1. Coming of Age/Growth/Transformation
South/1930s-- transformation
of Celie from a passive girl to
independent woman shown through letters mainly written from Celie to God.
1913 Industrial Britain—semi-autobiographical account of the coming of age of D.H. Lawrence as told through the character of Paul Morel.
Arkansas pre-Civil Rights Movement– autobiographical account of Angelou’s coming of age.

2. Criteria for a Bildungsroman (Coming of Age Novel) According to critic Brian Finney
Child protagonist sensitive and constrained by parents/society in which they grow up
Made aware of intellectual/social horizons by schooling
Child breaks from social restrains of parents/society to move to a city
City is where personal education begins
Normally two love affairs– one demeaning, and one exalting

3. Coming of Age/Growth/Transformation
Sons and Lovers (Lawrence)
Paul (protagonist) is a “pale quiet child” who feels deeply about others when younger
Paul’s mother, Mrs. Morel, attaches herself to her son and creates an unhealthy “Oedipus-like” relationship
Causes Paul to have unhealthy sexual relationships (Miriam and Clara)
Able to somewhat escape the attachment by giving mother an overdose of morphine
Novel ends with him heading towards the hustle and bustle of the city

4. Coming of Age/Growth/Transformation
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Angelou)
Maya begins as a young girl with low self-esteem aspiring to be pretty like the white girls
The city in which she lives, Stamps, is a society where racism is prevalent and feeds her ideas of the social norm
Mainly raised by her grandmother, but bounces back and forth between her mother, father and Mama
Raped by her mother’s boyfriend
Gets pregnant by a teenage boy after she was trying to prove herself a woman
At the end, takes the boy (her son) into her arms and heart as her own

5. Coming of Age/Growth/Transformation
The Color Purple (Walker)
Celie is abused by both her stepfather (sexually) and her husband.
Her letters to God outline her tribulations as she has no one else to tell.
Celie forgives Albert, her husband, by the end of the story
Goes from a passive, abused girl to one who is independent and strong
Once she becomes self-sufficient, she stays with Albert which shows her ability to forgive

6. Alienation/Loneliness
1890s Grand Isle/New Orleans— Edna Pontellier is bound by her position as mother/wife but doesn’t feel as though she fits that mold. Feels separated by her thoughts of a life without her family.
Poem written 1917– lyrical, dramatic monologue detailing the thoughts of Prufrock as he presents a bleak outlook on his life and future.
1930s/40s pre-civil rights movement Harlem– outlines the struggle of an African-American man who is continually looking up to something/someone, and is ultimately deceived and left alienated and alone.

7. Alienation/Loneliness
The Awakening (Chopin)
Edna is surrounded by people at Grande Isle
Feels separated from them by her thoughts of wanting independence from her husband and children
Wants to make changes to reflect her true self
Notes that her companions are isolated by society’s rules
Refuses to give up her dream of freedom
She alienates herself from all of society in order to create her own destiny
The water symbolizes her “awakening” and her newfound freedom. Edna drowning herself shows her freeing herself of the oppressive 19th century point of view in the only way she can (Magill).

8. Alienation/Loneliness
“The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Eliot)
Takes place through narrator’s stream of consciousness
Unable to relate to people– especially women
Plays out long dialogue with extremely personal information
Alienation caused by low self-esteem
Important line referred to often by critics: “I should have been a pair of ragged claws/Scuttling across the floors of the silent seas.”– reflects his attitude towards women.

9. Alienation/Loneliness
The Invisible Man (Ellison)
Narrator presented as naïve( trusts that he will get an equal education/opportunity for working hard)– feels superior to classmates at the smoker
Receives a scholarship which confirms his superiority
Eventually realizes the scholarship represents his subservience to the powerful white men
Hopes to be like Booker T. Washington/ends up running for his life and hoping to salvage an inkling of self respect
Most of his feelings of achievement are illusionary and connects mainly with his dead grandfather