The Color Purple is a story told in a series of diary entries and then in a series of letters. The main charachters are Celie, who is a slave in the south, and her sister Nettie, who is missionary in Africa. Nettie has also taken Celie's kids along to get them out of the plantation. Celie and Nettie lived together at first, but when Nettie's husband starts abusing her, she leaves to become a missionary in Africa and find her roots.

In the beginning of the book Celie is telling the story through her diary entries, and later Celie and Nettie are writing letters to each other, so it is like two stories going on at once. Celie tells about what is going on at the house and Nettie talks about the different lifestyles and strange rituals of the African people she is living with. Celie has a picture that she admires of a beautiful singer named Shug Avery. She would like very much to meet her, but Celie cannot leave the house. Later it turns that her owner is a good friend of Shug's, and Shug is coming to live with them. This makes Celie excited and nervous. But when Shug comes, she and Celie become good friends.

Later Shug wants Celie to move to Tennessee with her.

Explain what purpose each of the main characters had in the novel Mr. _____ represents the limitations and restrictons throught life that hold you back. Celie represents someone trying to gain independence and live in her own house with her own family. Nettie represents the person who is behind us and will be waiting for us at the end when we gain our independence. Shug Avery represents the friend who helps you through the struggle and is always there for you. All of Celie's friends' also represented people who would be there for you and to remind you that eventually you will meet your goal. There aren't many important characters in this book, but the story still has many different events that happen throught it, good and bad.

This book relates to my life because Celies position is kind of like mine now. I am now living with my parents in their house and under their control and supervision, but I am going to school and hoping that one day I will go off and be able to live independently in my own house, with my own family, and my own rules. This is Celie's main goal in the book, and when her stepfaher dies and she gets the big house, it all comes true. This really happens when Nettie comes home with Celie's kids who are all grown up, some married, and she knows that they will all live together as a family. When I get old enough to move out I don't think I'll wait for my father to die to get the house, I think I'll start earlier.

Explain what techniques the author used to get her point across. How effective were they? In this book, the author tells the story through f

Some common words found in the essay are:
Celie Nettie, Tom's Cabin, Nettie Celie, Shug Avery, Africa Celie's, Tennessee Celie, Color Purple, Shug's Shug, Corrine Nettie's, Shug Celie, lose hope, own house, celie nettie, diary entries, story diary entries, telling story, missionary africa, story diary, celie's kids, live own house, telling stories, celie lose hope, live own, own house own, house own family,
Approximate Word count = 1071
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)