Sula Syllabus February 2020 - Smart Brown Girl
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Sula Syllabus February 2020
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Sula Syllabus
Author: Morgan Holloman-Bryant
Editor: Regina Strong
Facebook | InstagramTable of Contents 06 Author History 07 Book History 08 Reading Tips 09 Overview & Motifs 11 The Discussion 12 Final Thoughts 11 Further Reading/Resources
Author History
Born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18 in 1931, the world-renowned author and
activist regarded highly and affectionately known as Toni Morrison was a critically
acclaimed novelist known for her works such as The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and Song of
Solomon. The Ohio born writer and cultural critic gained an early appreciation for the
art of Black storytelling. During her childhood, her parents embedded within her a deep
desire to learn and share Black stories. Whether they were folklore or personal
anecdotes, Toni became devoted to these narratives. She attended Howard University
in Washington DC, where she earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in english and became
a member of the Alpha chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. It was during her
time at Howard that she first encountered segregated public buildings and
transportation. She found solace in her Black peers and graduated from the prestigious
institution in 1953. Following her time at Howard, she attended Cornell University,
earning her master’s degree in American literature. After this, she returned to Howard
University to teach English Literature before eventually leaving to join Random House
Publishing as a fiction editor, making her the first Black woman to do so. During this
time, Morrison married a Jamaican architect by the name of Harold Morrison. The
couple welcomed two boys, the youngest being born during their 1964 divorce.
Toni Morrison is widely regarded as one of the most prominent writers of the 20th and
21st centuries due to her unique stylistic practices and unapologetic Black storytelling.
Her poignant essays and novels earned her a 1988 Pulitzer Prize for the 1987 release of
Beloved and subsequent Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She experienced a plethora
of “firsts” during her career and is lauded as one of the most powerful Black women
storytellers of the generation. Her literature is both haunting and refreshing and
directly mirrors the world around us.
On August 5 of 2019, Toni Morrison passed away in New York City. She was 88 years old.
6Book History
Released in November of 1973 following the success of The Bluest Eye, Sula is a classic tale that
chronicles the complexities of friendship between Black women through the eyes of two
beloved and multifaceted characters: Sula and Nel. Written during an era when Black feminist
theory and literature remained a hot button topic of discussion, Sula received much praise and
criticism with many celebrating Morrison’s poetic diction and style and others commenting on
the pervasive presence of death and suffering for her main characters.
Sula is now a staple text of Black Feminist/Womanist literature as it expounds upon popular
and ongoing discussions of friendship, betrayal, and love as they are nuanced by race and
gender. Sula’s ‘73 release was accompanied by the founding of the National Black Feminist
Organization, a coalition aimed at addressing the unique issues affecting Black women in
America.
7READING TIPS
Tips for Fresh Readers
TIPS FOR
RETURNING 1. You do not have to have profound thoughts right away:
READERS Everyone reads and digests at a different pace. Take your
time in understanding the text but you do not need to
dissect it immediately. Make a note of any points that are
significant to you and move on.
1. Put the book in context: Times have
changed and so have you. Before rereading
2. Set aside 15-20 mins a day to read: Much like power
think about who you were, and where you
nap — a power read — can energize your reading and
were in life the first time you read the book.
help you focus. You do not need large chunks of time. Set
Think about who was influencing you/your
aside 15-20 mins to read a day and make sure you have no
thoughts. (School, friends, family, news etc.)
distractions during this time.
2. Be Critical: First reads are a time to be
3. Reflect on what you read: a) What were the
open-minded and give the author lead
themes and/or major events that had taken place in
way to understand their thoughts. Second
your selected readings?
reads you can be much more critical of
the work and its intentions. So get on your
4. Take notes: a) Highlight terms, phrases, quotes etc
soapbox boo we got some boxes on
that may immediately grab your attention
reserve too.
5. Build a personal glossary: If you don’t know a word,
3. Focus on Few Chapters at a Time:
circle it, get the definition and reread the section in
For non-fiction (and some fiction) it’s not
context. This may help you come to a new understanding
totally necessary to reread the book
of the text or discover concepts you didn’t notice before.
chronologically from start to finish. Try
focusing on themes that you may have
6. Discuss the book: Healthy discussion on what you
grazed over the first time around and
already know can entice you to read more and that’s what
choose a few chapters to lean into at a time.
the #SmartBrownGirl Book Club is here for. Join in on our
discussions. Post your questions to the Facebook Group.
