Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston. Chapter One.

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Transcript of Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston. Chapter One.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching GodZora Neale Hurston1Chapter One

What do you think the author means when she says, Ships at a distance have every mans wish on board?It is a metaphor for dreams and the idiom his ship will come in.For some, their dreams will arrive the way they want them to; for others, they will never achieve their dream.For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation (1)Depending on the interpretation, the Watcher is:GodThe dreamer himself/herself2. Who do you think the Watcher is in the first paragraph?PersonificationMeaning = There is often not enough time for dreams to come trueLife, like time, is fleeting3. What literary device is being used in the phrase: mocked to death by Time? What does this phrase mean?PersonificationMeaning = The sun had gone down, and in its stead left the stars4. What literary device is being used in the phrase: The sun had gone, but had left his footprints in the sky? What do you think this means?PersonificationMeaning = There were words being used or thrown out that were indecipherable, or whose speaker cannot be identified, but they came out of several mouths at one time, almost like singers in a chorus singing the same phrase5. What literary device is being used in the sentence: Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in a song? How could you interpret its meaning?The mood is somber, unsettling, confused, insecure, and suspicious.The peoples gossip helps contribute to the speculation and suspicion. We feel as uncomfortable as Janie feels returning home, having everyone voice their assumptions about what had happened to her.6. Describe the mood at the beginning of chapter one. How do the peoples reactions to the woman contribute to the mood?She has been gone awhile and is returning; she left in a blue dress, and came back in overalls. There is speculation that her lover took her money and ran off with another woman; she was much older than her lover.Examples vary. (Discuss)7. What do we learn about Janie from this chapter? Find 4 examples from the text that describe her either physically or emotionally.Chapter Two

She became aware that she was blackJanie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches. (8)She doesnt recognize herself in a photographBut before Ah seen the de picture Ah thought Ah wuz just like de rest. (9)1. What discovery did Janie make about herself when she was very young?Janies mother ran off; Janies father, who had raped her mother, was running from the lawAh never called mah Grandma nothin but Nanny, cause dats what everybody on de place called her. (8)2. Why was Janie raised by her grandmother?Janies grandfather was a white slave ownerLeafy was the byproduct of sexual assault/rape3. Who was Janies grandfather (Leafys father)?She was going to be whipped to near death for having the Masters baby.Upon people realizing Leafy resembled the white slave master, Nanny knew she had to escape in order to save herself and Leafy4. Why did Nanny run away from the plantation?So that she could have a stable, comfortable life, and be watched after.You aint got nobody but me. And mah head is ole and tilted towards de grave. Neither can you stand alone by yoself. De thought uh you bein kicked around from pillar tuh post is uh hurtin thing. Every tear you drop squeezes a cup uh blood outa mah heart. Ah got tuh try and do for you befo mah head is cold. (15)5. Why did Nanny want Janie to marry Logan Killicks?She was raped by a white man and became pregnant with Janie.And after you were born she took to drinkin likker and stayin out nights. Couldnt git her to stay here and nowhere else. Lawd knows where she is right now (19)6. What happened to Janies mother at age 17? What happens as a result?Janies father was a white man, her school teacher, who ran off the night he raped Leafy.7. Who was Janies father?Answers may vary:Nanny is saying she is old and fragile, and to go easy on her.Nannys fragility is not something she wishes upon JanieShe wishes for sympathy from Janie before her deathPut me down easy (20)8. What does Nanny mean when she says that she is a cracked plate?Chapter Three

She has a very idealistic and romantic view. She feels she will be swept away in blissNanny and the old folks had said it, so it must be so Janie felt glad of the thought, for then it wouldnt seem so destructive and mouldy. She wouldnt be lonely anymore.Janie marries Logan for others expectations, for the comfort and protection marriage offers, but not out of love1. What ideals does Janie have about love?She will fall in love with him and experience the type of love she has always dreamed about.She expects love to happen and begins to worry when she doesnt feel love for LoganThe new moon has been up and down three times before she got worried in mind. (22)2. What does Janie believe will happen after she and Logan get married?Although he takes care of her, she is repulsed by him and certainly doesnt love him.Ahd ruther be shot wid tacks than tuh turn over in de bed and stir up de air whilst he is in dere Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree (24)3. How does Janie feel about her husband?Nannys advice for Janie is to be patient and wait for love to comeBetter leave things de way dey is. Youse young yet. No tellin whut mout happen befo you die. Wait awhile, baby. Yo mind will change. (24)4. What is Nannys advice to Janie?Answers may vary:The world was a breeding place for new life (stallion) in the universe (blue pasture of ether)The world goes around and life goes on no matter what.5. What do you think the narrator means when she says She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether?Answers may vary:Janies first dream (her romantic ideal of the way love should be) was dead, so she had her first real disappointment in life.This statement of the death of her dream means that to her, her life begins with this disappointment; this disappointment is her realityshe will have to make the best of her life from then on.6. Analyze the following: Janies first dream was dead, so she became a woman. How does this statement relate to claims made in chapter one that the dream is the truth?Chapter Four

