Am I Blue?

Alice Walker

Alice Walker(1944-- )

• African-American writer• She has written both fiction

and essays about race and gender. She is best known for the critically acclaimed novel The Color Purple (1982) for which she won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

The Color Purple(1982)• The Color Purple tells the story of Celie, a Black woman

in the South. Celie writes letters to God in which she tells about her life--her roles as daughter, wife, sister, and mother. In the course of her story, Celie meets a series of other Black women who shape her life: Nettie, Celie's sister, who becomes a missionary teacher in Africa; Shug Avery, the Blues singer her husband Mr. ______ is in love with, and who becomes Celie's salvation; Sofia, the strong-willed daughter-in-law whose strength and courage inspire Celie; and Squeak, who goes through awakenings of her own. Throughout the story, though, Celie is the center of this community of women, the one who knows how to survive.

Celie Shug

Sophia

womanism

• Walker used the word to describe the perspective and experiences of "women of color“.

• Womanists are black women who are, in a traditional communal sense, concerned very much with both black women and black men.

• Womanists have argued that the gains of 2nd wave feminism and beyond were largely built around the lifestyles and options of highly educated, upper-middle class white women

• What do you think is the thesis of this article?• Are there any similarities between Blue, the

abused horse and the human counterparts, especially women and blacks?

• Analogy: It is a comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity.

• Analogous—类似的 These two poems are analogous in mood.

• In an analogy you yoke together two unlike things (eye and camera, the task of navigating a spacecraft and the task of sinking a putt), and all you care about is their major similarities.

• Glove is to hand as monitor is to computer. • Just as sword is the weapon of a warrior, pen

is the weapon of a writer

• The story, at first glance, seems to be about a horse named Blue, suitably fitting the child’s fairy-tale motif, but looking closely at the words and reading between the lines, hidden meanings are unraveled and revealed, turning this fairy-tale to an observation of reality. Reading the essay it becomes gradually apparent that this it is not the fairy-tale it deceptively appears to be, but a voice of anger and concern for the solitude and isolation that blacks, women and animals endured.

Words concerning the horse

• Flip its mane• Gallop---canter---trot---walk----amble about• Whinny• Snort• Stamp• Crop grass----munch the dried stalks---relish

the apples----crunch the apples

Paragraph 1-2

• Where did the story happen? Please describe the setting.

• How was Blue treated by the neighbor’s family?

• Amble about----move at unhurried state(马）缓行

The horse was just ambling along, going nowhere in particular.

Pedestrians ambled along the roads.

• Odd---used after numbers, a little more than the stated number零，以上的

300-odd pages 300多页 She must be at least 40-odd years old.• Stocky----short, with a strong, solid body矮壮的、敦实的

The weight-lifter is strong and stocky.

Paragraph3-5

• How does the writer begin her tender relationship with Blue?

• Did the author have an experience with any horses before she met Blue?

• How does the detail of spooking Nan support the thesis of the text?

• What human qualities does Blue have?

• Relish----get great pleasure from; want very much to do or have sth享受、渴望、喜欢

Nobody relishes cleaning the oven.• succulent---juicy鲜美多汁的 a succulent pear/steak succulence ----n. • Stumble----walk unsteadily跌撞而行 We were stumbling around in the dark looking for a

candle.

• Crunch on sth---crush food noisily with teeth嘎吱嘎吱地嚼

She crunched her apple noisily. The snow crunched under our feet. He sat there crunching his cornflakes and

reading the newspaper.

• Finality----the quality of being unchangeable 终结、定居、不可改变性

the finality of death There was a note of finality in his voice.• The enormity of sth---the very great size, effect

of sth巨大、深远影响、严重性 People are still coming to terms with the

enormity of the disaster. the enormity of the task任务的艰巨性

• Spook----cause to be suddenly afraid吓唬 We were spooked by the strange noises. Seeing the police car outside the house really

spooked them.• come to----regain consciousness The girl fainted, but she came to when we

poured a glass of water on her face.

Paragraph6-10

• How do black mammy, non-English speaking wives, and young people fit the author’s reflections on the horse?

quilting• African American quilting is almost as old as the

history of America. Black slave women were needed for spinning, weaving, sewing and quilting on plantations and in other wealthy households.

• After the Civil War, many African American women went to work in households as domestics while others helped out on small farms. It was still a difficult life of working from dawn to dusk. Quilts were made for everyday use out of necessity. Scraps, discarded clothing, and feed sacks, were the materials used.

• Quilters are making conscious and deliberate efforts to incorporate African themes in their works.

• Forthcoming----ready, about to happen即将发生、现成的、随要随有、乐于提供信息

a list of forthcoming books Financial support was not forthcoming. She’s not very forthcoming about her plans.

• Benign----kind and gentle和善的 ;not dangerous to life(医）良性的

Martha is a benign old lady who wouldn’t hurt a fly.

It was not a malignant cancer, only a benign tumor.

• Compliment----expression of praise赞扬、称赞

She said how nice my dress was, so I returned the compliment and said I liked hers.

“You understand the problem because you are so much older.”------ “I’ll take that as a compliment !”

• Blissfully----extremely happy极乐的、幸福的 We spent three blissful weeks away from

work. The passengers carried on drinking and

dancing, blissfully unaware of the impending disaster.

It is sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.

Paragraph 11-19

• Why was Brown taken away?• How did Blue’s eyes change?• How did Blue behave after Brown was away?• What does the author try to convey through

the story of Blue?

• Self-possessed ----calm and in control of one’s emotions沉着、镇静、泰然自若的

Nixon is known to be a confident and self-possessed public speaker.

Linda would never allow herself to lose her self-possession.

• Inalienable----unable to be removed不可剥夺或分割的

the inalienable right to be equal Dietary convention is an inalienable part of a

country’s culture. Every individual has the inalienable right of

freedom of thought, speech, and religion.

• Dread---- feel extremely anxious or unhappy about非常害怕、极为担心

This was the moment he had been dreading. She dreads her husband finding out. I dread to think what would happen if there

really was a fire here.我不敢想象

• Impregnate----to make pregnant;• Usually passive, to make a substance spread through an

area so that the area is full of the substance使充满、使遍布

The pad is impregnated with insecticide.• Conceive----(not in passive voice)to become pregnant Women should give up alcohol before they decide to

conceive. It is now possible for conception to take place outside a

woman’s body.

• Crazed---driven mad or made extremely angry• Be crazed with疯狂的、发狂的 crazed with fear/grief/jealousy When he saw his wife talking to another man

at the party, he became crazed with jealousy. A crazed gunman slaughtered five people last

night.

• Butt---strike or push against with head 用头顶撞

Be careful of that bull. It butts. Jim kept on butting me but the referee did not

warn him.• Piercing---sharp锐利的、逼人的、洞悉一切的

She looked at me with piercing blue eyes.

• Mutilate----damage sb’s body very severely使残缺不全、严重损毁

The body had been badly mutilated. Intruders slashed and mutilated several

painting. mutilation----n. Thousands suffered death or mutilation in the

bomb blast.

• Disturbing----worrying or upsetting引起烦恼的、令人不安的、引起恐慌的

a disturbing piece of news Pollution has reached disturbingly high levels

in many urban areas.

• Soothe----make less angry, excited or painful安慰、缓解

The music soothed her for a while. Take a warm bath to soothe tense, tired

muscles.