January 14

DIDLS I, Part II

Click the last link on this page for a didls guide.
http://teacherweb.com/CA/HaywardHighSchool/MsKeeble/photo3.aspx

Go back to the passage and take one of your points of analysis from your chart; choose diction, detail, figurative language, syntax, or imagery. Once you determine which element you will address, find one adjective that describes what type of diction, detail, language, syntax, or imagery you find.

Write one paragraph. Write it as a response that includes author, title, and any other element you need to respond correctly. Focus on your one topic, your concrete detail(s) and write out the paragraph following a triple entry journal format.

After you introduce the passage, apply the element you wish to analyze. For your topic sentence, explain how and why the author uses this device. Integrate the cd: summarize the quote with context, and then transition into your analysis. Remember to tie your analysis to your topic sentence. No loose ends.

Example.
In Beloved , author Toni Morrison uses descriptive detail to compare Sethe’s horrific past to her desire for a harmonious present and future. Sethe invites the “girls, screaming with laughter, [to] join her on the ice…making a circle… .” In a cirle they unite as a family, losing themselves in a moment of frivolity. Although they precariously stand, then fall atop a sheet of frozen water, the moment stands as a contrast between the unpredictable, violent horrors of their past. At one point, all three “sail[ing] happily on a frozen creek.” They relinquish all their fears, anxiety and hopelessness to enjoy the brief simple pleasure of their own company. They let loose to laugh and interact more comfortably than ever before, Sethe having made up her mind to “lay it all down, sword and sheild.” Morrison’s details emphasize how few moments like these Sethe and her children ever enjoyed: a moment to laugh, so simple, yet vital. (203-205)

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Posted January 14, 2013 by tashak38 in category Uncategorized

About the Author

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area--Big Up to the East Bay

72 thoughts on “DIDLS I, Part II

  1. Angelica N. Garcia

    Angelica G.
    Keeble
    Period 1
    Toni Morrison, author of Beloved, uses a handful of figurative language in her novel to describe the struggles her characters suffered on a daily basis. Morrison uses contrasting personification in this following excerpt to describe the struggles Sethe suffered. As things started having a negative outcome and became more complicated and worse, Sethe takes in mind the advice Baby Suggs had given her. Sethe realized she actually needed to “lay it all down.” Morrison writes, “Those twenty-eight happy days were followed by eighteen years of disapproval… then a few months of the sun-splashed life… a bed life for herself” (173). During these times it was very difficult to live without being judged, or discriminated. Often, Sethe would be worrying about her daughter or Paul D, would be sad and depressed when wondering about the future. Most times the characters had to find happiness in non-living objects because their families were not promised forever. As Morrison mentions, “those twenty-eight days were followed by eighteen years of disapproval,” and Sethe had to find happiness in the personified “sun-splashed days”.

    Reply
    1. tashak38 (Post author)

      I love the way you smoothly integrated your quotes into your analysis. Great job, Angelica. One point: In your topic sentence, you use a colloquial term, “a handful of.” Be sure to stay formal. You must always stay formal unless otherwise asked. Think of a more academic term for that colloquial phrase–example, “several,” or “___________.” Very simple, right? Great job, though.

      Reply
  2. Brittany-Ann D.

    Brittany-Ann V. Dela Cruz
    Keeble
    AP English
    15 January 2013

    In the award winning novel Beloved, Toni Morrison uses diction to convey a joyful tone. She says, “…yet every tumble doubled their delight. The live oak and soughing pine on the banks enclosed them and absorbed their laughter…” (Pg. 174). The word choices of “delight” and “laughter” create a blissful feeling to describe how happy Sethe, Denver, and Beloved were. Despite their falls and mishaps, they are still able to put a smile on their faces.

    Reply
  3. Joelynn D.

    Joelynn D.

    Ms. Keeble

    AP English – 2nd period

    15 January 2013

    In the novel Beloved, Toni Morrison uses expressive diction to emphasize the struggles in Sethe’s life in comparison to her transient prosperity. The few blissful days that she spent with Paul D “were followed by eighteen years of disapproval and a solitary life. Then a few months of the sun splashed life that the shadows holding hands on the road promised her.” While Morrison describes the eighteen years negatively, she describes the days with Paul D as “sun-splashed” which shows the stark contrasts of Sethe’s life. Even then, the few days that she did relax were short-lived because when Sethe finally allowed herself to believe that she could attain happiness, Paul D moved out and left; insulting her as he went. (173)

    Reply
  4. Elisha Hussain

    Elisha Hussain
    AP English 11
    Ms. Keeble
    January 15, 2013

    In Beloved, Toni Morrison uses imagery to appeal to our senses and evoke our feelings. Sethe felt happy when she went ice skating with Beloved and Denver. It describes how she had the time of her life. When reading it in the story it made you believe that she forgot all about Paul D. In reality she was hurting on the inside and the hurt build up inside but she didn’t want to show it for the sake of Beloved and Denver. ” Sethe rose to her hands and knees, laughter still shaking her chest, making her eyes wet. She stayed that way for a while, on all fours. But when her laughter died, the tears did not and it was some time before Beloved or Denver knew the difference.” (Morrison 183).Morrison uses imagery here to describe the sullen tone of the story. Also, she uses imagery to help us imagine the pain that Sethe is going through. When reading this you imagine a melancholy women with wrinkles and pain flicking across her eyes even as she laughs. It also helps describe the tone of this story which is mostly sullen and sad. Morrison uses imagery to paint a better picture of the outburst that Sethe finally had.

