COLOR PURPLE – Teach with Movies
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THE COLOR PURPLE
SUBJECTS — Literature/U.S.; Literary Devices: motif, theme, symbol, characterization;
U.S./1865 – 1913, 1913 – 1929; & Diversity/African-American;
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING — Breaking Out; Self-esteem;
MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS — Respect.
AGE: 15+: MPAA Rating-PG-13;
Drama; 1985; 154 minutes; Color. Available from Amazon.com.
Give your students new perspectives on race relations, on the history of the American
Revolution, and on the contribution of the Founding Fathers to the cause of representative
democracy. Check out TWM’s Guide:
MENU
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Benefits of the Movie
Possible Problems
Parenting Points
Selected Awards & Cast
Discussion Questions
Social-Emotional Learning
Moral-Ethical Emphasis
Assignments and Projects
Bridges to Reading
Links to the Internet
DESCRIPTION
Adapted from the prize-wining novel, The Color Purple chronicles the story of Celie, a young
black woman living in poverty in rural Georgia who is subjected to racism, sexism, sexual
abuse, and family dysfunction. At first submissive and treated as a slave by the man she was
forced to marry, Celie grows in relationships with the women in her life who show her love
and respect. She becomes assertive as she develops self-esteem and the burdens of her
past are lifted.
Most of the events in the story center upon associations among black people rather than the
interaction between blacks and whites. It thus reveals African-American culture as more than
a reaction to white oppression. Still, racial injustice is an important part of the story as is the
triumph of the individual over oppression.
SELECTED AWARDS & CAST
Selected Awards: The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and five Golden
Globe Awards. Whoopi Goldberg won The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Steven
Spielberg won the Best Director Award given by the Directors Guild of America.
Featured Actors: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey.
BENEFITS OF THE MOVIE
The novel is frequently assigned to students in high school English classes. Shown in
conjunction with reading the book, the film enables students to access difficult text and to
conceptualize theme. Through comparison, students can learn how literary techniques such
as symbol, motif, and imagery are applicable to film. Moreover, students can begin to
develop respect for visual media as a serious art form, increasing their critical viewing skills.
Viewed without reading the book, the movie provides ELA teachers considerable opportunity
for assignments requiring research and argumentation as well as analysis and narration.
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ELA Classes: Students can learn how literary techniques such as symbol, motif, and
imagery are applicable to film and begin to develop respect for visual media as a serious art
form. Assignments requiring research and argumentation as well as analysis and narration
can sharpen skills as they contribute to understanding aspects of the lives of AfricanAmericans during the first decades of the 20th century.
American History Classes: The Color Purple will introduce students to aspects of the lives
of African-Americans during the first decades of the 20th century. The book or the movie are
valuable additions to a list of works to be read or watched as homework to explore the genre
of historical fiction. See TWM’s Historical Fiction in Film Cross-Curricular Homework
Project
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
Moderate: Although the film plays down the sexuality expressed in the novel, most notably
the lesbianism suggested in the relationship between Celie and Shug, this element is still
present in the movie.
PARENTING POINTS
Seek to discover if your child has been assigned to read The Color Purple in his or her
English class and be sure that the film is not seen as a substitute for reading the book.. Tell
them that much has changed in the lives of both black Americans and women as a whole
with the many social movements that have occurred since the years in which the story is set.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Discussion Questions Here.
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING
REDEMPTION
See Discussion Question #3 in the Learning Guide.
BREAKING OUT/SELF-ESTEEM
Question #8 above.
MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS (CHARACTER COUNTS)
Discussion Questions Relating to Ethical Issues will facilitate the use of this film to teach
ethical principles and critical viewing. Additional questions are set out below.
General Question:
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Did Sofia do the right thing when she knocked the major down after he slapped her?
Suggested Response:
There are various ways to respond to this question. One is that the mayor may deserve to be
socked in the jaw. But it’s not that simple. To be ethical, a decision must take into account the
interests of all the stakeholders. One set of stakeholders were Sofia’s children. They had a
right to be raised by their mother. When Sofia allowed her temper to get the best of her, and
hit a white man, she was not fulfilling her responsibilities as a mother. After she hit the mayor,
she immediately knew that she was in trouble and screamed for her friend to take her
children away from the scene so that they would not see the ugliness of what she knew was
going to happen to her.
