Nel+Wright+Patrick-Amy

Major Character: Nel Wright

1. Nel was brought up to be an obedient and polite girl under Helen’s strict hand. After returning to Medallion from a trip with her mother, she finds a sense of identity and strives to be ‘wonderful’. She becomes best friends with Sula Peace, and is the more emotionally stable of the two.

2. Nel didn’t inherit her mother’s beauty – she has what her mother deems as a ‘flat nose’ Nel prefers Sula’s crowded and eventful house to her own strict home After Chicken Little drowns, Nel remains calm and is the one who comforts the crying Sula She marries Jude Greene, a handsome tenor of Mount Zion’s Men’s Quartet

3. “Any enthusiasms that little Nel showed were calmed by the mother until she drove her daughter’s imagination underground.” (18) “After she met Sula, Nel slid the clothespin under the blanket as soon as she got in the bed…smooth hair…no longer interested her.” (55) “Except for an occasional leadership role with Sula, she had no aggression. Her parents had succeeded in rubbing down to a dull glow any sparkle or splitter she had. Only with Sula did that quality have free reign, but their friendship was so close, they themselves had difficulty distinguishing one’s thoughts from the other’s.” (83)

4.

PART TWO

(1) provide a 3-sentence summary of the character's role in Part Two of the novel Nel is married to Jude and has children, having settled with a "normal" life of what society expects her. However, when she finds out that Sula and Jude have an affair and Jude leaves her, she is devastated, illustrating her dependence on others to identify herself. After Sula's death, she realizes that losing Sula's friendship is more devastating than losing Jude.

(2) make a bullet point list of 3-5 notes (phrases, clauses -- not full sentences) that highlight the most significant points about that character in Part Two - even after 10 years, bond with Sula is not diminished - Conforms to what society expects of her. - constantly assures herself that she is the good one of the two girls. - tries to make up for her evil feelings and thoughts (Chicken Little) by doing good deeds. - realizes in the end --> she misses Sula instead of Jude. friendship > marriage

(3) quote and provide proper citation of the 3 most significant quotations by or about your character in Part Two - "Damp-faced, Nel stepped back into the kitchen. She felt new, soft and new. It had been the longest time since she had had a rib-scraping laugh. She had forgotten how deep and down it could be. So different from the miscellaneous giggles and smiles she had learned to be content with these past few years" (98). - "And what am I supposed to do with these old thighs now, just walk up and down these rooms? What good are they, Jesus?" (111) - "It was a fine cry - loud and long - but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow." (174)

(4) include some sort of visual illustration or graphic on your page that reveals your take on the character in Part Two