7. Author Background: When approaching a text that
you’re unfamiliar with, it may be beneficial to do some
quick background research on the author, as it can help
provide insight on what the text may be discussing.
Additionally, this can also expose you to other readings
that are centered around the same theoretical concepts
(1). Bell Hooks- A’int I a Woman”: Black Women and
Feminism, (2) Kimberle Crenshaw (3) Audre Lorde, etc.
8Overview & Motifs:
Morrison relies heavily on poetics and symbolism to enrich her narratives. Throughout your rea-
ding, pay attention to how symbolism foreshadows key events and how allegorical character
arcs structure the story.
Priority Themes:
Good vs. Evil: The ongoing conflict between people or ideologies that are perceived as good
or bad, positive or negative. Ultimately, we must decide based on our own moral or legal code
what deems a person/idea as good or bad.
Black Motherhood: The act of mothering Black children as a Black woman, therefore
navigating the charge placed upon black mothers to raise and protect their children in a racist
and sexist world.
Deconstructing Binaries: Categorizing social constructs — good/bad, femininity/masculinity,
married/single — where one is favored over the other and defined by what the other lacks;
Negates the nuance and full spectrum of possibilities for existence.
Black Feminism: Black women self-defining and designing a liberation framework to oppose
racial, gender, sexual and class oppression by resisting the negative images of Black
womanhood as defined by patriarchal constructs.
Womanism: A term coined by Alice Walker which evolved to become a feminst adjacent form of
thought were it critically analyzes sexism and anti-black racism while recognizing the strength
of black women. Womanist are committed to the survival of a whole people, men and women
by rejecting any form of oppression.
Friendship/Bonds/Betrayal: A natural connection between two people where the bonding
experience is like a soul tie. In Sula the idea of betrayal is used a tension to drive a deeper
understanding of friendship.
Fictive Kinship: A bond often resembling that of a close familial relationship; These bonds are
absent of a blood tie or legal tie but provide mutual support for the parties involved. Ex: “Play
cousins”, parent’s long-time friends regarded by their children as “aunts and uncles”.
9Secondary Themes:
Gentrification: The removal and displacement of a generally lower income, Black community in
favor of wealthier, white consumers and civilians. “In that place, where they tore the nightshade
and blackberry patches from their roots to make room for the Medallion City Golf Course, there
was once a neighborhood. It stood in the hills above the valley town of Medallion and spread all
the way to the river. It is called the suburbs now, but when black people lived there it was called
the Bottom. One road, shaded by beeches, oaks, maples and chestnuts, connected it to the va-
lley. The beeches are gone now, and so are the pear trees where children sat and yelled down
through the blossoms to passersby. Generous funds have been allotted to level the stripped and
faded buildings that clutter the road from Medallion up to the golf course. They are going to
rue the Time and a Half Pool Hall, where feet in long tan shoes once pointed down from chair
rungs. A steel ball will knock to dust Irene’s Palace of Cosmetology, where women used to lean
their heads back on sink trays and doze while Irene lathered Nu Nile into their hair. Men in khaki
work clothes will pry loose the slats of Reba’s Grill, where the owner cooked in her hat because
she couldn’t remember the ingredients without it…. (3)”
Girlhood: Much of Sula and Nel’s self-actualization is realized during their adolescent years. The-
re formative years are shaped greatly by the world around them, most notably through their
interactions with each other and their mothers.
Death: The characters in Sula grapple with death all throughout the novel. Shadrack creates
“National Suicide Day” and Sula herself is very aware that she is taking her final breaths. Death
is a neutralizing feature of the novel that teaches us more about our central characters.
10The
Discussion
PART ONE
• Prologue
• How does beginning the novel with a vivid explanation of how gentrification destroyed
“the bottom” set the scene?
• 1919 - 1920
• What is the purpose of observing “National Suicide Day”?
• How does Helene’s method of motherhood begin to shape her daughter, Nel?