    Reply
    1. tashak38 (Post author)

      You have to decide what kind of imagery, specifically as it applies to our senses. Is it visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile? What sense is she appealing to through her imagery? Every author uses imagery. In your analysis you must say what it is specifically and what what effect it creates on the audience.
      Revise.

      Reply
  5. Sarai P.

    Sarai P.
    AP English
    Keeble
    15 January 2013

    Toni Morrison, the author of Beloved (underlined), demonstrates the protagonist’s desire for freedom by her form of writing. After enduring many hardships and heartbreaks due to haunting memories of the past, Sethe, the protagonist, begins to understand that it is best to leave the past behind. Morrison writes, “Sethe couldn’t skate a lick…lay it all down, (182).” Through this, a reader can easily sense Sethe’s desire to lead a new way of life. In this new life, she no longer lives restricted to mistakes she has committed.

    Reply
    1. tashak38 (Post author)

      You have to be more specific. You put the protagonist at the center of this statement and you must focus on the style. The effect is the last piece of your analysis. So, make the style the subject. And be specific. Your job is to analyze one element of her style. Go back to the prompt and re-do. ASAP.

      Reply
  6. Jasmine J

    Jasmine
    Keeble
    AP English, Per. 1
    14 January 2013

    In the award-winning novel Beloved (underline), Toni Morrison uses syntax to emphasize Sethe letting going and living carefree, even if only for a moment’s time. Morrison continually repeats the phrase, “… nobody saw the falling.” Sethe, Beloved, and Denver laid it all down, found some skates, and even though they continuously slipped and fell, they enjoyed themselves. They were carefree. Morrison uses the anaphora to emphasize their freedom from judgement. Nobody saw them fall so nobody could judge them about their mistakes.

    Reply
  7. Sidney

    Sidney 
    AP English
    Period 1
    In Beloved , author Toni Morrison uses Imagery to describe Sethe’s desire for a harmonious present and future. “She had been on her knees, scrubbing the floor, Denver trailing her with the drying rags, when Beloved appeared saying, ‘What these do?’ On her Knees, scrub brush in hand, she looked at the girl and the skates she held up.” (Morrison 173) Sethe allows herself and the girls to finally have fun together. After all there hard work and unhappiness the moment beloved walks in with skates they decide to enjoy themselves. While skating that have moments of certainty, no worries and bliss. “no one saw them fall”  As a family who is always caught up in being talked about it does them well to have fun. Imagining these characters enjoying each others company by finding skates
    Proves how little by little Sethe is becoming more lively and living life. 

    Reply
    1. tashak38 (Post author)

      What kind of imagery? Think about which sense is effected by the scene. Proofread for capitalization. ASAP.

      Reply
  8. David M.

    David M.
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English
    1/14/12
    In Beloved, Toni Morrison uses descriptive detail to assert the lose of all her companions and show the void that they have left in Sethe. Sethe feels, “The twenty-eight days of having women friends, a mother-in-law, and all her children together…” She can feel that they were there and that they left her. She even counted the days they were with her and that shows how much it meant to her to actually have people with her. She expresses her loneliness and her sorrow by simply describing how long she had those people with her. Even showing that Paul D left her just like everyone else did. It leaves a haunting feel like all that remains in that house is her and her children. However, Sethe knows she needs to be strong for her children and decides to spend a brief period of joy with them ice skating. Even though she has been left alone now, she knows that what is important is that her children are with her. But she will always feel the sting of those who have abandoned her and stripped her of her “normal” life in a neighborhood.

    Reply
  9. Heather H.

    Heather House
    Ms. Keeble
    AP Eng. 11, Per. 2
    14 January 2013

    In her award-winning novel Beloved, Toni Morrison uses intricate imagery to allow the reader to fully appreciate Sethe’s plight. During Sethe’s month of happiness, there were “No more discussions, stormy or quiet, about the true meaning of the Fugitive Bill…and the other weighty issues that held them in chairs, scraping the floorboards or pacing them in agony or exhilaration.” When one is pacing, it often implies great concern and worry. Various concerns regarding legal and social freedom were like heavy anchors tying Sethe to unhappiness. When she no longer had these ties to worries about race, Sethe could finally be happy, at least for a little while.

    Reply
  10. DaJohn Wade

    Morrison leaves a lonesome depiction after she describes how Sethe feels once Paul D found out about her past. She describes the enjoyable life she had with friends, then turns around and talks about to the epiphany of having the past ruin you whole life. When the author says, “The twenty-eight days of having women friends…never come back”, she talks about the moments Sethe was able to enjoy with her passed being hidden. Once the dark truth about the murder of her daughter is revealed, relationships crumble before her eyes and she is left with “a bed life to herself”. The image of a mattress being your only friend until death calls can be an eye opener to the reader. She then discusses a saddening cycle that Sethe believes has plagued her; she will only have short lived moments of happiness, followed by .lonesome. A vivid image of forever hurting because of what you did in the past, people leaving you and the memories y’all formed, and realizing that nothing will change can grab the reader with a depressing visual of solitary at its finest.

    Reply
  11. Ryan C.

    Ryan C.
    Ms. Keeble
    Period 1

    In the novel Beloved (underline), Toni Morrison gives descriptive detail so you can imagine and feel the moment that Sethe, Beloved and Denver had together when they went out on their fun experience. When both of them see that, ” the sky above them was another country”. They were so into the sky when they laid there and stared into the sky, that it was like in a different world. Sethe, “for a moment looking up, Sethe entered the perfect peace they offered. They were enjoying themselves so much that, “all three… laughed till they coughed”. Morrison detailed this so much that it would feel like you were watching them have a great time on the ice. (Morrison 183)

    Reply
  12. Ryan C.

    Ryan C.
    Ms. Keeble
    Period 1

    In the novel Beloved (underline), Toni Morrison gives descriptive detail so you can imagine and feel the moment that Sethe, Beloved and Denver had together when they went out on their fun experience. When both of them see that, ” the sky above them was another country”. They were so into the sky when they laid there and stared into the sky, that it was like in a different world. Sethe, “for a moment looking up, Sethe entered the perfect peace they offered. They were enjoying themselves so mush that, “all three… laughed till they coughed”. Morrison detailed this so much that it would feel like you were watching them have a great time on the ice. (Morrison 183)

    Reply
  13. Phuong-My N.

    Phuong-My N.
    Keeble
    AP English, Per. 2
    14 January 2013

    In the award-winning novel Beloved (underline), Toni Morrison uses descriptive language to showcase a time in American history when African Americans were treated unequally. “Whole towns wiped clean of Negroes; eighty-seven lynchings in one year alone in Kentucky…grown men whipped like children; children whipped like adults; black women raped by the crew…” (Morrison 189). Going into details about the crimes committed against African Americans lets the reader know how different the past was compared to now. African Americans were treated like dogs and murdered just based on the color of their skin. Morrison wanted to make sure the reader knew what African Americans had to endure and with the detailed description, she succeeds.

    Reply
  14. Maliko P.

    Maliko P.
    1/14/13
    period: 02

    In Beloved (Underlined) , author Tony Morrison uses imagery to display a visual in the readers mind of the intense conversation Sethe and Paul D used to have. “No more discussions, stormy or quiet..” (181). Morrison is trying to evoke the different variation of conversations Paul D and Sethe have. some would be loud and strong like a “storm” and some would be tranquil and soft representing the “quiet”.

    Reply
  15. Mercedes G.

    Mercedes G
    Ms.Keeble
    AP English, 2
    January 14, 2013
    In Beloved by Toni Morrison she uses expressive detail to allow a visual in the readers mind while reading this novel. She uses this to give the reader an idea about what is happening and maybe to help the reader better understand the book by imaging the scenarios throughout this novel. Morrison tries to let the reader imagine when Denver falls while ice skating, “The tip of her single skate hit an ice bump, and as she fell, the flapping of her arms so wild and hopeless…” (183). Overall, detail can be important asset because it can give a novel a bit more meaning than reading the words off the page but to imagine the words instead.

    Reply
  16. Merritt Walker

    Merritt Walker
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 2
    14 January 2013

    In her novel Beloved, Toni Morrison uses descriptive imagery to help the reader understand and visualize Sethe better. “Exhausted finally they lay down on their backs to recover breath. ” After they finished skating Sethe and the girls to break and laid down in the clearing. “Winter stars close enough to lick, had come out before sunset. For a moment looking up, Sethe entered the perfect peace.” Looking up at the stars Sethe is taken back back by the beauty of the sky. “The sky above them was another country.” When she looked up she was taken away and it seemed like she wasn’t really there, it was that peaceful to her. For just a little moment Sethe is doing something happy with her life. Morrison’s audience is able to feel the peacefulness that Sethe is feeling. “Her bones surfaced in unexpected places and so did laughter. ” With the use of imagery the reader is able to feel her bone shifting stomach and shoulders moving when she. Is laughing. The reader is able to connect with Sethe through the use of Morrison’s descriptive imagery.

    Reply
  17. Jhoann B.

