Am I Blue: Alice Walker

Alice Walker speaks of her mother and grandmothers’ dark pasts of slavery and discrimination throughout their lives. Although women through the years have had it tough, colored women have and continue to have a deeper struggle within society. Alice Walker’s essay is inspiring and heartwarming because it tells of how the women in their lives have found beauty within a dark part of history. Her mother although had little, found a sense of identity with the joy of her own vibrant garden. She speaks a lot about how many people of color continued to keep their identity and spirituality in a time where they could have been discouraged. I think that Walker’s essay is really eye opening because so many women have struggled before us to pave the way for women of all

Walker compares Blue to minorities and the struggles that they endured. Meaning that the struggles including those of animals, blacks and women are the central message of “Am I Blue”. For that reason, these minorities are related to Blue and his austere background and feelings. Consider Walkers example when she says “ And about the Indians, considered to be “like animals” by the “settlers”, who did not understand their description as a compliment ”(381). In addition, Walkers target audience are for those who could relate to Blue, meaning that they can relate to loneliness and even

In Zora Hurston’s “How it feels to be colored me”, she teaches her readers what it means to be a person of color who loves yourself. While reading “How it feels to be colored me”, the readers are shown that Zora Hurston has great pride and love for who she is as a person and she shows this with the many rhetorical strategies present in her story. In Hurston’s story she establishes her love of self by using connotations about her skin color, metaphors about how she should not be treated differently based on the color of her skin, and imagery to vividly describe the way she is treated by the people of the world.

Honesty influences the lives of many people no matter religion, race, age, and has no boundaries towards the choices we make honesty can be brutal, rather than saving face to protect the ones you love honesty can hurt but it is usually always better. One lie can affect our outcomes, and these choices we make in life could have drastic consequences that could affect us in the end and make life very difficult. Celie and Nick follow the same journey pattern to better themselves, but with different realizations that prove the only life worth having is an honest one.

Imagine sitting around eating you’re sitting in a restaurant eating your burger and you see a cow in the back. You might think was the cow that I’m eating mistreated? Or did they have a good quality life before they became my meal. This is why many decide to not eat meat at all because they fear what happened to that animal before it became their meal. Author Gary Steiner is an American moral philosopher, and Professor of Philosophy at Bucknell University. He explained this best in his paper Animal, Vegetable, and Miserable, along with other pieces of work that focused on animal rights.

When The Color Purple is viewed through the gender/feminist lens, the traditional ways society understands men and women is dramatically altered. Alice Walker defies gender norms with her emphasis on the fact that gender and sexuality are not always as simple as society typically thought. By creating characters that challenge gender stereotypes and break out of the norms of society, she creates a book that dissolves gender barriers. With her use of strong, unique characters, Alice is able to change the way people viewed women and men. Characters like Shug Avery and Harpo defy the gender roles expected of them, and influence those around them to change their roles in society as well. While there are characters that reflect gender norms,

In the essay, “How it Feels to be Colored Me” written by Zora Hurston, there are many struggles she went through because of being single storied and discriminated against for her race. Throughout her essay, Hurston’s view is from how others look at her on the outside and not what they see on the inside. Though she is different from the status quo of beautiful, Hurston argues that despite the single story by which others define people, they can choose to express their individual by focusing on moments that empower them.

The award-winning novel, “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, is a story about a woman going through cruel things such as: incest, rape, and physical abuse. This greatly written novel comes from a very active feminist author who used many of her own experiences, as well as things that were happening during that era, in her writing. “The Color Purple” takes place in the early 1900's, and symbolizes the economic, emotional, and social deprivation that African American women faced in Southern states of America. The main character of the story is Celie, a fourteen-year old that starts writing letters to God for thirty years, and then to her sister, Nette, who ran away to Africa to save herself from the troubles Celie went through. Celie starts off as a pushover and very dependent girl that would eventually grow and develop into an independent flourishing woman that opens a business making pants for all genders. This novel shows the hardship of a girl becoming a woman over the course of her life and eventually standing up for herself and being confident. Many of the experiences and characters of “The Color Purple” are based on history of that time and a bit of the author’s personal experiences. Her use of epistolary allows the reader to learn everything in the point of view of Celie. Alice Walker's influences for writing this novel range from her childhood experiences to the white society in her hometown of Eatonville, Georgia. Even during these times, it still shows that women

