Week 1 & 2 - Due Friday 2/22
ACTIVITY 2. Letters 1-9 and answer the following Questions:
1. Who is Lucious?
2. What is Celie’s answer when her mother asks her “Whose child is it”?
3. What does Celie think happened to her second child?
4. How old is Celie’s new mother?
5. How did Mr.____’s previous wife die?
6. Why is Celie beaten by her father after she goes to church?
7. How many children does Mr.____ have?
8. Why does Celie’s father reject Mr.____’s request to marry Nettie?
9. According to Celie’s father, why will Celie be a better wife to Mr.____ than Nettie?
ACTIVITY 3 Read letters 10-12 and answer the following Questions:
1. How does Celie know that it is her daughter at the store?
2. What is Olivia’s foster mother buying at the general store, and why?
3. How old is Olivia now?
4. Why does Nettie show up at Mr.____’s farm?
5. Why does Celie start to feel good about herself?
6. How does Celie react to Nettie’s concern about leaving her alone with Mr.____?
7. Why do Mr.____’s sisters begin to gossip, even though “it not nice to speak ill of the dead”?
8. How does Celie compare with Mr.____’s previous wife, according to Kate and Carrie?
1. What is the reason that Mr.____ gives Harpo for beating his wife?
2. How old is Harpo when he falls in love, and how old is the girl with whom he falls in love?
3. How does Celie know that Shug Avery is going to play at the Lucky Star?
4. Why does Celie want to go to the club?
5. Why does Celie follow Mr.____ back from the cotton fields?
6. Describe Harpo’s recurring nightmare.
7. What does Sofia ask Celie for?
8. Where do Sofia and Harpo eventually marry?
9. Why does Mr.____ start to pay Harpo wages for working?
ACTICITY 5 Class Discussion
Week 3 - Due 2/29
1. Why are Sofia and Harpo arguing at the beginning of this section?
2. Describe Harpo’s wounds.
3. What excuse does Harpo give for his wounds?
4. What does Celie do to try to make herself sleep?
5. How much does Sofia pay Celie for use of her curtains?
6. What will happen if Celie continues to advise Harpo?
7. Why does Sofia feel sorry for Celie?
8. How many children does Sofia’s father have?
9. What does Celie mean when she tells Sofia that sometimes she has to talk with Old Maker?
Activity 2 Letters 22–27: Questions and Answers
1. What is Shug Avery’s nickname?
2. How does the priest characterize Shug in his sermon?
3. Celie says that there is “one good thing” about the fact that Mr.____ doesn’t do any work on the farm. What is that thing?