    Jhoann B.
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11 Per 2
    14 January 2013

    In the book Beloved, novelist Toni Morrison uses powerful imagery to illustrate the dehumanizing effects slavery inflicted on American society. Stamp Paid goes to 124 with the intent of checking up on Sethe, but flees after seeing two women through one of the house’s windows. As he leaves the household, he contemplates how the institution of slavery tarnished the community. White culture perceived African Americans as inferior savages; however, Stamp Paid argues that “it wasn’t the jungle blacks brought with them… It was the jungle white-folks planted in them.” He conveys that black slaves didn’t come from Africa without human qualities and that the cruelty of white people gave impetus to their degradation. Then, Stamp Paid shifts blacks as the victims of slavery to whites, revealing that slave owners have become beasts “under their own white skin.” When people think of slavery, most consider African Americans as slavery’s primary victims; however, Morrison incorporates expressive images to exhibit that both blacks and whites were corrupted by the brutalizing institution. (Morrison 208)

    Reply
  18. Alexia G. (period 1)

    In Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, she uses figurative language to describe how the sky looked to Sethe, Denver, and Beloved as they laid looking up at it. The sky appeared to be “…another country. Winter stars, close enough to lick…Sethe entered the perfect peace they offered” (174). Morrison uses personification to emphasize how the stars enhanced the scenery of the sky. The view in Sethe’s eyes took her to another place and seized all the pain. This gave Sethe the opportunity to feel free. The author also uses a hyperbole to stress how close the stars seemed. When Morrison uses figurative language she feeds the reader more detail; this is like giving a picture its color.

    Reply
  19. Jhoann B.

    Jhoann B.
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11 Per 2
    14 January 2013

    In the book Beloved, novelist Toni Morrison uses powerful imagery to illustrate the dehumanizing effects slavery inflicted on American society. Stamp Paid goes to 124 with the intent of checking up on Sethe, but flees after seeing two women through one of the house’s windows. As he leaves the household, he contemplates how the institution of slavery tarnished the community. White culture perceived African Americans as inferior savages; however, Stamp Paid argues that “it wasn’t the jungle blacks brought with them… It was the jungle white-folks planted in them.” He conveys that black slaves didn’t come from Africa without human qualities and that the cruelty of white people gave impetus to their degradation. Then, Stamp Paid shifts blacks as the victims of slavery to whites, revealing that slave owners have become beasts “under their own white skin.” When people think of slavery, most consider African Americans as slavery’s primary victims; however, Morrison incorporates expressive images to exhibit that both blacks and whites were corrupted by the brutalizing institution.

    Reply
  20. Abraham N.

    Abraham N.
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11
    Period 5
    14 January 2013

    Q: “The twenty-eight days of having normal days…These twenty-eight happy days were followed by eighteen years of disapproval and a solitary life” (Morrison 181)

    S: At the beginning of part two, Sethe is still feeling the emotional effects of having to kill her daughter to save her from a life of slavery and from the schoolteacher, among other things, while Stamp Paid cannot see himself going back into 124, even though he wants to visit.

    R: In Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses a type of syntax called anaphora, which is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a clause to put your point across better, and in this case, Morrison used anaphora to detail how bad of a life Sethe has lived. When Morrison talks about twenty-eight days, she actually doesn’t mean twenty-eight days, Morrison actually is trying to imply that most of her life has been horrible, with only a little bit of happiness in it.

    Reply
  21. Caitlin H.

    Caitlin Huie
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English Per 2
    14 January 2013

    In the novel Beloved, Morrison uses descriptive detail to exemplify Denver’s feel of loneliness. Her room in the woods “began as a little girl’s houseplay, but her desires changed, so did the play. Quiet, private and completely secret… First a playroom, then a refuge, soon the place became the point.” (30) The description gives the reader a sense of solitude and isolation. It makes the reader understand why she goes to her room in the woods. Denver wants to use this place for her imagination and secrets. It gives her an impression of importance and safety, knowing that she’s secluded from the rest of the world.

    Reply
  22. David D.

    David Delgado
    Ms. Keeble
    Period 2
    AP English
    14 January 2012
    In Beloved by Toni Morrison uses unique details to show how Sethe’s mood has changed after Paul D’s departure. Beloved, Sethe and Denver went ice skating and enjoyed themselves and even though Sethe slide and fell she still enjoyed herself. “Her bones surfaced in unexpected places and so did laughter.” (pg.182) It was clear that the reason why she and the girls went ice skating was so Sethe can take her mind off of Paul D leaving her. It did end up working because she enjoyed herself and laughed along with Denver and Beloved. Even though Paul D left her, these details tell the reader that even though she was devastated by his departure she is currently happy. Spending time with Denver and Beloved took her mind off of Paul D; as a result this makes her more happy.

    Reply
  23. Desiree N.

    Desiree N.

    Ms. Keeble

    AP English 11

    14 January 2013

    In the novel Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses vivid imagery to allow the reader to understand the kind of life Sethe has. From Morrison’s imagery, one can assume Sethe has a life of hard work and misery with occasional events of joy. “She had been on her knees, scrubbing the floor, Denver trailing her with the drying rags, when Beloved appeared saying,”What these do?” On her knees, scrub brush in hand, she looked at the girl and the skates she held up.” (172) Sethe is busy with household chores, when all of a sudden Beloved comes in to go ice skating. The way Sethe interacts with Denver and Beloved shows that she is yearning for time with them. “Holding hands, bracing each other, they swirled over the ice.” (172)

    Reply
  24. Yarelli Lopez

    Yarelli Lopez
    Ms. Keeble
    Ap English Language and Composition
    14 January 2014

    In Beloved, Toni Morrison uses syntax throughout the novel to emphasize certain ideas. Morrison communicates, “Nobody saw them falling… Nobody saw them falling… Nobody saw them falling” (182). She uses repetition in order to make the reader go further into the meaning of the content. These words could mean that for Sethe only she and her two girls, Denver and Beloved, existed in this world because there were no “eyes” that saw them falling.

