Sula
Direct Refrences
Death
Shadrack
Fun Facts
100
What about Nel disappointed Sula when she cut off part of her finger?
Sula wanted Nel's pride and gratitude, but instead, Nel only showed disgust, and that hurt. pg. 141 "The one time she tried...but her disgust."
100
What does Nel feel and do to Sula when she sees her in her bed as she grasps the metal of the bed?
In this passage, she bashes Sula and says she ruined her love for her husband and her kids. However, she is still drawn to Sula. pg 138 "For the first time in three years...its crying need for honey."
100
What was the best news that people of the Bottom had heard in a while?
Sula Peace's death pg. 150 "The death of Sula Peace...at the tunnel."
100
What was Sula to her townsfolk?
She was an example of what not to do. After she died, her legacy fell apart and her example disintegrated. "Other mothers who had defended their children from Sula's malevolence... now had nothing to rub up against. The tension was gone and so was the reason for the effort they had made" (153).
100
Who is the author? What is another book she has written?
Toni Morrison - The Bluest Eye
200
Daily Double: Sula talks about death and mentions her own, but she compares other black women dying like stumps- what does she compare herself to?
Redwoods pg. 143 "But the difference...live in this world."
200
What did Nel gain from the separation from Jude and the abandonment of Sula?
Her voice got the "timbre she wanted it to have." She became the strong woman she wasn't as a child or wife. pg 139 "It helped her to...she wanted to have."
200
What good news came after Sula died?
It was announced that African-Americans could work on the tunnel- thus creating jobs. pg. 151 "There were signs..and along Lake Erie."
200
What did Shadrack show up with in January?
rope, bell, childish dirge "His rope was improperly tied; his bell had a tinny unimpassioned sound" (158).
200
How old is Eva when she is supposed to die?
90
300
What was Sula's dream?
She dreamed of the Clabber Girl with baking powder, disintegrating into white dust. The powder kept slipping until it engulfed her, and she woke up, engulfed in smoke. pg. 147-148 "Then she had the dream again...overwhelmed with the smell of smoke."
300
What did Nel ask Sula when they finally got to the "real question?" How did Sula respond?
Nel asked Sula why she took her man, and Sula answered "because there was a space in her head and she had to fill it" (144). Nel was disappointed because Sula broke her relationship Jude and never even loved him. pg. 144-145
300
Daily Double: What color did Medallion turn after Sula's death?
Silver Quote: "The medallion turned silver. It seemed sudden..." (151).
300
What did Shadrack feel for the first time in 1941?
Loneliness. He wanted the companionship of others. "His loneliness had dropped down some-where around his ankles" (157).
300
Who did Nel miss after all? Was breaking the friendship with Sula worth it.
Sula, it wasn't Jude 174
400
What is the last comfort left for Sula?
The boarded up windows Eva jumped out of pg. 148 "And looking at those four...its unassailable finality"
400
After Nel leaves, Sula says... So she will walk down that road...and never remember the days we were two throats and one eye and we had no price" (147). What does she mean?
She is referring to the love and friendship they once had. Sula wanting Nel's gratitude- Nel wanting Sula's friendship and protection. Nel doesn't think of that when they're at their last meeting. pg. 145 "If we were such..couldn't get over it?" pg. 119 "They had always..and then the other." pg. 119-120 "Nel was the one...stretch it to its limits."
400
Flashback Double: Who was the first person to die, named or unnamed, in the book?
Shadrack's friend in the military. page 7-8
400
What did Shadrack say "Always" to Sula for?
To remind her not to be afraid of change. To comfort her. He wanted to assure her of permeancy "So he had said "always" so she would not have to be afraid of the change... He had said "always to convince her, assure her, of permanency" (157).
400
Daily Double: Who did Nel encounter as she was walking in Medallion on the last pages of the book? What were they thinking of?
Shadrack- they were both thinking of Sula
500
What is the first thing Sula said when she died?
"Well, I'll be damned; it didn't even hurt. Wait'll I tell Nel" (149).
500
What did Sula want her mother to do when she watched her burn?
She wanted her to keep on dancing and jerking. Eva Peace was right, Sula was interested. pg. 147 "I didn't mean anything...to keep on dancing."
500
What did Teapot reject from his mother before she beat him?
A poorly made butter, sugar bread. "asked his mother for some sugar-butter-bread...Teapot tasted the difference and refused to eat it...and she beat him as she had not done since Sula knocked him down the steps" (153).
500
What did Sula leave at Shadrack's house? What does this signify?
A white and purple belt "the one piece of evidence that he once had a visitor in his house: a child's purple-and-white belt" (156).
500
Bonus Question: Why is Eva Peace abandoned by Nel in the old people home?
Eva brings back Chicken Little and relates Nel and Sula as one- spectators of the death. They were one in the same, and Nel wasn't having that.
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