seems to be defined in the story.

"So he had said "always", so she would not have to be afraid fo the change-teh falling away of skin, the drip and slide of blood, andthe exposure of bone underneath. He had said 'always' to convince her, assure her, of permanancy."

I found this passage interesting because it is answering the question most of us had when reading the first part of the book which is "what did Shadrack mean when he told Sula always"? I feel like Shadrack was trying to sooth Sula becaue she had seen death for the first time. She seemed to be afraid not for being caught not doing anything to save chicken, but afraid of death herself. Shadrack seems to mean "permanancy" as a way of saying immortality. However antoher way to interpret it would be that we are always afraid of death. It is a permanent fear in the minds of all humans. Maybe this is a wrong way to read it but later on down the page he speaks of seein Sula dead and says "so he had been wrong. Terribly wrong. No 'always' at all. Another dying away of someone whose face we knew." it seems to mean that he was wrong about always fearing death. he sees Sula dead and realizes you can't fear death when you're dead and maybe death isn't always such a fearful thing. Maybe that is why he felt national suicide day was no longer important.

Sula part 2

There were so many powerful passages in this second half that it was hard to choose two to write about. However, The paragraph on page 105 beginning, "But they had been..." and ending "when my mother turned to custard". I really thought this passage stood out becasue it is a climax in the story when Sula sleeps with Jude and Nel finds out. This is really the end of their friendship in Nel's eyes, but she doesn't express anger really, just reverst back to negative experiences from her childhood. I think it is safe to say that Nel is not fully realizing the extent of the situation and she is dissociating to keep herself from going crazy. I liked the way the passage was addressed to Jude and then at the very end we come to understand that the pain that came at this moment was not about Jude, but about Sula.

I also liked the entire section on page 135 when Sula discovers that she never really knew Ajax's name. This is provoking becasue it is a connection that Sula had put so much energy to and she really alomost loved Ajax, when she discovered this and felt betrayed. I think this ties back to the part in the first half when she overhears that her mother doesn't like her. It reminds her that she doesn't want to trust or rely on enyone except herself and I thik it sadly changes her character again in a negative way.

Both of these passages contain images and events that affect the two women in powerful ways and since they echo the past so closely, I think that the readers can really understand how the events in their past caused them to separate abd become who they are when they finally meet again at the end.

Sula Pt 2

"Nibbling at each other, not even touching, not even looking at each other, just their lips, and when I opened the door they didn't even look for a minute" (105). This image really stuck out to me because of how sexual it was. They were not in love, yet they broke a marriage and a happy home because of a lust they felt for each other. This is obvious because it states that they were not even looking at each other. This just shows the unattachment to the other yet there was something there that was enough to break up a happy home. That is devastating to me.

"A crease of fear touched her breast, for any second there was sure to be a violent explosion in her brain, a gasping for breath."
"Sula felt her face smiling. "Well, I'll be damned... it didn't even hurt. Wait'll I tell Nel.""
This image really stuck out to me because of how beautifully I thought it described death. Most people fear death and think of it as a very scary situation. however, this was not the image Morrison portrayed, and for that reason it really stood out to me. Also, Sula's last words really stuck with me. After all they had been through, she still wanted to tell her best friend what she now knew. This is important because it really shows the strength of women's relationships.

Sula: Part 2, Due 7/19/07

“Hunched down in the small bright room Nel waited. Waited for the oldest cry. A scream not for others, not in sympathy for a burnt child, or a dead father, but a deeply personal cry for one’s own pain. A loud, strident: “Why me?” – Page 108

This quote really stuck with me because I think it is something everyone can relate to. Everyone has had a friend stab you in the back or a boyfriend break up with you. It really hurts. You just want to cry and scream “Why me”? So many things run through your head and you don’t understand what you did to deserve such emotional pain. I think this passage had amazing imagery and really showed how Nel was feeling. I think the author did a wonderful job expressing the feelings of the character and actually showing her readers how she was feeling. What made things even worse for her is that Sula was the cause of this pain, her best friend, the person she care about more than anyone, caused her to feel this terrible way. This would make the pain twice as bad.


“What do you mean take him away? I didn’t kill him, I just fucked him. If we were such good friends, how come you couldn’t get over it?” -Page 145
“You lay there in that bed without a dime or a friend to your name having done all the dirt you did in this town and you still expect folks to love you?” -Page 145
“Goodbye, Sula. I don’t reckon I’ll be back” – 146

These quotes are very monumental to the book because Nel is finally sticking up for herself. She’s trying to explain to Sula how she feels and Sula is being completely heartless. She truly doesn’t feel that she did anything wrong and that it is Nel’s fault for not caring enough to stay friends with her. This is when you truly see the person that Sula really is.
This is the complete opposite of how I thought the book would end. I honestly thought that Sula would apologize to Nel and tell her how much she regrets not being a good friend, etc. However, this truly was the turning point of the book. This is when Nel finally realized that it was time to let go of Sula, to be done with her. She finally realized that she was better off without her.

