You can find the (very short!) story here:
Microsoft Word - Flowers.doc (weebly.com)
Study questions:
1. How does the author, Alice Walker, use the symbol of flowers to show Myop’s coming-of-age experience?
2. What is the significance of the final sentence, according to you?
3. What clues in the text allow us to construct a historical context around this story?
Microsoft Word - Flowers.doc (weebly.com)
Study questions:
1. How does the author, Alice Walker, use the symbol of flowers to show Myop’s coming-of-age experience?
2. What is the significance of the final sentence, according to you?
3. What clues in the text allow us to construct a historical context around this story?
Alternatively, create a drawing that symbolizes the way Myop feels when she discovers the body. Scan it/take a picture of it and upload. If you choose this option you do not need to write a P.E.E.L. paragraph, but you should write a few lines in which you explain the significance of your drawing.
~Christi Ligeon
ReplyDeleteWhat is the significance of the final sentence? I felt like it was because she was scarred for life after stepping on a corpse. And when it said “And the summer was over” it meant that her happy days full of sunshine were gone. In the start of the story it was very happy and nice, but when the sentence: “she had often been this far before but the strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts” came, you could notice that she herself was feeling differently than in the beginning. I think that with this said, she noticed herself feeling unpleasant in this situation and wanted to get back to the house that they were staying in. Eventually we could read that there indeed was something going on and that was the corpse of the big dead man. With this said I think that the final sentence indicated that because she was traumatized by this event, she was scarred and therefore here ‘summer’ days were over.
~Christi Ligeon
DeleteWhat is the significance of the final sentence? I felt like it was because she was scarred for life after stepping on a corpse. And when it said “And the summer was over” it meant that her happy days full of sunshine were gone. In the start of the story it was very happy and nice, but when the sentence: “she had often been this far before but the strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts” came, you could notice that she herself was feeling differently than in the beginning. I think that with this said, she noticed herself feeling unpleasant in this situation and wanted to get back to the house that they were staying in. Eventually we could read that there indeed was something going on and that was the corpse of the big dead man. With this said I think that the final sentence indicated that because she was traumatized by this event, and that if she drops the flowers, it will mean her happy warm summer days are over.
I agree
DeleteCem Hellings
ReplyDeleteI have made a drawing of the story ‘The Flowers’ by Alice Walker. When I read the story, I got a certain image of it what it could mean. I tried my best to make that image into a drawing. And with succes. If you look at it, you will understand what I mean.
Here is it: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jN8vB77MovJrcPzY8
Your drawing is really great and symbolises the story perfectly
DeleteWouter Timmermans
ReplyDeleteI made this drawing with multiple deeper meanings. every single thing u see on this drawing has a different meaning. the time on the top means the day (Summer/fantasy) ending and a new day (reality) starting.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XzZsvpyVaDLmQRY18
i think you did a great job on this drawing
Deletenice drawing!
DeleteI think you explained the story perfectly with this drawing!
DeleteCaitlin Jones
ReplyDeleteThe story Flowers by Alice Walker is about a 10 year old girl called Myop. The last sentence in this story is the most attention grabbing, because for me it indicates that she realizes that someone got killed here and then because she found out, she got killed. You notice that in the story she finds out small things, his teeth are broken, his clothes gone, he’s lying on the ground and next to him is a noose. But Myop is more focused on this beautiful flower that is next to him. But because she was so distracted the story says “she laid down her flowers and the summer was over.” Which means she fell, because she got killed and her flowers dropped to the ground and because she is now dead, the summer is over. So because she found the body, she is now dead. And maybe because someone saw her next to the body and she is black, they though she did it. The main reason why it is so attention grabbing is because it never said that she died, but its very deep and it is quite poetic
Tom Rijken: 1. How does the author, Alice Walker, use the symbol of flowers to show Myop’s coming-of-age experience?
ReplyDeleteI think Alice walker used the flowers as a symbol to respect the death (of that man) and for myop’s young, full and bright life, but when she put down the flowers this fun and happy life was completely over. Myop was shocked and put down the flowers for the man and maybe even her own childhood that stopped because of this. If she hadn’t found the body, maybe her childhood would have been way longer and better. I think the reason why she put down the flowers is because she could not think like before anymore after she found the dead body of that man in such a weird place and with a horrible death. So basically every bright thing in Myop her young and full life ended righthere.
Elisa Okur
ReplyDelete“and the summer was over.” What could Alice Walker have possibly meant by this sentence? In the story, we can see a turning point. “By twelve o’clock, her arms laden with sprigs of her findings, she was a mile or more from home.” After this sentence, the story changes, the words Alice uses seem mysterious and gloomy. Myop, the protagonist finds the lifeless disintegrating body of a man. What she thought was going to be just another mundane day walking through the woods, changed her whole life. If you stumble upon a corpse at such a young age, of course it will be shocking and possibly scar you forever. When Myop found the body, She realizes that life isn’t all sunshine and daisies anymore. “Myop laid down her flowers.” I think the reason she laid them down was because flowers reminded her of happiness and what she just witnessed wasn’t. So, in conclusion, it was quite a poetic way of saying goodbye to her innocent youth
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipN2bD8419elrTP3c2y6afTHkSoObdPqYMWhz2Ti
ReplyDeleteI drew Myop who is scarred (thus drawn black) by the dead body but left the surroundings colourful because nothing changed for the outside world only in her mind.
Nice drawing!!
DeleteHidde Aarsbergen, CV3tb
ReplyDelete‘‘And the summer was over’’ is the last sentence of the story ‘’the flowers’’ by Alice Walker. To know what it means I think its better to look at the other parts of the story. The beginning of the story was very peaceful, happy and calm. Myop was just harvesting the crops and having fun. Then she decided to go in the woods alone. And that is when the story turns darker. She wanted to leave the woods but when she was on her way to leave she saw a body with its head just laying there. that is the point that scarred her for life. that is what they mean by the summer is over. The summer is like a really happy time of the year, the sun shines there are beautiful flowers and it is nice and warm. But she won’t experience the last summer days the same as they were before because she was so shocked of what she saw in the woods.
I agree with your point
DeleteHello my name is sabi sorban
ReplyDelete"And the summer was over" the last centencence of "The Flowers" by Alice Walker, but what is the significance of that centence? In the story she was doing what she usually does, it's a summer day and she goes down to the river where her family gets water, she had explored the woods many times before but this time she finds something there, it's the dead body of a man. " And the summer was over", totally closes her guiltlessness. Summer and her immaculate youth have reached end. Her life will never be the same. Now a harsher, more aware experience will take its place for Myop.
After all than happened, her life would never be the same! So in conclusion "and the summer was over" means that her childhood was over. And her life had changed
How does the author, Alice Walker, use the symbol of flowers to show Myop’s coming-of-age experience?
ReplyDeleteAlice walker uses the flowers as a symbol to show Myop aging. In the beginning of the story Myop is a pure little girl enjoying the beautiful day: “She felt light and good in the warm sun. She was ten, and nothing existed for her but her song.” As she helps around the farm, Myop spots some flowers along the river bank. Like the flowers Myop is young, wild and free.
Later on, she is getting more curious and adventurous. Therefore she visits parts she has never seen and sees things she has never seen before. As she walks around, she accidently steps into a dead man’s head. While she explores the spot, she discovers a single wild pink rose. “As she picked it to add to her collection she noticed a raised mound, a ring, around the rose’s roots.” It was a part of a rotten noose. “Around an overhanging limb of a great spreading oak clung another piece.” It struck her that the man was probably killed for no reason but his skincolour. If she had not found the dead body, she would still have been the pure little girl she was. But now, as she laid down all of her flowers, she instantly had grown up. The summer was over.
I really like your blogpost, especially the way you incorporated the conditional.
Deleteblog no.2
ReplyDeleteI think the last sentence of the story ‘the flowers’ by Alice Walker means that Myop’s youth ends and she starts to mature. I think this the case, because she find a rotting corpse in the last part of the story, which probably traumatized her. if this didn’t happened, she wouldn’t have been forced to deal with reality, but since it did it forced her to grow up and ended her happy and playful summer, however whilst this did happen she also found a beautiful red rose growing out of the corpse which might have made it easier for her to deal with the shock, so I think as she plucked the flower her summer together with her innocent and playful youth ended and she started to grow up.
Elwin de Kok
ReplyDeleteWhat is the significance of the final sentence? I think what the writer meant with:’ and the summer was over, that the girl has been scared by seeing the dead body. You can see this by how the story changes the setting of the story fast. At the beginning of the story, everyone was in a happy setting. Seeming like it was a perfect summer, talking about flowers and the sun, the girl was very happy. This changes quickly just before she finds the body quote:’ but the strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts.’ If a ten-year-old girl finds a dead body, she will be shocked, because she is so young and she has never seen it before. Which makes it a terrible experience to have as a ten-year-old and probably will be scary. To sum it all up the last sentence probably means that she is scared and that ruins her summer.
Thijs van Wijngaarden
ReplyDeleteI believe that the last sentence:' And the summer was over,' means that Myop was so off guard that she was done walking around in the woods forever. Even if she had ever gotten over this, she would never forget it. Alice walker expressed this by writing: 'Myop dropped her flowers,' in the second to last sentence of the story. In this case, I think Myop was so shocked to see the dead man that she dropped the flowers. The second reason is that the story was peaceful and happily written until Myop came across the dead man. At that point, the tone of the story changed. So I think Alice walker meant by her last sentence: 'and the summer is over,' that Myop didn't like to walk in the woods anymore because of how shocking it was for her to find a dead body.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x8pHdRY3Nm-X8_-d5e3HQQ8-3LhQA4F9/view?usp=drivesdk
ReplyDeleteHope it's good enough ^^
As its already known, and it is to be expected, when she sees the body she clearly sees reality and what it is like. The reality is harsh and cruel. There are some elements that stand out in my drawing, let's start with the first one.
The rain is simple and direct, the summer is over.
The person behind her would be a reflection of herself as an adult, demonstrating the obligation to grow up and leave the world of "children fantasy".
The "double" effect in Myop, represents trauma, change and confusion.
And the flowers, why the flowers in a different color? Because even if it is not noticed, it plays a very important role in this story.
And why the "bright" rose? Because there is a small detail in this story, which shows that in the blow of reality, trauma and death, there is a small sample of life and brightness
Emma Peredo
Great drawing!!
DeleteThnx ^^
Deletei really liked how most of the drawing is black, showing how myop would’ve felt.
DeleteCarsten van der Kleij
ReplyDeleteI believe the author, Alice Walker, uses the symbol of flowers to show Myop’s coming-of-age experience because she wanted to represent the life of a flower. In my opinion, the usage of flowers to symbolize Myop’s summer is quite clever because the illustration Alice Walker tries to portray is how many positive things can slowly deteriorate over time. She does this by expressing how beautiful flowers can be during the beginning of summer (“It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen to smokehouse that the days had never been as beautiful as these,” is quoted from the book “The Flowers” by Alice Walker) and, unfortunately, what the end of summer means for flowers as they slowly start to wilt and die (the representation of the preceding explanation is displayed in the story with the slow introduction of the dead man). Therefore, in my mind, a flower is the perfect way to symbolize Myop’s experience and the ups and downs of life.
Xanthe Hough
ReplyDeleteThe way I see it, the closing sentence expresses a sense of shock, causing Myop's summer to come to an end early. The author, Alice Walker, uses a peaceful setting to start the story. For example, she uses the statement, "It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen to smokehouse that the days had never been as beautiful as these." As the story continues, Walker uses the words "Myop began to circle back to the house, back to the peacefulness of the morning." to create a new atmosphere and to change the theme. By doing so, she can introduce the darker part of the story: When Myop finds the corpse of an unfamiliar man. Myop seems to be left very shocked, making a significant impact on her summer. In my opinion, the author is implying that Myop's summer ended early due to her finding a dead body, leaving her traumatised. The words "And the summer is over." symbolise an abrupt ending to the story.
this is hugo's blog
ReplyDeleteBlog 2
The Sentence: ‘And the summer was over’ From Alice Walkers ‘The Flowers’ Is a very strong sentence, because of its interpretations. It could mean that Myop (the main character) Isn’t childish anymore, and that the summer joy was over. She found a dead body, that would make you sad too, right? If she had gone home earlier, she probably wouldn’t have seen the body. But she decided to go for a very long walk, and now she found a body which took the childishness away from her. Or it could mean something else, like how I interpreted it the first time I read the story. The way I interpreted the sentence was very, very grim. I thought that Myop had hung herself. After a few more times reading the story, I found out that was not the case, but that’s how I interpreted the story’s final sentence the first time I read it. ‘And the summer was over’ is a very strange sentence to end a story on, but it works really well for this story, because it could mean so many things.
Hello, my name is Jesse van Vugt.
ReplyDeleteBlog post #1
What is the significance of the final sentnece: And the summer was over? I think the sentence has different possible outcomes. The way I see it, is more of a conclusion to the story. By saying: And the summer was over, its more of an ending to what happened. In the biginning of the story it was a happy summer with the happy girl Myop, untill she finds a dead mans body. Shocked by this event, something she had never seen before. She was haunted by this sight. The story turned dark, which I think is the meaning of the last sentence. The sentence says both how the summer turned dark, and how Myop was traumatised by the evnet. To sum up, The last sentence is an explaination of how Myop feeled after finding the body.