• What does Helene attempt to achieve by stifling Nel?
• How are Sula’s ideas and qualms with romantic relationship patterns developed based
on the relationship she has with her mother?
• 1921 - 1922
• Consider the complex aspects of Eva’s role as a matriarch in both her family and the
community at large.
• How does the immediate aftermath of Chicken Little’s death work to dispel the idea of
binary good and evil through the reactions of both Sula and Nel?
• How does Nel use Sula to resolve her personal qualms within herself?
• What purpose is served by Sula cutting off the top of her forefinger as a warning to the
gang of white Catholic boys?
• What themes are foreshadowed upon at the closing of this portion?
• 1923 & 1927
• What literary purpose does Morrison yield in presenting events out of chronological
order?
• How does the community’s separate responses to both Hannah and Sula as women
illuminate the acceptance or refusal to accept women who deviate from what is dee
med “acceptable”?
• Complex mother-daughter relationships are thematic in Black families. Assess Sula’s
relationship with her mother Hannah, giving specific attention to the circumstances
surrounding Hannah’s death.
PART TWO
• 1937 & 1939
• What is the role of conformity in maintaining harmony in the community?
• What unforgivable offenses has Sula committed that has caused her to become a
pariah amongst the people of the bottom? How are these transgressions viewed
by you and those closest to you? Do you agree or disagree with the public response
to her actions?
• What are the real life consequences of defying the Black community’s social norms?
11• 1940 - 1941
• What themes are revealed and dispelled in Nel’s conversation with Sula prior to her
death?
• How does Nel’s exaggerated understanding of herself as binarily “good” inhibit her
from understanding Sula? What benefits and/or perceived “comforts” lie within binary
understandings?
• How does Sula’s final revelation before her death reinforce the overarching theme of
friendship?
• How/why does Sula’s death mark a new beginning for the people of “the bottom”?
What changes are made following her passing?
• 1965
• What is the allegorical role of Eva in helping Nel resolve her feelings surrounding her
relationship with the now deceased Sula?
• Does the response, or lack thereof to Sula’s death offer commentary on the perception
of women deemed deviant?
• How is the myth of the binary good vs. evil finally dispelled at the conclusion of the
novel?
• How does revisiting the theme of gentrification at the close of Sula present a full circle
narrative of the story of Sula and Nel?
Final
Thoughts
Toni Morrison’s Sula is a timeless tale of friendship, community and pain that repeatedly forces
its readers to grapple with their greatest uncertainties. The story of Sula and Nel asks us to
consider if we’re destined to endure certain circumstances and outcomes based on our
experiences at the intersection of our race and gender. Sula’s life experiences in ‘the bottom’
may push us to question if our lives would be better if we simply honored the conventions of
social order and rarely defied the status quo, whereas Nel’s life will push us to examine the
development of our inner-selves as we conform to lives that appease conventional goodness
and social acceptance. As readers wrestle with these ideas, they may also come to realize that
the binary good/evil world they’ve existed in thus far is not at all what it seems. As we are all
complex, multi-faceted individuals, we are generally unable to just be “this” or “that”. The rigid
definitives that define binary thought processes do not give space for the range of existence
that Black people, notably women live with. Many of us believe that we fall on either end of the
spectrum and rarely allow ourselves the grace to exist in between and all throughout as we so
naturally do. Sula and Nel’s story reminds us that ultimately, we are our greatest hope and fear.
We embody not only our greatest desires but our most pressing anxieties.
12FURTHER
READINGS/RESOURCES
Additional content & videos that relate to the reading.
ESSAYS:
• Unspeakable Things Unspoken by Toni Morrison
BOOKS
• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
• Jazz by Toni Morisson
• Toni Morrison and Motherhood: A Politics of the Heart by Andrea O’Reilly
VIDEOS
• Toni Morrison on Good & Evil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dikga62kLYk
Syllabi Author Bio
Morgan Holloman-Bryant is a recent graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she
earned a degree in African/African-American Studies. As an avid researcher, writer and cultural
commentator, her interests focus primarily on the intersection of pop culture, race and history.
She’s also a full-time mom, part-time blogger an sometimey scholar. Follow her on Instagram
and Twitter @themorganjael.
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