4. How does Shug survive when she is sicker than Celie’s mama when she died?
5. How many kids has Shug had with Mr.____?
6. Where are Shug’s kids now?
7. Describe Mr.____’s father.
8. What can Mr.____ vouch for about Shug?
9. What does Tobias bring for Shug?
Activity 3 Letters 28–31: Questions and Answers
1. What reasons does Celie give for eating?
2. What is clabber?
3. List what Harpo eats when he visits Celie.
4. What is meant when Harpo is asked “When is it due?”
5. Where does Harpo end up sleeping after his fight with Sofia?
6. After Harpo and Sofia fight, Harpo appears at Celie’s house with two black eyes. What bruises does Sofia have?
7. When Mr.____ and Celie have sex, how long does it take for both of them to fall asleep?
8. What does Sofia take when she leaves?
9. Describe Sofia’s sisters.
Activity 4 Letters 32–36: Questions and Answers
1. What is the name of Harpo’s new club?
2. Why is Harpo puzzled by Shug?
3. How does Shug describe the first time she made love with Mr.____?
4. What does having sex with Mr.____ feel like to Celie?
5. What was the best thing about having children for Celie?
6. How does Shug act like a man?
7. What does Harpo consider a scandal?
8. What is Buster’s “job,” with regards to Sofia?
9. How did Squeak get her nickname?
10. What does “teenouncy” mean?
Activity 5 Letters 37-41: Questions and Answers
1. How does Harpo mope?
2. What does Miss Millie always do, according to her husband?
3. What does Buster do while Sofia is getting beaten?
4. When the sheriff says that Sofia is crazy, how does Mr.____ reply?
5. How badly is Sofia injured from her beating by the police?
6. Who takes care of Sofia’s children while Sofia is in jail?
7. How often is Sofia visited by her friends?
8. What does Squeak remember about her uncle?
9. What is the warden’s justification for what he does to Squeak?
Activity 6 Letters 42–44: Questions and Answers
1. Who writes the songs that Mary Agnes sings?
2. Is Mary Agnes still mad that Sofia knocked out her teeth?
3. Why do Sofia’s children love Mary Agnes?
4. Why does Celie consider it impossible to “kill off” the whites?
5. Why does Miss Millie ask the mayor for a car?
6. How does the mayor get revenge for Millie’s insistence?
7. What does Miss Millie mean when she tells Sofia that “this is the South”?
8. How do all of Sofia’s children react when she shows up?
9. What does Miss Millie intend to do?
Activity 7 - Synopsis of The Color Purple play guide
Week 4 3/7
1. What does Mr.____ think the surprise will be?
2. What doesn’t Celie like about Grady at their first meeting?
3. How did Shug and Grady meet?
4. What would Shug do if she were Celie’s husband?
5. Why does Shug ask Celie if they could sleep together?
6. What are the “freakish things” that Shug thought was only done by “white folks”?
7. What does sleeping with Shug feel like to Celie?
8. How does Grady spend Shug’s money, according to Celie?
9. Where is Grady from?
Activity 2 - Letters 49–51: Questions and Answers
1. What do stamps look like, according to Celie?
2. What does Nettie’s letter look like?
3. How does Shug cover for Celie’s theft of Mr.____’s razor?
4. What is Shug’s real name, and why is she called Shug?
5. Describe Shug’s relationship with her parents.
6. What did Shug’s sister do for a living?
7. List the things Albert used to do when he went out with Shug.
8. How does Shug describe Annie Julia?
9. Why did Shug want Albert to choose her?
Activity 3 - Letters 52–60: Questions and Answers
1. Why does Nettie correct herself when she says that Corrine and Samuel have been “like family to me”?
2. Why does Nettie still write to Celie after she realizes that Mr.____ won’t let her have these letters?
3. What does Nettie want to tell Corrine and Samuel about their children, who “were sent by God” to them?
4. When does Nettie come into contact with American prejudice?
5. How do the people of Harlem feel about Africa?
Activity 4 - Letters 61-63: Questions and Answers
1. What does Celie learn about the weather in Africa?
2. Describe Joseph, the guide and translator.
3. What does Nettie notice about the Africans’ teeth?
4. How does Nettie describe the jungle?
5. What happened to the white missionary who was at the Olinka village?
6. What food is served at the welcoming ceremony?
7. Describe Nettie’s daily routine.
8. How is Olivia treated at school?
9. What does Tashi’s father want Nettie to do?
Activity 5 -Letters 64–69: Questions and Answers
1. Why is Nettie proud of the villagers as they talk with the roadbuilders?
2. How have Adam and Olivia changed during their five years in Africa?
3. Describe an Olinka funeral.
4. How is Samuel made uneasy by the relationships between men and women in the Olinka village?
5. What does Nettie mean when she says “a grown child is a dangerous thing”?
6. How does Corrine treat the children now?
7. Why does Corrine want to examine Nettie’s stomach?
Week 5
1. When Nettie tells Samuel and Corrine the entire story about Celie, what shocks Samuel the most?
2. What did the dry goods store smell like on the day Celie and Corrine met?
3. What does Corrine mean when she says to Nettie, “Don’t touch my things. I’m not dead yet”?
4. What did Corrine remember about the clerk at the dry goods store?
5. From what college did Corrine graduate?
6. What do the villagers think about women who menstruate?
7. What is Celie’s description of God?
8. Is God a man or woman, according to Shug?
ACTIVITY 2 Letters 74–77: Questions and Answers
1. Who is “Mama” to Sofia’s children?
2. What is the “welcome mat” that Celie is going to use to “enter Creation”?
3. What is wrong with Miss Eleanor’s family?
4. Why must Sofia “act nice”?
5. What is the curse that Celie puts on Mr.____?
6. Why does Shug give Celie a bedroom in the back of the house?
7. What kind of pants does Mary Agnes pick out for herself?
8. Describe how Celie designs a pair of pants for Jack.
9. Does Celie care about Darlene’s teaching her to speak correctly?
ACTIVITY 3 Letters 78–79: Questions and Answers
1. How is Harpo’s and Sofia’s house different from before?
2. What will Sofia’s sisters look like as pallbearers, according to Harpo? What is Sofia’s reply?
3. Why must Sofia always have things her own way?
4. How much does one of Grady’s cigarettes cost?
5. Why is marijuana like whiskey, according to Celie?
6. How does Celie reply when Sofia tells her that Mr.____ is “trying to git religion”?
7. What does Mr.____ say about Sofia’s mother?
8. What does Celie try to remember about Nettie’s letters?
ACTIVITY 4 Letters 80–81: Questions and Answers
1. How is Nettie surprised by her own appearance?
2. What do Nettie and Samuel now do for the Olinka tribe?
3. What are the signs all over Africa that a war is coming?
4. Why does Doris decide against becoming a nun?
5. What is the pseudonym of Doris Baines?
6. What pleasure is Doris willing to pay handsomely for?
7. What do people that meet Samuel and Nettie on the street in England always say?
8. What are some of the questions that the Olinka tribe always asked the missionaries?
9. What would have happened if Adam struck Tashi?
ACTIVITY 5 Letters 82–85: Questions and Answers
1. How come Celie still calls Alphonso “Pa”?
2. What does Alphonso leave Daisy?
3. How many children is Daisy left with?
4. What fortune does Celie read from her fortune cookie?
5. What did Shug feel about Grady?
6. What has happened to Grady and Mary Agnes?
7. Why does Shug talk about Cuba?
8. Name a recipe that Mr.____ devises to hide the taste of yams.
9. Why does the thought of getting pregnant make Celie want to cry?
10. What supposedly happens to Nettie’s ship?
ACTIVITY 6 Letters 86–87: Questions and Answers
1. Why is Samuel pretty confident that his family will not get malaria, even though there is an epidemic in the village?
2. What sort of church does Nettie and Samuel hope to found in America?
3. Why do the Olinka have “shallow” relationships with the missionaries?
4. Name some of the places that Shug and Germaine visit.
5. What does Eleanor Jane do to Sofia that is more annoying than complaining about her problems?
6. According to Stanley Earl, why do white folks “turn out so well”?
ACTIVITY 7 Letters 88–90: Questions and Answers
1. How long were Adam and Tashi gone?
2. What would Tashi still have if Adam deserted her?
3. What happens when Sofia is called “auntie” by a white man?
4. What was the only thing Albert ever wanted in life?
5. Why does Albert think we are here on this earth?
6. What has happened to Germaine?
7. Will Shug ever sing again?
8. Why did Mary Agnes leave Grady?
9. What do people like to eat in Africa, according to Tashi?
10. Why does Celie feel a little peculiar around the children?