Sula (second half)

"I am just standing here. They are not doing that. I am just standing here and seeing it, but they are not really doing it."

This line reminded me of an earlier scene when Nel saw Sula throw Chicken Little in the water and didn't do anything about it. She thinks this scene is such a horrific sight that it can't actually be taking place before her eyes. I just really like the way she describes seeing something that hurts so badely to see. It definitly reenforces how passive she it, how passive most women are at the time actually, except for Sula.

"You laying there in that bed without a dime or a friend to your name having done all the dirt you did in this town and you still expect folks to love you?"

I liked this line because it's the first time Nel has spoken back to Sula. Before this she looked up to Sula so much and even after Jude left thought it was Sula who she missed. I'm glad she finally spoke up. I feel like this what a sort of turning point for her, she really became her own woman and let go of Sula.

Sula Pt 1

The first passage that stood out to me was "he opened his eyes and saw what he imagined was the great wing of an eagle pouring a wet lightness over him." (47). This was so powerful to me because his mother was pouring kerosene on him to kill him, yet he felt so tranquil because he did not know this. I know it is odd to say, but that is always how I hoped to die. At peace and not in pain. Because of this I was drawn to this description. Also, I cannot imagine what his mother was going through when she made the decision to kill her own son. My own brother was a drug addict and it was so painful for my mother to watch him sink lower and lower. I believe this is exactly how Eva felt.

Another passage that caught my attention was "When a woman approached, the older men tipped their hats; the younger open and closed their thighs. But all of them, whatever their age, watched her retreating view with interest." (49). This was interesting to me because it made me think of the theme we talked about the first week of class that women are always being watched. This definitely is another example of that. I also found it interesting the different reactions of men. The older men only tipped their hats, but the younger almost seemed to be unable to hold their sexual attraction for women in by moving their legs back and forth. I found this very interesting.

Sula - Part One

While I think the story was slow in its start, the more I read the more hooked I became on the story and ended up reading up reading well into the morning hours.
Here are two passages that caught my attention:

"Then, for no earthly reason, at least no reason that anybody could understand, certainly no reason that Nel understood then or later, she smiled. Like a street pup that wags its tail at the very doorjamb of the butcher shop he has been kicked away from only moments before, Helene smiled. Smiling dazzlingly and conquettishly at the salmon-colored face of the conductor." (pg. 21)

I thought this passage really created a good image in my mind. I imagined Helene as a woman of pride, refusing to be shamed by the "salmon-colored" conductor. I really liked this passage because I think Helene is setting a good example for Nel, keeping her head held high while everyone on the train was trying to belittle her.

"She [Eva] remembered something else too, and try as she might to deny it, she knew that as she lay on the ground trying to drag herself through the sweet peas and clover to get to Hannah, she had seen Sula standing on the back porch just looking. When Eva, who was never one to hide the faults of her children, mentioned what she'd thought she'd seen to a few friends, they said it was natural. Sula was probably struck dumb, as anybody would be who saw her own mamma burn up. Eva said yes, but inside disagreed and remained convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested." (pg.78)

I was so riveted throughout this entire section (1923). I was glued to the story at this point. Although the story has already established Sula as curious by nature, this passage reveals that Sula's curiousity isn't as innocent as originally believed. I also think that this passage is a foreshadowing of a lack of trust between the granddaughter and grandmother. After this event, Eva relationship with Sula is forever changed. As I read this passage, I was in shock. It appalls me that a girl would let her curiosity take precedent over her mother's life. My opinion of Sula changes drastically at this point in the story, as now I start to recognize the cold side of her personality.

Sula

The first passage I've chosen to write about can be found on page 40. It reads, "Hannah worried about him a little, but only a very little. For it soon became clear that he simply wanted a place to die privately but not quite alone. No one thought of suggesting to him that he pull himself together or see a doctor or anything. Even the women at prayer meeting who cried when he sang "In the Sweet By-and-By" never tired to get him to participate in the church activities. They just listened to him sing. wept and thought very graphically of their own imminent deaths."

This excerpt stood out to me because I think it's a universal feeling that we share when close ones are in need of help or attention. It's applicable to me as the reader as well as others around me. I think that when others are in such a state that he is others tend to loose hope or take on an "oh well" mentality. It's rare to find someone that cares more about that other person's well-being enough to loose interest in themself. However, in this case there was no one like that to pull him out of this state, not even to suggest that he see a doctor or to take on the sober battle themself. In fact, people around him showed such selfishness that they began imagining their own deaths due to his situation, they turned the attention back on themselves. So far I see a running theme of death and selfishness in the novel and I hope things become more positive in the second half. Now, the argument can be made that it says he wanted to die privately but not quite alone so the women were providing him with his wishes. I beg to differ; concidering the community he is in, which is small and tight-nit, I think it's fair to assume that regardless of his habits, he cares about the people around him and wants them near him but lacks the ability to show that or ask for it. I think this also displays another theme in the book which is a lack of personal responsiblity. I would argue that the people around him, that see him like that, need to take responsiblity to help him instead of waiting for him to ask.


