Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston

Read and annotate the handouts “A Brief Biography” and “Jim Crow”– take notes on significant information from the handouts

About the Author

Novel published in 1937, during the Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance: 1920s-1930s, cultural movement in NYC– African American racial pride expressed through art, music, and literature◦ Notable artists include: Langston Hughes,

Countee Cullen, W.E.B DuBois, Harlem Globetrotters, Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, etc

Historical Background

Bildungsroman= coming-of-age novel

Setting= early 20th century, rural Florida

Major Premise: Janie, an African American woman in the early 1900s, learns who she is as a person as she faces various obstacles (relationships, society, nature, etc)

Significant Characters:◦ Janie Crawford◦ Jody Starks◦ Tea Cake◦ Logan Killicks◦ Pheoby Watson

Novel: Key Facts

Definition: A narrative structure in which a story is enclosed in another story, a tale within a tale

Frame Story

The horizon The porch Janie’s hair/headrags Mule(s) The gate The pear tree The hurricane

Symbols

Definition: A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area

Activity: Using the section you read for today, record 5 passages (with page #s!) written in dialect in your notes. Underneath each passage, “translate” the dialogue into standard English.

Why would an author choose to use dialect in her writing?

Dialect