    Reply
  25. Rebekah N.

    Rebekah N
    Ms. Keeble
    Period 5
    14 January 2013

    In Beloved , the author Toni Morrison uses nostalgic detail to remind the reader of how much Sethe needs to remember to spend her time wisely. How their are other, more important people, like Beloved and Denver, who actually care about her and need her in their lives.

    ““woman friends, a mother-in-law, and all her children together; of being part of a neighborhood; of, in fact, having neighbors at all to call her own- all that was long gone and would never come back”

    Reply
  26. Alicia Gonzales

    Alicia Gonzales
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11
    15 January 2013
    In the novel Beloved by Toni Morrison, she uses diction to set the mood and tone of what is going on, and to help us understand and relate to Sethe.
    Morrison states “Those twenty-eight days were followed by eighteen years of disapproval and a solitary life. Then a few months of the sun splashed life that the shadows holding hands on the road promised her” (173). Sethe didn’t have the greatest life with her children. Morrison’s diction emphasizes the idea that the majority of Sethe’s life was filled with negativity and downtimes. She only had twenty-eight days- a month of happiness compared to eighteen years of unhappy days.
    Although Sethe is in this unfortunate situation, there is still a promised future that could possibly hold something positive after all the darkness.

    Reply
  27. Alicia O.

    Alicia Oseguera
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English
    14 January 2013

    In Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses repeating diction to emphasize the way the two skates fall. Sethe invites Beloved and Denver to go ice skating with her when they find a blade. Sethe then says ” Well, she said. We’ll take turns. Two skates on one; one skate on one; and shoe slide for the other. Nobody saw them falling… Nobody saw them falling… But nobody saw them fall”(205-206). Them having so much fun while ice skating made them not be able to see anything else. They were being blinded by the happiness they were feeling, forgetting about the past not seeing how they fell. They fell while ice skating but ” nobody saw them” because they themselves didn’t notice it by the way they felt in another world. Morrison’s way of using diction by repeating this phrase emphasized how much fun they were having. Not only that but her use of diction showed how blinded this short moment made them not notice anything else.

    Reply
  28. Hannah R.

    Hannah Reddy
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English 11, Period 2
    14 January 2013

    In Toni Morrison’s novel “Beloved”, she uses figurative language to Sethe’s new sense of happiness she has now come upon. Morrison uses figurative language to engage her readers, trying to gain their interest even more. Paul D has just walked out on the girls and Sethe feels like she was naïve and shouldn’t have trusted so easily. Morrison writes, “Their skirts flew like wings and their skin turned pewter in the cold and dying light.” Sethe is usually a busy body, trying to do all the housework, and anything she could think of to make sure everything is perfect. But now, Sethe has stopped in the middle of her work to have fun. When one thinks of skirts flying, they may he/she may think of little girls twirling around laughing and specifically having fun. The quote represents the type of fun Sethe had. She had a type of innocent fun where she could have no care in the world. It is a leisurely experience for her because she has never had true relaxing fun or a true childhood as most people remember today.

    Reply
  29. Areli S

    Areli Sanchez
    Ms. Keeble
    January 14th, 2012
    AP English 11, 2nd period

    In Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses emotional diction to enhance Sethe’s anxiousness and obscure feelings . While rummaging through feet , thoguhts of how she “despised herself” lingered through her mind. Throughout this passage, background thoughts are occuring behind Sethe’s present actions. So it can be infered that Sethe is quite anxious and is overwhelmed with thought. Sethe also states her life is “eighteen years of disapproval and a solitary life”, these words penetrated into the reader’s mind and triggers thoughts of there being a possiblity that Sethe suffers emotionally. This passage has an event occuring in which Sethe is supposed to be enjoying herself, but with the diction used by the author one can infer that there is more to it. (172-175)

    Reply
  30. Niauni

    Niauni Hill
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English, Period 1
    14 January 2013

    In Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses imagery to describe her happiness having Beloved and Denver. “Sethe rose to her hands and knees, laughter still shaking her chest, making her eyes wet. She stayed that way for a while, in all fours” (Morrison 206). Morrison seems to feel some type of release…as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders, a barrier broken. Because of Paul D’s absence it is obvious Sethe is not as happy as she was when he was around. Now that Beloved an Denver are in her life positively, it seems as if Sethe is feeling better, more happy, she is now able to “breathe” easier.

    Reply
  31. Dominique N

    Dominique N.
    AP English 11 Per 2
    Ms. Keeble
    January 14, 2012

    In Beloved, Toni Morrison uses figurative language to describe how Sethe felt about her status in life and where she feels belongs. “Paul D convinced me there was a world out there and that I could live in it. Should have known better. Did know better. Whatever is going on outside my door ain’t for me. The world is in this room. This here’s all there is and all there needs to be.” Sethe is saying that she does not need to worry about anything she does not already know. Everything she already knows is all she needs, for it is her life. She has not experienced anything other than the “room” she has been constricted in, which is a metaphor for her boarders. I think this quote contradicts itself, for she mentions how Paul D has told her there was a whole world out there she has not experienced just waiting for her, but she knows better to just restrict herself in her safety zones. Morrison uses figurative language to give Sethe an attitude that describes her character, which plays a role in how she sees reacts to certain situations. (191)

    Reply
  32. Rachel N.