The next excerpt I've chosen is from a scene that takes place on pages 68-69 where Hannah is talking to her mom, Eva.
"'I'm talkin' 'bout 18 and 95 when I set in that house five days iwth you and Pearl and Plum and three beets, you snake-eyed ungrateful hussy. What would I look like leapin' 'round that little old room playin' with youngins with three beets to my name?"'

This is Eva's response to Hannah's question, asking if Eva ever played with her children. Eva also makes the point that just because things are good now doesn't mean they've always been good. I think this is so true and something that many of us tend to forget. I know that I forget what my parents have done and gone through to get to where they are now and while things are good now and we are finincailly and emotionally stable, it's been a fight to get here. Even though Hannah says yes, she knows about the beets it's much different to hear stories and know them than it is to have lived it. We so often take things for grandit and don't realize how others had to struggle so that we can reep the benifits. This is a true moment of children's innosence. Also, this shows the difference between the two in what they value, Eva values hard work and apprication while Hannah values time together and love.

Sula

The first passage that I had a reaction to was on pg. 46-47: "She sat down and gathered Plum into her arms. She rolled a bit of newspaper into a tight stick about six inches long, lit it and threw it into the bed where the kerosene-soaked Plum lay in a snug delight. My reaction to this was that I thought this woman was crazy. Thoughts were running through mind trying to figure out why she we set her own son on fire. I was astonished at the thought of someone doing this. This passage relates to another Toni Morrison novel "Beloved", when the main character tried to kill her children. The woman tried to kill her children because she wanted to protect and prevent them from being sold into slavery. "Beloved" relates to "Sula" because it seems that these women would kill their children to protect them. That why I came to the conclusion that Eva was setting Plum on fire because she felt that she had to save him from himself. I felt that she was hurt in doing this because she wanted to hold her son to let him know she loves him.

The second passage that I had a reaction to was: "Because each had discovered years before they were neither white nor male, and that all freedom and triumph was forbidden to them, they had set a bout creating something else to be. I feel that my reaction to this is that being oppressed is a good reason for people to come together to form bonds. As troubled little girls Nel and Sula needed to have that friendship to get through rough times and it makes me feel relieved. This passage reminds me of the movie "The Color Purple," because two sisters who were kept away from each other their bond never diminished. The relationship between Nettie and Cely kept Cely strong form the reality of being abused by her older husband. When the girls are together they ignore everything around them because it does not matter as long as they have each other. This relates to Sula, because The color Purple shows the bond between sisters even through oppression. These two stories are similar in the way the girls handle the situations they are in.

Sula (first half)

"As Reverend Deal moved into his sermon, the hands of the women unfolded like pairs of raven's wings and flew high above their hats in the air. They did not hear all of what he said; they heard the one word, or phrase, or inflection that was for them the connection between the event and themselves."
I really like this line because it reminded me of a negative and positive way i've always thought people have dealt with the idea of church. I've been going to church since before I can even remember and since i've grown i've been able to make the decision as to whether or not I want to go, as opposed to my dad making me, and I still choose to attend. However I've had many many conversations with people who either don't believe in the church and over again I hear the argument 'just take what you need from the sermon and learn from it.' or things along those lines in which you just choose the part of religion you want to follow and ignore the rest. Anyone who has been a Christian or even gone to church for an extended period of time knows that this is a common mistake amongst believers, they do what fits into their lives and ignore the parts that make it hard. This passage reminds me of that idea. On the positive side it reminds me of people who do get the whole picture and know once they decide to practice this it's all or nothing and how sometimes in a sermon there is one line, as in literature, that stands out to you and really touches you the most.

"Nel sat on the red-velvet sofa listening to her mother but remembering the smell and the tight, tight hug of the woman in the yellow who rubbed burned matches over her eyes"

I really related to this line because it reminds me so much of me. I remember growing up once a week changing my mind about the group I wanted to fit in with. Half my friends were in bands and one week i'd think 'yeah! I want to be in a band, I love music' and then the next week i'd hang out with my girlfriends and my girliest side would come out and i'd think I only ever want to wear dresses ever again and smell pretty too! It's funny when you're young the images create in your mind of types of people based on they way they dress and how they carry themselves. I thought I could only be one or the other, a hip band mate or a pretty little girl. It just really made me laugh thinking about that awkward time! It also reminded me of "When I was growing up" because of the good image she has in her head about blond white girls and the way this girl inspires to be as womanly as her grandmother not knowing the downfalls of it yet.