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    File: \DP\0134\01347.TXT         Mon Jun 26 15:40:41 1995
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$Title{Works of Toni Morrison
Guide To Further Study}
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$Author{Morrison, Toni}
$Affiliation{Free-Lance Writer, Formerly Associate Editor, New York Daily Challenge}
$Subject{morrison
beloved
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$Date{}
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Title:       Works of Toni Morrison
Book:        Study Guide
Author:      Morrison, Toni
Critic:      Branch, Eleanor
Affiliation: Free-Lance Writer, Formerly Associate Editor, New York Daily Challenge

Guide To Further Study

Ideas for Papers, Oral Reports, and Discussion

     1. Compare and contrast the generational conflicts that exist for the
women who inhabit 124.

     2. How is the theme of the pariah manifested in the novel?

     3. Compare and contrast the images of women-both black and white.

     4. Assess the mythic structure of the novel. Consider, for example,
aspects of quest, renunciation, and redemption.

     5. Outline the course of Denver's development from child to woman.

     6. What is the effect of gradually revealing Sethe's past, and how does
this method relate to the themes in the book?

     7. Compare the relationship between Denver and Beloved, and Beloved and
Sethe.

     8. What are the advantages or effects of using memory as a means of
exposition and characterization?

     9. Discuss the significance of Sethe's slavery experience in her decision
to commit infanticide. How does her experience differ from Paul D's? Give
examples.

     10. What function does Mrs. Garner serve in the novel?

     11. Morrison has commented that the novel deals with "certain aspects of
self-sabotage." What does she mean?

     12. In what way is Beloved a "tragedy"? What is Sethe's "tragic flaw"?

     13. Discuss briefly Sethe's comment, "No more running from nothing. I
will never run from another thing on this earth."

     14. Why is Paul D's sense of powerlessness emphasized so much throughout
the novel?

     15. Water, especially as it relates to Beloved, is used as a symbol-motif
of birth, death, and rebirth. In what ways is this motif applicable to other
characters and events in the novel.?

     16. Relate the epigraph to the development of theme in the novel.

     17. How is nature used in Beloved?

     18. What is the function of the minor characters?

     19. In what respect are all the major characters victims?

     20. Why does Sethe call Beloved back once Paul D has exorcised the baby
ghost?

     21. How does Morrison arouse and sustain our interest in Sixo?

     22. Discuss Paul D's reconciliation with Sethe. Is it believable? Why or
why not?

     23. Discuss the tensions underlying Denver and Sethe's relationship. How
are they finally resolved?

     24. Discuss the role of religion in the novel.

     25. In what ways is the setting important to the theme of Beloved?

     26. Discuss Morrison's use of the first person narrator in the context of
the entire novel.

     27. What happens to Beloved at the end of the novel? Has she really been
vanquished?

     28. How does Morrison contrast Ella and Sethe?

     29. Discuss Morrison's treatment of whites.

     30. What is the principal device the characters use to handle their
suffering?

     31. Is Beloved a villain? Explain.

     32. How does Morrison develop a sense of continuity between the past and
the present?

     33. Discuss the dual roles of community. How are they manifested in
Beloved?

     34. What is the principal lesson of the novel and how is it reinforced?

     35. How does each character's reaction to the past and the present affect
his or her characterization?

     36. In what respect is Paul D the hero of the novel?

     37. Compare and contrast Ella and Stamp Paid.

     38. What larger significance does "pondering color" have?

     39. Discuss Morrison's identification of black women as stoic figures.

     40. What is the significance of "plans"? Why don't Sethe and Paul D ever
make any?

     41. Who or what is Beloved? What evidence do we have to suggest that she
is something other than Sethe's dead daughter returned from the grave?

     42. Discuss the issue of identity as it relates to the major characters.

     43. How does Morrison use the story of Lot's wife and the image of the
Medusa to characterize Beloved?

     44. Discuss the uses of irony in the book.

     45. Read several reviews of Beloved (see Bibliography) and report on the
main criticisms, negative and positive.

     46. Compare and contrast Beloved with an earlier novel by Morrison.
Consider themes, plot, point-of-view, tone, methods of narration and of
characterization.

     47. Read Morrison's article "Rediscovering Black History" (see
Bibliography). In what ways can you see here the beginnings of her work on
Beloved?

     48. Read The Black Book, an anthology edited by Morrison, with special
attention to the article "A Visit to the Slave Mother Who Killed Her Child."
Show how Morrison developed this article into the novel Beloved. How much of
Beloved is based on the article; how much is fictitious expansion of the
original story?

     49. Read several interviews of Morrison in which she discusses Beloved.
What were her aims in writing the novel? What methods did she consciously
employ?

     50. In a dictionary or handbook of psychological terms, read the entry on
stream-of-consciousness. Read a portion of James Joyce's Ulysses and compare
his use of the "stream" with Morrison's in Beloved.

Annotated Bibliography

Works By Toni Morrison

     The Bluest Eye. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc., 1970.

     Sula. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1973.

     Song of Solomon. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977.

     Tar Baby. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981.

     Beloved. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.

     Morrison, Toni, "Rootedness: The Ancestor As Foundation," Mari Evans,
ed., Black Women Writers (1950-1980): A Critical Evaluation, New York: Anchor
Press/Doubleday, 1984, pp. 339-345. Morrison addresses the particular concerns
she brings to her writing.