Logan doesnt show much love or attention; he wants Janie to work hard labor next to him.Janie noticed that her husband had stopped talking in rhymes to her. (26)You aint got no mo business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday! (Joe Starks, 29)1. How has Janies marriage to Logan changed since they were first married?He wants her to work on a plow in the field with him.Ah aims tuh run two plows (Logan, 27)2. What does Logan want Janie to do with the mule he plans to bring back from town?He is well-groomed, attractive, stylishly-dressed; seal-brown in color; self-assured and driven.He whistled like he knew where he was going. (27)Janie is flirtatious and nave.She offers him sweeten water, to which Joe replies, Never specks to get too old to enjoy syrup sweeten water when its cools and nice (28)3. Describe Joe Starks. How does Janie act when she first meets him?Joe has saved money to go to Eatonville, FloridaHe wants to be a part of the all-black community.He had always wanted to be a big voice, but de white folks had all de sayso where he comes from and everywhere else, exceptin dis place dat colored folks was buildin theirselves. (28)4. Where does Joe want to go? Why?Answers will vary.He says the right thingsShe is attracted to him, whereas she was just forced into the relationship with Logan.He is well-dressed and seems to know what he wants out of life.She may be attracted physically, but also attracted to the possibility of being treated better, since he is such a smooth talker.5. Why do you think Janie is so attracted to Joe?He wants her to plow the field; Janie refuses.Ahm too honest and hard-workin for anybody in yo family, dats de reason you dont want me! (Logan, 32)6. What happens to trigger Janies final decision to leave Logan?Janie expects that things will be better now; that Joe will show her what real love is.The morning road air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything. A bee for her bloom. (32)7. What expectations does Janie have about her new marriage to Joe?Chapter Five

She wants to make the reader believe that Janie has finally found love. This is familiar because Logan is previously referred to as making speeches with rhymes.1. Why do you think Hurston begins Chapter 5 with the sentence On the train the next day, Joe didnt make many speeches with rhymes to her Why is this sentence familiar?They are not very impressed; they expected better.Why, taint nothing but a raw place in de woods A whole heap uh talk and nobody doin nothin (Joe, 34)It is a whole heap littler than I thought. (Janie, 34)2. What is Janie and Joes first impression of the town?He wants to organize the town and elect a Mayor. He also wants to build up as many buildings and homes as possible to make the town more impressive.Ahm buyin in here, and buyin in big. (Joe, 35)3. When Joe realizes what the town is really like, what does he plan to do?Answers will vary.They are slow, uneducated and seem lazy. They do not seem like the type that will be too interested in Starkss plan.The town may react the same way.4. What do you think of Amos Hicks and Lee Coker? What do their personalities and behavior tell you about the town?They are landmarks for the town. He wants to build a great black city, and a post office and store represent the beginnings. For a black town to have a post office means that it is a nationally recognized site.He is driven and ambitious. He may do anything to get what he wants, even if that means treating the others poorly.He has the personality of a white plantation master.5. Why do you think Joe Starks is so set upon building a store and a post office? What does this tell you about his personality and motives?They elect him mayor of the townAh kin see dat dis town is full uh union and love. Ah means to put mah hands tuh de plow heah, and strain every nerve tuh make dis town de metropolis uh de state. (Joe, 42)6. How do the townspeople reward Starks?He treats her as if she is fragile. He doesnt want her to do anything but make him look good.He doesnt allow her to talk to the people she wants to, or socialize with the common man.He prevents her from addressing the townspeople after he is elected mayorShes uh woman and her place is in de home. (43)7. How does Joe treat Janie? What does/doesnt he allow her to do?Answers will vary. The light is symbolic in several ways:It may be symbolic of Starkss white influence overtaking the townIt can be a Biblical allusion to Genesis, Let there be light.Starks wishes to shed light on Eatonvilles success/garner respect from outsiders8. What is symbolic about the streetlamp that Starks bought?She feels that it is unequal; he puts her on a pedestal and wont let her become her own self.it just looks lak it keeps us in some way we aint natural wid one nother. Youse always off talkin and fixin things, and Ah feels lak Ahm jus markin time. (Janie to Joe, 46)She feels lonely.A feeling of coldness and fear took over her. She felt far away from things (46)9. How does Janie feel about her marriage to Joe?She is treated as untouchable; she is put on a pedestal by the town alsoPeople say she doesnt talk much and when she does, they are polite and distant.10. How is Janie treated as the Mayors wife?It is painted whitea symbol of his whiteness dominating the town.White typically signifies purity; however, in this instance it typifies more of a sense of control and immoralityhes the wind and wese de grass. We bend whichever way he blows Some folks need thrones (Sam Watson, 49)11. What is symbolic about the way Starks paints his house?He is bossy and rude to her; he controls her and doesnt allow her to speak.She sho dont talk much. De way he rears and pitches in de store sometimes when she make uh mistake is sort of ungodly, but she dont seem to mind at all. (Eatonville resident, 50)12. What do the townspeople notice about the way Joe treats Janie?Chapter Six

