1) Vocabulary: Match the Vocabulary with Its Definitions

SULA Chapter 1921

Part One: Read page 30-31 from the beginning of the chapter until « but for one? »

1) Vocabulary: match the vocabulary with its definitions: Word Definition

a) A stoop 1) (un cor) hard skin on a foot b) A wagon 2) Someone who stays in a hotel or house and pays money for food and a room c) strays 3) A porch, small verandah OR a small set of steps in front of a house d) boarders 4) Horse-drawn vehicle e) hobble 5) A person separated from his home and family f) A corn 6) Walk with a limp or with difficulty g) elm 7) A garden h) stairways 8) A tree (un orme) i) Front/back yard 9) Un escalier

a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i)

2) Draw a plan of the house on a separate piece of paper. Make sure you include the following information: the number of floors/storeys which floor Eva lives on trees doors, stairways, porch etc.

3) Eva Peace only has one leg. What four stories are told about how she lost her leg in this passage? Choose from the list below. a) The leg ran away and she could not stop it. b) She fell down the stairs and broke it. c) She lost it in a stream. d) She had a corn which grew so big she had to cut her leg off. e) She had a car accident. f) She put her leg under a train in order to get some money for it. g) She sold it to a hospital for money.

Which story do you think is true?

4) Why doesn't Mr Reed believe the story that Eva sold her leg to a hospital? a) Because it is unbelieveable. b) Because noone would pay money for a black woman's leg. c) Because $ 10,000 was a lot of money for ONE leg. d) Because hospitals do not pay for legs. Part Two: Now read from « Whatever the fate of her » (page 31) to « whom she called Plum. » (Page 32)

5) Vocabulary

Match the following words with their translation

Word Translation 1) stockings a) mollet 2) slipper b) coiffeuse 3) calf c) Des bas 4) wheelchair d) pantoufle 5) laces e) Fauteuil roulant 6) dresser f) lacets

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Now look at the following words. Try to guess their meaning.

Bedside = to be beside (next to) + the bed

A black laced up shoe = a shoe which ...

The leg was stockinged = a leg which ...

Her dresses were mid-calf = a dress which ...

A rocking chair = a chair which ...

6) Look at all the words connected with top and bottom. Put them in the correct column.

TOP BOTTOM

Low standing upstanding sitting to look down on someone look up at someone

What does this tell us about Eva Peace? - that people did not respect her - that people treated her with respect.

7) Draw Eva's family tree making sure you include all her children and their names. Part Three: From « After five years... » (Page 32) until « which she rented out » (Page 35) The Flashback: now we learn about Eva's marriage to Boy Boy.

8) Match the words to their definitions:

Vocabulary Definition 1) Took off a) Blankets/covers for a bed 2) womanizing b) intestine 3) beets c) Enjoy chasing after women 4) Acute (pain) d) To obtain things from people by asking 5) postpone e) Take the « bad plants » out of the ground 6) Be better off f) Strips of fat 7) quilts g) Run away 8) Scrounge around h) cancel 9) beg i) In a stronger financial position 10) weed j) Plant seeds in soil 11) sow k) A piece of wood which helps someone to walk 12) Feed stock l) Discontented, unhappy 13) outhouse m) Sharp, penetrating, strong 14) bowel n) The buttocks/back area of an animal 15) shrieks o) A root plant like a beetroot/ vegetable 16) gagged p) Outside toilets 17) choked q) Ask for food or money from others 18) lard r) Movement as if you are vomiting/choking 19) haunches s) Unable to breathe 20) crutches t) Loud scream of pain 21) disgruntled u) Give food to animals

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

9) What three things did Boy Boy enjoy doing? Drinking hitting Eva playing cards smoking sleeping with other women

10) When he went away what did Eva have in her possession?

11) How did the black community help Eva? The Suggs ......

Mrs Jackson ....

12) What jobs does Eva consider doing? Working as a maid? Working in a shop Working on a farm? Working in a factory? Becoming a prostitute?

13) Why does she not return home to Virginia? It would be too humiliating Her family would reject her Another reason ....

14) Plum has problems going to the toilet as he is constipated. What three remedies does Eva try? Remedy One: Remedy Two: Remedy Three:

15) Finally, how does Eva solve this problem?

16) After this event, Eva disappears for 18 months. When she comes back how she has changed?

17) What sense of mystery is created at the end of this passage?

