Sula

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Sula

• Toni Morrison

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Background Information on Toni Morrison

• First black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in
  Literature. (1993)
• Born on February 18, 1931
• She attended Howard University, Cornell
  University and she has taught at Texas Southern
  University and currently at Princeton University.

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Book Information

• Sula (1974) was her second novel, and deals with
  themes of race, womanhood, the effects of
  history, and the contingencies of love, examining
  how all four intertwine to affect the beliefs and
  actions of individuals.

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Book Information Continued

• The book takes place in Medallion (The Bottom), a
  mostly black community in Ohio.
• This novel questions and examines the terms good
  and evil, often demonstrating that the two
  resemble one another.
• Circular Writing

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Set-up of Novel

• The novel is arranged in chapters that are titled
  by years. Part 1 is through 1927 and Part 2
  picks up in 1937. The whole novel ends in 1965.

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Things to Focus On

• The use of names is developed in the book, long
  before the title character appears. It is
  important to make connections about why things
  are named what they are.
• National Suicide Day- What is it? Why?
• Look for symbols in the novel.
• How is order important in the novel?
• Note shifts in point -of -view in the novel.
• Manipulation of character/protagonist in the
  novel.