     _____. "Rediscovering Black History," New York Times Magazine (August 11,
1974), pp. 14-16, 18, 20, 22, 24. Morrison recounts her experience as editor
of The Black Book. One article from the work, "A Visit to the Slave Mother Who
Killed Her Child," was inspiration for Beloved.

     _____. "A Slow Walk of Trees," New York Times Magazine (July 4, 1976),
pp. 104, 150, 152, 156, 160, 162, 164. A personal assessment of the progress
black people made from post-Civil War America to the 1970s.

Writings About Morrison And Her Works

     Atwood, Margaret, "Haunted by Their Nightmares," New York Times Book
Review (September 13, 1987), pp. 1, 49-50. Review compliments Morrison's use
of language and her presentation of the supernatural.

     Baker-Fletcher, Karen, "Fierce Love Comes to Haunt," Commonweal, Vol. 114
(November 6, 1987), pp. 631-633. Raises questions on the nature of Sethe's
crime and beyond that, why the novel was written.

     Bakerman, Jane, "The Seams Can't Show: An Interview with Toni Morrison,"
Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 12 (Summer 1978), pp. 56-60. Morrison
expounds upon her own writing.

     Brown, Rosellen, "The Pleasure of Enchantment," Nation, Vol. 245 (October
17, 1987), pp. 418-421. Complimentary review acknowledges visual appeal of the
book but questions its resolution as being too hastily achieved.

     Clemons, Walter, "The Ghosts of 'Sixty Million and More,'" Newsweek, Vol.
110 (September 28, 1987), p. 75. Short discussion of the book's dedication,
including an interview with Morrison.

     _____. "A Gravestone of Memories," Newsweek, Vol. 110 (September 28,
1987), pp. 74-75. Review analyzes juxtaposition of ghost story against
backdrop of black life in post-war Cincinnati.

     Crouch, Stanley, "Aunt Medea," The New Republic, Vol. 194 (October 19,
1987), pp. 38-43. Analysis of the novel in the context of black literary
criticism a la James Baldwin. Crouch considers the book melodramatic and
"protest pulp fiction."

     Davis, Hope Hale, "Casting a Strong Spell," New Leader, Vol. 70 (November
2, 1987), pp. 20-21. Review of the novel and overview of Morrison's other
works.

     Dowling, Colette, "The Song of Toni Morrison," New York Times Magazine
(May 20, 1979), pp. 40-2, 48, 52, 54, 56, 58. Comprehensive interview with the
author covering her life and times.

     Edwards, Thomas R., "Ghost Story," New York Review of Books, Vol. 34
(November 5, 1987), pp. 18-19. Exploration of novel that champions language,
fusion of myth and fantasy, Morrison's compassion and ability to capture the
injustices of slavery and their impact on slaves and former slaves.

     Fikes, Robert, Jr., "Echoes from Small Town Ohio: A Toni Morrison
Bibliography," Obsidian: Black Literature in Review, Vol. I/II (Spring/Summer
1979), pp. 142-148. Older bibliography of works by and about Morrison and her
published writings.

     Gray, Paul, "Somthing Terrible Happened," Time Vol. 130 (September 21,
1987), p. 75. Review suggests Morrison's treatment of slavery is both
"intriguing" and "unsettling."

     Horn, Miriam, "'Five Years of Terror,'" U.S. News & World Report, Vol.
103 (October 19, 1987), p. 75. Morrison speaks out on racism.

     Iannone, Carol, "Toni Morrison's Career," Commentary, Vol. 84 (December
1987), pp. 59-63. Brief biographical account of Morrison's life and
examination of her novels including a review of Beloved. Iannone argues the
dimensions of tragedy in the novel are overdone.

     LeClair, Thomas, "The Language Must Not Sweat," New Republic, Vol. 184
(March 21, 1981), pp. 25-29. Question and answer interview with Morrison in
which she talks about her life, her work, and her writing. "What is hard for
me is to be simple, to have uncomplex stories with complex people in them, to
clean the language, really clean it."

     Rothstein, Mervyn, "Toni Morrison, In Her New Novel Defends Women," New
York Times (August 26, 1987), p. C17(L). Morrison talks about writing Beloved.

     Smith, Amanda, "Toni Morrison," Publishers Weekly, Vol. 232 (August 21,
1987), pp. 50-51. Interview and review that discuss impetus behind Beloved,
the real-life story of the former slave woman who tried to murder her children
when caught by her former master.

     Strouse, Jean, "Toni Morrison's Black Magic," Newsweek, Vol. 97 (March
30, 1981), pp. 52-57. In-depth interview with Morrison that examines her
background, her novels, and her literary philosophies.

     Tate, Claudia, "Introduction," Claudia Tate, ed., Black Women Writers at
Work, New York: Continuum, 1983, pp. XV-XXVI. Offers a discussion of thematic
concerns of black women writers.

     _____. "Toni Morrison," Claudia Tate, ed., Black Women Writers at Work,
New York: Continuum, 1983, pp. 117-131. Wide-ranging interview with Morrison
on issues ranging from success to community.

     Thurman, Judith, "A House Divided," New Yorker Vol. 63 (November 2,
1987), pp. 175-180. Review points out some excesses, "a chorus of stock
characters" and "prose rife with motifs and images that the narration
sometimes orchestrates too solemnly."

     Washington, Mary H., "Introduction," Mary Helen Washington, ed.,
Black-Eyed Susans, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1975. Interesting and
insightful discussion on themes in the literature of black women.
