English Literature - Beloved (Recap)

Here are some key quotes from 'Beloved' prose that may be useful for the exam...

• "suspended between the nastiness of life and the meanness of the dead"
• "I got a tree on my back" 
• "being alive is the hard part"
• "a wagonload of others"
• "men ****** cows"
• "freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another"

How to analyse prose fiction extracts:

• read the novels at least twice
• what is the purpose, narrative, viewpoint, feelings and attitudes? SPIDER DIAGRAM
• how are the writer's purposes and intentions reflected in the language used? what about the structure? form?
• narrative viewpoint, narration, voice, relationships between characters, is the reader addressed directly? what is the relationship between the narrator and the reader like?
• dialogue, closeness to natural speech, how do speeches of individual characters differ? interaction between the characters? are their thoughts presented? what do these tell us about the STRUGGLE FOR IDENTITY?
• formality? imagery? period of text written reflected? why may the reader do this?
• grammar, sentence types and lengths, rhythmic effects, is tense significant? 
• discourse structure - how is the extract organised and how does it develop? how does it begin and end, for instance? is paragraphing significant?  
• do changes in paragraph correspond to changes in perspective? or tone?
• tense may be significant, especially if it changes at any point

Now I will show some aspects of identity explored in Morrison's prose 'Beloved'... 

RACIAL IDENTITY: 

• This is a very important aspect of identity explored. Black people are in a struggle for identity because they have been labelled as inferior simply because of their skin colors... 
• for instance the CARNIVAL in the novel shows commitment and pride of race and skin color, despite the slavery going on - this represents strength…