Alice-Walker

AbouttheauthorAliceWalkerisawell-knownpoet,novelist,essayist,educator,biographer(传记作家),andeditor.whenyoung,sheledamiserablelife.Shefeelsthatablackwoman'ssalvationcanonlycomefromreachingtowardstheirancestorsanddrawingfromtheirenergy.LifeexperiencesAliceWalkerwasbornonFebruary9,1944;WhenAliceWalkerwaseightyearsold,shelostsightofoneeyebyaccident;Inhighschool,AliceWalkerwasvaledictorianofherclass,whichmadeitpossibleforhertogotoSpelman(斯佩尔曼),acollegeforblackwomeninAtlanta,Georgia.AfterspendingtwoyearsatSpelman,shetransferredtoSarahLawrenceCollege,whereshereceivedherBachelorofArtsdegreein1965;SocialmovementAliceWalkerwasactiveintheCivilRightsMovementofthe1960‘s,andinthe1990’ssheisstillaninvolvedactivist.Shehasspokenforthewomen‘smovement,theanti-apartheidmovement,andfortheanti-nuclearmovement.AliceWalkerstartedherownpublishingcompany(出版社),WildTreesPress,in1984.ShecurrentlyresidesinNorthernCalifornia.Majorworks1965-“ToHellWithDying”(shortstories)（地狱和死亡）1973-InLoveandTrouble:StoriesofBlackWomen(acollectionshortstories)1976-Meridian《子午线》(novel)1982-TheColorPurple(novel)（紫色）1989-TheTempleofMyFamiliar(novel)（我熟悉的殿)1998-BytheLightofMyFather‘sEyes(novel)(父亲的微笑之光)AwardsandhonorsPulitzerPrizeforFictionforTheColorofPurple(1983)(firstblackwoman)（紫色）NationalBookAward(Firstblackwoman)(国家图书奖)O.HenryAwardforKindredSpirits1985.HonoraryDegreefromtheCaliforniaInstituteoftheArts(1995)AmericanHumanistAssociationnamedheras“HumanistoftheYear”(1997)（美国人文协会）TheRosenthalAwardfromtheNationalInstituteofArts&Letters（罗森塔尔奖）EverydayuseThestorybeginswiththenarrator，ablackwoman,awaitingthehomecomingofherdaughterDee,aneducatedwomanwhonowlivesinthecity.AccompanyingherisheryoungerdaughterMaggie.Astheywait,thenarratorrevealsdetailsofthefamilyhistory,speciallytherelationshipbetweenhertwodaughters.Tothemother’ssurprise,Dee,whohasbeenscornfuloftheblack,isnowdelightedbytheoldwayofthelife,andsheisevenmoreinterestedintheoldhandmadequiltspiecedbyGrandma.However,thesequitshavealreadybeenpromisedtoMaggie.AlthoughMaggieisintimidatedenoughtosurrenderthebelovedquiltstoDee,themothersnatchesthequiltsfromDeeandoffersherinsteadsomeofthematch-stitchedones,whichDeedoesnotwant.StructurePartⅠ(1-2):descriptionofthebeginningofthestoryandsomecommentsononeofthedaughters.PartⅡ(3-9):makingabriefintroductionaboutmyfamilyhistoryanddifferencebetweenDeesandMaggie.PartⅢ(10-70):thecharacteristicsoftwodaughters,theirrelationshipandthechangesthathappenedtothem.PartⅣ(71-82):mother’spraiseandexpectationforthetwodaughters,especiallyfortheyoungerone-Maggie.LiteraryDevicesPointofview:Itreferstotheperspectivethewritertakesinthenarrationofastory.Simplysaying,itisthepositionfromwhichdetailsareperceivedandrelated.Itisfrequentlyemployedinnovelsallowingreadersmoreperspectivestoviewthebeingsandexistence.Generallyspeaking,itincludesthefirst-personpointofviewandthethird-personpointofview.Incontrasttothenarrowscopeofthefirstpersonnarrator,thethirdpersonnarrator’srealmisexpansive.Everydayuseistoldinthefirst-personpointofview.Thispointofviewinvolvesreadersinthestoryasiftheywereexperiencingitbythemselves,andthusreinforcestheauthenticityofthestory.Thistechniqueseekstovalidatetheexperiencesofanoftenoppressedgroupofpeople:lower-classblackwomen.Story-telling:Africanshavereveledgoodstoriesandstorytellers,astheyhavemostpastandpresentpeoplearoundtheworldwhoarerootedinoralculturesandtraditions.WhentheycametoAmerica,theyplantedtheseedsofblackliteratureonAmericansoil.Incontrasttowrittenliterature,earlyblackliteraturewasorallycomposedandtransmitted.Andthisiswheretheblackliteraturestarts.AliceWalkerinheritsthistraditioninthisshortnovelinwhichalltheeventsarepresentedintheformofstory-telling.Therefore,lotsofshortandellipticalsentencesareused.Symbolism:Inadditiontotheskillfuluseofpointofview,everydayuseisenrichedbyAlicewalker’semploymentofsymbolsoftheculturalheritageoftheblackpeople.Theirdifferentfeelingsaboutthequiltsrevealtheirdifferentattitudestowardstheirheritageasblacks.AnotherexamplemaybeHakim-a-barber,whodoesnoteatcollardgreensandpork–traditionalAfrican-Americanfoods.Inotherwords,hesymbolicallydenieshisownheritagedespitehiscomplicatedAmerican.RhetoricalDevices1.Simile：afigureofspeechwhichmakesacomparisonbetweentwodifferentthingsbuthavingqualityorcharacteristicincommon.Tomakethecomparison,wordslikeas,as...as,asifandlikeareusedtotransferthequalityweassociatewithonetotheother.Iamthewaymydaughterwouldwantmetobe:..myskinlikeanuncookedbarleypancake.Maggie’sbrainislikeanelephant’s.Wagerosaid,sweetasabird.Shegaspedlikeabeehadstungher2.Ellipsis:afigureofspeechwhichomitscommonlyusedwordsorphrases.Dee,though.Dee,next.3.Metaphor:e.g.Wangerosenteyesignalsovermyhead4.Metonymy:e.g.OutshepeeksnextwithaPolaroid.5.Irony:e.g.Whatdon’tIunderstand?”Iwantedtoknow.“Yourheritage,”shesaid.6.Onomatopoeia(拟声):e.g.LikewhenyouseethewrigglingendofasnakeJustinfrontofyourfootontheroad,“Uhnnnh”.7.Hyperbole:e.g.shehasbeenlikethis…theground(para9);sheputon…herchin(para80).8.Analogy:e.g.Haveyoueverseen…kindofhim(para9).