    Rachel N.
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English Language & Composition
    15 January 2013

    In the novel Beloved, Toni Morrison utilizes syntactical repetition to portray how Sethe is dealing with the departure of Paul D. on her family. Sethe attempts to take Baby Suggs advice “…to lay it all down…but actually take it” (Morrison 181). To symbolize that she has moved on, she takes her family out on an ice skating endeavor. Although Sethe is hesitant at first, seeing the pair of skates in her daughters hand motivates her to live life despite what is going on around her. She thinks, “…decided to take Baby Suggs advice: lay it all down…left bucket where it was” (Morrison 182). She makes a decision to enjoy what is going on now instead of worrying about what is going to happen in the future. The author’s syntax emphasizes how much of an affect her decision had on her to accept her current circumstances. It made her full of joy and refreshed. Moreover, it gave her satisfaction that she was taking control of her own life and not her emotions. She discovers “…that the woman junkheaped for the third time…that woman was sailing happily on a frozen creek” (Morrison 182). Morrison’s syntax repeatedly illustrates the fact how Sethe’s decision to be at peace with being in the moment truly paid off.

    Reply
  33. Diana Larios

    Diana Larios
    AP English 11
    Period: 1
    Keeble
    14 January 2013

    In Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses descriptive details to show how quickly Sethe’s mood has evolved since the last two major episodes in her life. One being Paul D leaving and the other finding out that Beloved is her resurrected daughter. ” Holding hands, bracing each other, they swirled over the ice… The girls, screaming with laughter, joined her on the ice…could not stay upright for more than a whole minute but nobody saw them falling”(174). Morrison’s details here emphasize that even though Sethe was depressed because of Paul D’s departure she is now extremely happy with her two little girls. These descriptive details make it easy for the reader understand how happy and content Sethe is with her world at the moment.

    Reply
  34. Aaron Chon

    Aaron Chon
    Ms Keeble
    AP English 11, Period 2
    15 January 2013

    In Beloved, Toni Morrison utilizes anxious details to describe the struggle within Stamp Paid to properly approach Sethe and the other residents of 124. Normally, Stamp Paid is welcome in the houses of the community, and would “walk in your door as if it were his own.” The fact that he is a commonly respected and known member of the society demonstrates the distance that exists between him and the residents of 124. Stamp Paid tries many times, as “Six times in as many days he abandoned his normal route and tried to knock at 124.” But his attempts at action are foiled because he feels that what he is doing signified that “he was indeed a stranger at the gate.” The animosity or distance that exists between Sethe and everyone else is strong enough that someone that helped to nurse her child and is closer to her family than anyone else in the community remains unable to help her, much less knock on her door.

    Reply
  35. Amacalli Duran

    Amacalli Duran
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English
    15 January 2013

    In Beloved (underline), author Toni Morrison uses figurative language to compare Sethe’s innocent skating adventure to the vengeful murder of her children. After Sethe’s resolution to “lay it all down, sword and shield”, she motivated herself to take her “daughters” skating around the frozen pond. Morrison describes, “Making a circle or a line, the three of them could not stay upright for one whole minute, but nobody saw them falling…Nobody saw them falling” (Morrison 174). Morrison expertly compares how Sethe skating on ice is similar to her killing her children. While looking for the skates, Morrison illustrates the frantic state Sethe was in, just as she was in when she saw the four horsemen approach her house. Next, Morrison compares Sethe constantly falling to her habitual cycle of depression and recuperation. At last, Morrison then repeats “Nobody saw them falling” to explain how the community did not witness the downfall of Sethe and her family because they abandoned her and looked the other way. However, Morrison ends this comparison by enabling Sethe to come to amends with her past.

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  36. Dartise

    Dartise
    Jan. 14, 2013
    period 1

    In Beloved, Tony Morrison uses clever imagery to state everything Sethe was learning about freedom was misleading. Sethe states, “No anxious wait for the north star or news of a beat off. No signing at a new betrayal or hand clapping at a small victory.” Sethe explained this quote using strong descriptive language that makes you realize how hard times were. Also how it took so long for anything to get passed so help the poor slaves. It gives you a image of the hard times and all of the suffering they went through.

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  37. Veronica

    Veronica
    Jan. 14, 2013
    Ap English

    In Beloved, by Toni Morrison, she uses very descriptive details to emphasize Sethe’s horrible past. Sethe explains, “Whole towns wiped clean Negroes; eighty-seven lynchings in one year alone in Kentucky; four colored schools burned to the ground, grown men whipped like children; children whipped like adults; black women raped by the crew; property taken, necks broken,” (180). She describes how badly they were treated and how no African American was ever looked at as a human being. African Americans were looked down upon simply because of their skin color and how they were considered “property.”

