Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Sula
Morrison's 1973 novel of the friendship of Sula Peace and Nel Wright — the Bottom community of Medallion, Ohio
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Sula (Mid) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Finite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Non-Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Finite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Impersonal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Community |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Variable |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Variable |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Variable |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Sula
The 1919-1965 historical sweep of the novel.
Space
Sula
The Bottom — fictional Medallion, Ohio — as the structuring social-geographical setting.
Matter
Sula
The embodied women — Sula, Nel, Eva, Hannah — whose lives compose the novel.
Observer
Sula
The communal-narrative voice of the Bottom as proper observer.
Energy
Sula
The communal-erotic energies of the Black-American small town.
Information
Sula
The narrative-mythic content of the inter-generational story.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Sula has been variously assessed — defenders see major Black-feminist achievement, occasional contest from readers troubled by its refusal of redemptive resolution.