The world may seem like a sophisticated place, but there are still many areas to improve on, like giving women the right to equality. However, in 1960, the first ever female president, Sirivamo is elected in Sri Lanka. After living a life of domestic abuse in a culture where women are looked down upon, she takes the risk to prove that women are capable of reaching a higher and dominant role in society. Even though many years have passed since then, the culture of male dominancy still exist today. In countries like Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, women can not drive or step out of the house without a man by their side. In the novel The Color Purple, Celie is living in a male dominant society that is very oppressive to women. As a result, she is both emotionally and physically broken, but in the end she gains enough confidence to realize her own inner beauty and strength. In the novel The Color Purple Alice Walker proves that women are fully capable of overcoming oppression in order to achieve gender equality. Therefore, women around the world need to stand up for themselves and persevere to eventually overcome male dominancy. Throughout the story, Celie learns to assert female empowerment by adapting to the real world which has the good and the bad, learning from some who grow up in gender respected families and finally, and taking life changing advice from the people she trusts.

In the essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” the author, Zora Neale Hurston, emphasizes points in her life, those being times where she has felt her color and others where her color seemed almost nonexistent. Hurston’s motive for composing this writing piece is to show the readers that race does not solely determine one’s identity. The author skillfully utilizes writing strategies to assert this, which embellishes and strengthens the impact of her words. Some examples of these approaches include Hurston’s use of imagery, metaphors, and symbolism throughout the entirety of her work. Namely, the imagery presented in the essay allows for the reader to perceive Hurston’s surroundings in her time.

In the essay,"The Pig Who Sang to the Moon" by Jeffery Mason, he points out that many farmed animas are getting slaughtered for food.He explains that farm animals have feelings and consciousness as humans in his essay. Farmed animals are dealing with unbearable pain for human to eat. In his essay, he proves us with his brilliant experiences observing farmed animals such as pigs,cows, she eps,goats,ducks and chickens.Farmed animals have unique qualities of their own.Masson points out in his essay that we don 't acknowledge all farmed animals as the way we acknowledge dogs and cats.Masson wants readers to think about the emotions and qualities of farmed animals. He persuades the readers to become vegetarian so farmed animals can live a peaceful and happy life.Masson wants people to stop exploring farm animals in many forms . That is one of the reason i assume why he wrote this essay..Animals needs are ignored and they get treated awfully.He explains that billions of animals that are farmed and slaughtered for human to eat have emotional and intelligent lives.

In two of our previous essays the readers are exposed to three minor animal characters that help to build the characterization of the protagonists in the essays. In “The Fourth State of Matter,” the collie dog and squirrels help to convey the kind of person JoAnn Beard is. Similarly, in “Repeat After Me,” Henry the parrot, helps to build on who Lisa Sedaris is as well as to create a reflection of himself. With these animals as support for the protagonists, they help develop certain aspects of the protagonists’ personalities and identities, thereby consequently conveying the authors’ deeper messages of the essays.

“The Color Purple” written by Alice Walker is a story highlighting the values and ideals of the culture and society in the beginning of the 20th century. During this time period certain women were alienated from society due to their clothes, beliefs, and their actions. Although every woman in this book was alienated from society the extent of alienation differed depending on how their words and actions were perceived by society.

In her essay, “Am I Blue,” Alice Walker argues how humans disregard the emotional similarities they share with animals. Walker incorporates in her argument the similarities between her emotions as a human, and the emotions of animals. Additionally, she presents her argument through the structure of the essay, and through her use of language. Furthermore, the overall argument of this essay is not only eye-opening, but also persuasive considering that it leaves the reader with a life question; what standards am I living by?

When reading Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and “Everyday Use,” it is evident that she writes about her life through her use of allegory. Alice Walker uses the events of her childhood, her observation of the patriarchy in African American culture, and her rebellion against the society she lived in to recount her life through her stories. Alice Walker grew up in a loving household in the years towards the end of the Great Depression. Although her family was poor, they were rich in kindness and perspective and taught Walker a lot about her heritage and life.