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  38. Kiloni D

    Kiloni Driskell
    January 14, 2013
    AP English 2

    In Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses imagery to connect Sethe indelible scars as a chokecherry tree. While conversating with Denver, Sethe starts remininsing about the women she met, Amy Denver, who glanced at her brutal lashing scars calling it a chokecherry tree. “She saw them sometimes in beautiful trees, their little legs barely visible in the leaves.” Those scars are expressing it’s cruelty and anger representing the effects of slavery. Amy mention that there is nothing “comforting” about a chokecherry tree and her tree is complete with sap, branches, leaves, and blossoms. Morrison uses the tree to contrast the horrifying events of slavery to portray the evil yet positives sways.

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  39. Gonzalo Haro

    Gonzalo Haro

    In Beloved (underlined), author Toni Morrison uses nostalgic detail to give the reader a sense of longing. Sethe reminisces about the time when she had “woman friends, a mother-in-law, and all her children together; of being part of a neighborhood; of, in fact, having neighbors at all to call her own- all that was long gone and would never come back”. Sethe feels crushed at the thought of never having something like that ever again. After the thought of this, Sethe decides that she needs to spend time with people that are currently present in her life, like Beloved and Denver. (173-175)

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  40. Valeria Diaz

    Valeria Diaz
    Period 5
    14 January 2013
    Ms. Keeble
    Morrison writes in her novel Beloved a lot of detail to provide for the reader to help understand. She mentions Sethe and the chirldren are ice skating in a reading that is able to turn into a visual. “Sethe thought her two shoes would hold and anchor her. She was wrong. Two paces onto the creek, she lost her balance and landed on her behind. The girls, screaming with laughter, joined her on the ice.” (174) A simple loose of balance can make children laugh even though their is pain going on. It only takes a few seconds to change a mood on someone with out expecting it. Morrison provided enough detais to create and help feel or even hear the stories action.

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  41. Zoey Madsen

    Zoey Madsen
    Period 5
    14 January 2013

    In her book Beloved, Toni Morrison uses depictive personification to create a symbolic and emotional connection to items or events in Sethe’s life with the reader. Throughout the anecdote, Sethe remembers “shadows holding hands… .” Sethe, Denver, and Paul D spend a day at the carnival, opening up to the feeling of being a family. Although it’s new to all of them, they eventually chose to accept the change and be thankful for the chance of upcoming fortunes. Their shadows being attached at the hands. The personification brings deeper meaning to important memories or events told in the book, such as the moment of happiness at the carnival that was soon to be altered into a simple memory and nothing more.

    Reply
    1. tashak38 (Post author)

      Look at sentence two. Does the reader have a life with Sethe? And Zoey, say novel. Book is from your earlier years.

      Reply
  42. Jonathan v

    Jonathan v
    ms..Keeble
    Period 1

    In Beloved, by Toni Morrison, there is a lot of mesmerizing figurative language that makes the reader feel like he is part of Sethe’s life. Sethe started to mentioned how she had those months of joy with all her family and all, until she got a little bit concerned about the future of her kids, as soon as that took place, her sun splashed months became shadows to her. As she kept on going about her violent past and al the gruesome things she did to keep her kids safe, she explains her life as “Shadows holding hands”, when we think of shadows it is usually something dark, and when they are united its like a new force of evil. When she also starts to talk about all that light she saw in Beloved, she now truly starts to see that these dark moments slowly but surely are making her love for these two girls a little tougher. Sethe also talks about short lived glory after a good amount of years of solitary life, which to many a victory is a victory, but one that is not a big one is not considered a won, its like a break for the worse to come. That short victory is Beloved, because after all those years of suffering she has found what she mourned for a very long time, her baby daughter in a different form. Beloved returned the sun splash to her days and lightened up those shadows.

    Reply
    1. tashak38 (Post author)

      Jonathan. Revise for sentence structure. Your ideas are marvelous. Where do your sentences end and begin and take out all those extra phrases. All of the words you do not need must go away like yesterday.

      Reply
  43. Natasha R.

    Natasha Ramirez
    Keeble
    Ap English
    Period 5

    In Beloved, by Toni Morrison, the author uses synthesis to describe that her hurtful past was no more, “No more discussions, stormy or quiet, about the true meaning of the Fugative Bill, the Settlement Fee,God’s Way’s and Negro pews; antislavery, manumission, skin voting, Republicans, Dred Scott, book learning, Sourner’s high -wheeled buggy,the Colored Ladies of Delaware, Ohio, and other weighty issues that held them in the chairs, scraping the floorboards or pacing them in agony or exhilaration.” (173) The author demosonstres, Sethes’s relief of no longer having to deal with events she mentioned such as the fugative bill or skin voting. A weight of relief is lifted from Sethe, she can have a calmer life without the burden of those laws an way of life.

    Reply
    1. tashak38 (Post author)

      This quote should be shorter. Use MLA format and interrupt your long quote with an ellipsis or take out chunks of the passage, weaving them in with your commentary. Try to do it on your own. We can do it tomorrow if you get stuck.