Part Four Page 35 "When Plum was three years old..." to "hair for years." Page 37 a) How does Plum feel about Boy Boy's return? Give 3 answers.

b) Describe his clothes. What do they suggest about him? - he is a shy man - he likes to look good and to show-off - he wants to make Eva see how difficult it has been for him - he wants to make her jealous c) Who is the woman in the peagreen dress?

d) What does BoyBoy say to her to make her laugh?

e) Find verbs to show how BoyBoy moves. What does this suggest about his personality? f) Find a simile to express a moment of recognition/realisation? g) At the end of the scene how does she feel about him?

h) What change in her life happens after BoyBoy's visit? she moves upstairs she stops people visiting she becomes more aggressive she starts taking in boarders/lodgers

i) What strange event is hinted at the end of the passage?

Part Five Pages 37-41

1) True or false? T / F: Eva had several tenants (locataires) in her house.

T / F: She used to put up (loger) her friend's children.

T / F: When Sula was 10, in 1921, Eva lodged 3 kids.

T / F: She used to give a different name to each of them.

T / F: Hannah used to find this strange.

2) Remember? …………………… is ……………'s mother who is…………'s mother.

3) Fill in the grid with information about the three children

Information: a) Dewey ± Dewy-eyed = stupid naïve nasty credulous intelligent b) Right or wrong? The three children used to spend a lot of time together. R / W

They were the same age. R / W

Eva sent them to school together. R / W

Mr Reed thought that one of them was too old to go to school. R / W The teacher refused to enrol the three kids in school together. R / W c) Why were the Deweys a mystery?

TAR BABY

1) Find information about: Names Appearance Personality Job(s) Main "fault" (défaut)

2) True or false? And justify. T / F: He lost his job as he missed days at work.

T / F: He became a tramp.

T / F: People hated him.

T / F: He was only looking for a place to die.

T / F: He wanted to die on his own.

T / F: People didn't try to help him.

T / F: But he refused to take part in National Suicide Day.

Part 6 ("Under Eva's distant eye…", p.41 —> "…steady cooking.", p.45)

1) Eva's children a) Pearl (one blank = one word) She married when she was …………… and went to …………………, a town located in ………………. She used to …………………… letters to her mother. These letters didn't talk about anything …………………………. b) Hannah She married a man called ……………………who died in …………… when Sula was ………………… therefore she went back to live with …………………………, her mother.

2) The Peace women a) Who are they? b) True or false? And justify. T / F: The Peace women were really interested in men.

T / F: Eva was too old to be teased and chatted up. T / F: Despite her age, she was still a sex maniac. c) List the things that men wanted to see in Eva

d) What was Eva's general attitude towards men? (top of page 42)

e) What does the following sentence show about it? "She fussed interminably with the brides of the newly wed couples for not getting their men's supper ready on time" (p.42)

3) Hannah and men a) Would you say that Hannah is : a flirt not interested in men very keen on men fond of sex a prostitute b) Right or wrong? R / W: Men felt attracted to Hannah who was a seductress.

R / W: She managed to seduce them particularly when she said "hey sugar". c) Compare Eva's and Hanna's attitude to men Eva Hannah

d) List the places where Hannah would take her men:

e) What does the following sentence show about her? "she would fuck practically anything, but sleeping with someone implied for her a measure of trust and a definite commitment"

4) Sula T / F: Sula used to watch her mum's face before and after sex and thought she looked sad.

T / F: Therefore Sula learned that sex was a pleasant and frequent thing to do. T / F: However, outside the house some people didn't agree with this idea.

5) Hanna and other women (§2, p.44) a) Draw a list of the women that Hannah used to "exasperate" and say why.

b) Hannah is said to be a "hazard" (p.44) • "hazard" means: hasard danger surprise • Why? c) What did she manage to get regurlarly?

6) Men's attitude towards her they used to say horrible thing about her they called her whore they protected her from what people said they defended her

7) Eva's last child, Plum a) What did Plum do in… 1917: 1919: 1920: b) Before coming back he sent letters from various places. Which ones? c) What is Plum's problem?

Nb: "You're purty" = You're so pretty Part 6: ("So late one night…", p.45 —> the end, p.48)

1) Summary: fill in the gaps with the following words kerosene rock burns enters One night, Eva ……………………… his bedroom to …………………… him in her arms. Afterward, she pours (verser) ……………………… over him and ………………… him to death.

2) How can you account for Eva's action at the end of the chapter? 3) At this stage would you say that Sula appears like a comedy a tragedy. Justify.

4) To what extent, are the following topics central in the chapter 1921? Justify. a) Conflict: b) Love: c) Good vs evil: