PLOT
How old are Nel and Sula in 1922?
What is 12 years old. (52)
Describe Sula and back it up with textual evidence.
What is "was a heavy brown with large quiet eyes, one of which featured a birthmark that spread from the middle of the lid toward the eyebrow…” (52)
What are some of the main distinctions between Sula and Nel? Are there any similarities? Describe their friendship. Backup all answers with textual evidence.
What is evidence presented on pages (51-53)
What literary device does “He had answered a question she had not asked, and its promise licked at her feet.” have and what does it mean?
What is personification - "Licked at Sula's feet" the death of Chicken little will always follow her like a critter at her feet"
What are some of the ways Eva demonstrates sacrificial love within chapter 1923? Backup your answer with textual evidence.
What is “He gave me such a time. Such a time. Look like he didn't even want to be born. But he come on out. Boys is hard to bear… I had room enough in my heart, but not in my womb, no more” (71) [Answers may vary]
What does Ajax call Nel and Sula and how did it make them feel?
What is pig meat and delighted. (50)
Describe Nel and back it up with textual evidence.
What is “Had she been any lighter-skinned she would have needed either her mother’s protection on the way to school or a streak of mean to defend herself.” (52)
What can be said about Sula and Chicken Little’s relationship? Backup your answer with textual evidence.
What is evidence presented on (59-62)
What does fire symbolize?
What is a cleansing or Sula herself.
How are women objectified throughout this section of the book? Look specifically at chapter 1922.
What is “Joined in mutual admiration they watched each day as though it were a movie arranged for their amusement. The new theme they were now discovering was men” (55)
What was Shadrack’s house like?
What is neat and ordered. (61-62)
Describe Hannah and back it up with textual evidence.
What is “She dreamed of a wedding in a red bridal gown until Sula came in and woke her.” (73)
Describe Sula and Hannah’s relationship. Back you claims with textual evidence.
What is "Eva said yes, but inside she disagreed and remained convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested." (78) [Answers may vary]
How has the birthmark above Sula's eye changed in 1923 and what does it represent?
What is it is darker, representing the darkening of her life and the dark cloud she carries around as well as her bad qualities.
What are some of the events that occur throughout the novel that contribute to Sula’s loss of innocence?
What is “Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested.” (pg. 78)
What is the second strange thing that occurs in 1923?
What is Hannah askin her mother “‘Mamma did you ever love us.” (67)
Describe Jude and back it up with textual evidence.
What is “More than anything he wanted the camaraderie of the road men: the lunch buckets, the hollering, the body movement that in the end produced something real, something he could point to.” (82)
How does the mother daughter relationship between Hannah and Eva differ from that of Sula and Hannah?
What is evidence presented on (74-76+ beginning of Chapter 1923)
What does water symbolize and use textual evidence?
What is death and destruction- “The water darkened and closed quickly over the place where Chicken Little sank.” (61)
How does the treatment of Chicken Little’s dead body reflect the racial injustices of the time? Backup your answer with textual evidence.
What is “The bargeman said he couldn’t go all the way back there, it was every bit of two miles. The sheriff said whyn’t he throw it on back into the water. The bargeman said he never shoulda taken it out in the first place.” (64)
What does Nel's veil being too heavy to feel Jude's kiss imply?
What is there is a lack of connection between Nel and Jude. (85)
Describe Eva and back it up with textual evidence.
What is “Using her stump as a support on the window sill, her good leg a lever, she threw herself out of the window.” (75-76)
Did Jude and Nel’s marriage have any flaws? Why or why not? Backup your answer with textual evidence.
What is- Nel embraces the conventional beliefs of her mother after the trauma of Chicken Little's death, gladly accepting the role of submissive wife and Jude marries Nel to secure a sense of manhood.
What does the digging scene represent (58, second paragraph)?
What is an intimate affection for each other and with each other and/or symbolizes the loss of innocence and friendship.
How does Eva display “fierce love” in a similar way to St. Augustine? What are the similarities between the two? Backup your answer with textual evidence.
What is “Eva knew there was time for nothing in this world other than the time it took to get there and cover her daughter’s body with her own.” (75)- connection to St. Augustine-- risk for love.