      Reply
  44. Ross Hatlen

    Ross H
    Keeble
    APENG Period 2
    14 January 2013

    In Beloved , author Toni Morrison uses syntax to list Sethe’s horrible fate and how their is still a flicker of hope for her. Sethe reveals that “The twenty-eight days of having women friends, a mother-in-law, and all her children together; of being part of a neighborhood.” Sethe had all these things. Then one by one they all left her. This is very depressing she has lost everything, but one thing still remains Denver and Beloved. She excludes them from her list. This is to show that they are going to always be there for her. They will be there no matter how bad things become for Sethe. They have been through a lot together and will stay together. (181)

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  45. Rachael B.

    Rachael B.
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English, Per. 2
    14 January 2013

    In Beloved, Toni Morrison exerts many types of figurative language throughout the novel to give the reader a hint of how characters think and feel within a situation. Morrison uses a metaphor that suggests African Americans are emotionally distraught because of “the jungle white folks planted in them.” This jungle represents the locked up emotions and memories from the past. It “grew” suggesting that it was planted since the beginnings of slavery in the United States. These multitudes of feelings, mixtures of hate and sadness, did not only touch African Americans of the time but also “invaded the whites who had made it” or in other words backfired on them. The mixed emotions were the effects of slavery, hidden within the ex-slaves which “made them bloody, silly, worse than even they wanted to be” towards each others and the other race (the backfiring). Sethe had showed the effects of this “jungle” when she had kill her daughter in order to protect her from the horrors of slavery. The jungle lives on as a silent, emotional past and still growing despite the end of slavery.

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  46. Efrain E

    Efrain E
    Period 1
    AP English

    In Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses descriptive imagery to compare Sethe’s seclusion from the community to the creek where Beloved and Denver skated with her. Morrison writes, “The live oak and soughing pine on the banks enclosed them and absorbed their laughter while they fought gravity for each other’s hands.” She describes the creek as a place closed off from the rest of the world. Sethe and the two girls are able to enjoy themselves, knowing that they are alone and no one is watching them. The creek can also represent the isolation that Sethe hides underneath her smile. Just like the ice hidden behind the trees, she hides the sadness she feels from the community’s rejection behind her smile as she glides across the ice with Denver and Beloved. (182)

    Reply
  47. Jessica A

    Jessica A.
    Ms. Keeble
    AP Lang. & Composition, Per. 5
    14 January 2013

    In Beloved, Toni Morrison uses vivid imagery to allow the reader to become involved in Sethe’s difficult, yet rewarding life. Sethe seldom has the opportunity to take pleasure in doing what she’d love to do. Sethe “has been on her knees, scrubbing the floor,” but when “Beloved appeared saying, “What these do?”…she looked at the girl and the skates she held up.” Sethe longed to do something exciting, so she “left the bucket where it was” and proceeded toward the “frozen creek.” There, Sethe, Denver, and Beloved were “holding hands, bracing each other…swirl[ing] over the ice.” The reader envisions the wholeness that exists between the three of them as they glide over the frozen ice, enduring pains that they associate with the greatest pleasures. “Sethe struggled to stand and discovered not only that she could do a split, but that it hurt. Her bones surfaced om unexpected places, and so did laughter.” Morrison’s imagery allows the reader to feel the splits in your bones as they glide and tumble over the frozen creek.

    Reply
  48. Efrain E

    Efrain E
    Period 1
    AP English

    In Beloved, author Toni Morrison uses descriptive imagery to compare Sethe’s seclusion from the community to the creek where Beloved and Denver skated with her. Morrison writes, “The live oak and soughing pine on the banks enclosed them and absorbed their laughter while they fought gravity for each other’s hands.” She describes the creek as a place closed off from the rest of the world. Sethe and the two girls are able to enjoy themselves, knowing that they are alone and no one is watching them.(182)

    Reply
  49. Johan Ocegueda

    Johan Ocegueda
    Ms. Keeble
    AP English
    14 January 2012
    The novel, Beloved, Toni Morrison uses descriptive detail to give us a taste of what Sethe wants, many details are given to show what it is that would make her happy. ” The twenty-eight days of having women friends, a mother-in-law…” Sethe wants a friend, someone she can talk to, someone that listens and understands her. ” all her children together… having neighbors to call her own.” Sethe just plainly wants to be a part of something. She wants her family, she does not want to be alone all the time. Morrison really makes it clear that Sethe is not happy, she does not have the life that she wants. She was not given the life she wishes for. (173)

    Reply
  50. Jashleen Singh

    Jashleen Singh

    “Those twenty-eight happy days were followed by eighteen years of disapproval and a solitary life. Then a few months of the sun-splashed life that the shadows holding hands on the road promised her, tentative greetings from other colored people in Paul D’s company; a bed life for herself”

    Toni Morrison uses reflective details to express the guilt Sethe holds for murdering her baby in Beloved. She was never able to move on from what she had done. At first she was fine, but eighteen years later, she still feels pain from the actions she took.

    Morrison uses details based on the past to show how Sethe still feels guilty for taking the life of her daughter. Sethe lived with regret for the rest of her life after this incident. This allows for the ready to feel pity towards Sethe. She killed her child so that she didn’t have to grow up being a slave. Whether this justifies her action or not, Sethe still looks back to that day 18 years later, and can’t approve of the choice she made.

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