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the color purple


            Give a summary of the book; state the title of the book.
             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. They leave and live in Tennessee, until Celie finds out that her step-father died, and she now owns a large house down the road from the plantation. So she moves into that house and tells Nettie all about it. She keeps telling her to come home soon with her kids, and they can all live in this big house together. In the end, Nettie comes back from Africa with Celie's children, and all of the children and Nettie's new husband are all introduced to the family and friends they never knew.
             Give the philosophy of the author (how she views life from what you have read); Give examples from the novel (e.g., is life fun, is she morbid or optimistic, etc.?) The author of this book looks at life optimistically.


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