RESPECT
(Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule; Be tolerant of differences; Use good
manners, not bad language; Be considerate of the feelings of others; Don’t threaten, hit or
hurt anyone; Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements)
1. Certain characters treated Celie with respect. What was the effect on Celie of this
treatment?
Suggested Response:
The fact that people like Shug, Sofia, and others treated Celie with respect enabled Celie to
see that she deserved respect from everyone, particularly the men in her life. It enabled
Celie to break out of the prison of abuse.
2. Give an example from real life of a person who changed when he or she was treated with
respect or an example of how you would change if you were treated with respect.
Suggested Response:
For students who chose the second alternative, ask them why they are allowing someone
else to determine how they behave. They should act that way now.
ASSIGNMENTS, PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES
Any of the discussion questions can serve as a writing prompt. Additional assignments
include:
1. Since the film, as well as the book, can be seen as epistolary in its presentation, it offers
the opportunity to exercise writing skills in the informal style of letters. Imagine an adventure
requiring several months or even years of your time. Write letters to a friend from any place
along the path of that adventure which will make clear where you are, whom you are
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meeting, what events are happening and what you are learning. Space the letters out over
the course of the imaginary adventure. Write at least six letters and take care that they show
a story in themselves. Convey your story using action, dialogue, comparison, thoughts, and
descriptive language
2. Research and write an informative essay about the cultural traits, both material and nonmaterial, of the Olinka people. Describe the location and characteristics of the land in which
the tribe resides, its history and its politics. Trace the culture from the time indicated in the
story to the present time.
3. Sofia is an important character whose change from feisty and strong to submissive and
finally to an individual regaining some of the strength of her youth. Write an essay in which
you track these changes; explain why they occur and what message is revealed in her
recovery.
4. Write an opinion essay in which you either support or disclaim the idea that with better
communication people are able to live more freely and independently than in times past. Be
sure to include cell phones, text messaging, and e-mail in your argument. You may want to
discuss the informative power of having hundreds of channels of television and easy access
to film as a part of your discussion about communication.
See also Additional Assignments for Use With any Film that is a Work of Fiction and
TWM’s guide to Lesson Plans Using Film Adaptations of Novels, Short Stories or Plays.
BRIDGES TO READING
The novel, The Color Purple, by Alice Walker is excellent and is assigned reading in many
high school English classes.
LINKS TO THE INTERNET
The Color Purple has been adapted to a Broadway play which is now on national tour. Click
here for the official website.
This Learning Guide was written by Mary RedClay and James Frieden and was last revised
on August 25, 2012.
LEARNING GUIDE MENU:
Benefits of the Movie
Possible Problems
Parenting Points
Selected Awards & Cast
Discussion Questions
Social-Emotional Learning
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Moral-Ethical Emphasis
Assignments and Projects
Bridges to Reading
Links to the Internet
RANDALL KENNEDY, Professor, Harvard Law School on the two alternative traditions
relating to racism in America:
“I say that the best way to address this issue is to address it forthrightly, and
straightforwardly, and embrace the complicated history and the complicated presence of
America. On the one hand, that’s right, slavery, and segregation, and racism, and white
supremacy is deeply entrenched in America. At the same time, there has been a tremendous
alternative tradition, a tradition against slavery, a tradition against segregation, a tradition
against racism.
I mean, after all in the past 25 years, the United States of America has seen an AfricanAmerican presence. As we speak, there is an African-American vice president. As we speak,
there’s an African- American who is in charge of the Department of Defense. So we have a
complicated situation. And I think the best way of addressing our race question is to just be
straightforward, and be clear, and embrace the tensions, the contradictions, the complexities
of race in American life. I think we need actually a new vocabulary.
So many of the terms we use, we use these terms over and over, starting with racism,
structural racism, critical race theory. These words actually have been weaponized. They are
vehicles for propaganda. I think we would be better off if we were more concrete, we talked
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about real problems, and we actually used a language that got us away from these overused
terms that actually don’t mean that much. From Fahreed Zakaria, Global Public Square,
CNN, December 26, 2021
Give your students new perspectives on race relations, on the history of the American
Revolution, and on the contribution of the Founding Fathers to the cause of representative
democracy. Check out TWM’s Guide: TWO CONTRASTING TRADITIONS RELATING TO
RACISM IN AMERICA and a Tragic Irony of the American Revolution: the Sacrifice of
Freedom for the African-American Slaves on the Altar of Representative Democracy.
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