Site-Wide Activity

Carly, I thought your comparison of Delia’s labour and spirit to a shield was very apt. It was also very interesting to see the comparisons to the Zulu shield. Many artists, like Picasso, have appropriated […]

I agree with Cole and Hannah that the way you described Willie Cole as giving the boards a “beaten-down” look was very insightful. One look think that he was only trying to make them look used, like Delia’s […]

Eliza, your post did a great job of explaining the threads connecting the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Hurston’s historical fiction, and Cole’s present-day portrayal of these themes. Keep up the good work!

I love the idea of Willie Cole regarding the women throughout his life as warriors. It is obvious that he has a ton of respect and admiration for them so it makes sense that he would name their shields after them. […]

I really like the point you make about how important the connection to real people is to Willie Cole. The fact that each of these ironing boards represents a person from his life who did this work and used an […]

I like that the works are even called Domestic Shields. In the story, it seemed like maybe Delia really worked so hard, not just to make money but to distract herself from Sykes and her situation.

I like the use of the word “flatten” which I think also means to beat someone down. Remembering how long Sykes had been beating Delia and how difficult it was to prep the boards makes me remember how strong you […]

I think the idea of Delia being broken down like Cole’s ironing boards is really interesting and speaks a lot to the way that Delia is described as “work-worn” throughout the story. Delia bears the marks of hard […]

I think the connection between women’s hard work and warrior- like qualities is really interesting. Carter also notes Delia’s hard work and perseverance in her article about sweat, arguing that it makes Delia […]

One of the things that does point towards John’s Christ-like character is his “redemption”. To me, one of the biggest part of Jesus Christ’s identity is his ability to forgive sin, and of renewal/redemption. So […]

I think your focus on John’s mother and the importance of her language, as well as the effects it had on John and Ned, is a very good observation of an influential character. I wonder if this has more to do with […]

It’s really good point you made at the end of this blog post about the expectations of Black women in the background of men’s success. It reminded me of the scene in the story when John is in court again because […]

Ty, you’ve shown us that this story is clearly sympathetic to Lucy’s position as much as it is to John’s. What kind of protagonist are we to interpret John as? Are his struggles an important commentary on his […]