Sam, Lige and Walter say that he works his mule to death; the mule is old and close to death because of him.De womenfolks got yo mule usin his sides for a washboard. (Sam, 52)Taint no feed cup you measures dat cawn outa. Its uh tea cup. (Sam, 52)1. How do the men at the store tease Matt Bonner about his mule?She has trouble with the mathmaking change, measurements.shed make the wrong change for stamps she couldnt read everybodys writing She went through many silent rebellions over things like that. (54)2. Why is Janie having such a hard time managing the store?Starks buys Matts mule that he can be the one to free the mule.Janie acknowledges the unfair treatment of the poor brute beastA little war of defense for helpless things was going on inside her. (57)3. Why does Starks buy the mule from Matt Bonner?It represents how Starks feels power over the people of Eatonville; how he has taken the role of the slave master or liberator (Janie connects him to Abraham Lincoln)Also, the mule represents women (think back to Nannys mule speech). In this way, the freeing of the mule can be the freeing of Janie from Starks, or the freeing of women from mens rule or control.The townspeople compare Starks to a white slave owner running them.4. How is freeing the mule symbolic? To whom do the townspeople compare Starks?He thinks that she is too good to go to something so base and common.Is this a means to control her? Is he subjecting her to become the type of woman he wishes for her to be without acknowledging the type of woman she wishes to be?the carcass moved off with the town, and left Janie standing in the doorway. (60)5. Why doesnt Joe allow Janie to go to the draggin-out?Answers will vary.To integrate the African-American ritual and tradition.It shows the importance of song and ritual, as well as the talking animal element of folklore.It also brings in a bit of comic relief to the story at this point.6. Why do you think Hurston included the strange funeral ceremony among the buzzards?She wants to be able to be her own person, and do what Starks forbids her to do.Starks thinks she is being ungrateful by wanting to be like a common, average woman when he has worked to put them both in a position of authority and respect, and he thinks Janie doesnt appreciate all hes done.7. Why does Joe think that Janie is being ungrateful?Sam and Life engage in what is commonly referred to as playing the dozens. They debate the age-old nature versus nurture question.These porch conversations are another element of the heritage of African-Americans.

Continue to next slide8. According to Sam and Lige, what is it that keeps a man from being burned on the stove? Who do you think wins the argument?

God made nature and everything else. It is nature that keeps a man from touching a hot stove. Nature made caution, which keeps us from touching a hot stove. (Sam)It is caution: We dont touch a hot stove because if we knew not to touch a hot stove because it was in our nature, then we wouldnt have to watch to make sure babies dont touch it. (Lige)There was no passion or love between them.It was no longer fun and playful.This counteracts/returns to the flower symbols, (picking flowers and making a bouquet, flower dust) used by Hurston earlier (end of chapter 4), when Janies intention to leave for Eatontown with Joe was hopeful and fresh9. What does Hurston mean when she writes, The bed was no longer a daisy-field for her and Joe to play in?Chapter Seven

She ignores him and stays out of his way as much as possible.The years took all the fight out of Janies face She learned how to talk some and leave some she lived between her hat and her heels, with her emotional disturbances like shade patterns in the woods come and gone with the sun She got so she received all things with the stolidness of the earth which soaks up urine and perfume with the same indifference. (76-77)1. How is Janie able to tolerate her relationship with Jody?For the first time, Janie really knows what Joe is thinking and how he works. She has become more wise.Janie begins to observe and acknowledge Joes old age and decline in healthHer future with Joe, all of a sudden, seems narrow.She just measured out a little time for him and set it aside to wait. (78)2. What does the narrator mean by For the first time she could see a mans head naked of its skull?Janie was truly humiliated and publically shamedMixon treated Janies mistake as a joke; Joe treats her mistake as a disasterJanie stands up for herself in front of everyone for the first time, demonstrating a new side of the mayors wife not previously witnessedYou big-bellies round here and put out a lot of brag, but taint nothin to it but yo big voice. (Janie, 79)3. Why did the narrator say that the incident with the tobacco was like somebody snatched off part of a womans clothes while she wasnt looking and the streets were crowded?Janie is almost forty and Jody is almost fifty.Ahm nearly forty and youse nearly fifty Ah aint no young girl no mo but den Ah aint no old woman neither. (Janie, 79)4. How old are Janie and Jody now?She says When you pull down yo britches, you look like de change of life.Joe Starks realized all the meanings and his vanity bled like a flood. Janie had robbed him of his illusion of irresistable maleness that all men cherish. (79) 5. How does Janie insult Jody about his age?He reacts violently, out of humiliation, and slaps hershe had cast down his empty armor before men and they had laughed, would keep on laughing. When he paraded his possessions hereafter, they would not consider the two together. Theyd look with envy at the things and pity the man that owned them Joe Starks didnt know the words for all of this, but he knew the feeling. So he struck Janie with all of his might and drove her from the store. (80)

6. How does Jody react to the insult?Chapter Eight

She feels bad because she doesnt like hurting anyone even when the hurting seems justified.Why must Joe be so mad with her for making him look small when he did it to her all the time. Had been doing it for years. (81)Ahd ruther be dead than for Jody to think that Ahd hurt him God in heben knows Ah wouldnt do one thing tuh hurt nobody. Its too underhand and mean. (Janie to Phoebe, 82)1. Why does Janie feel bad about hurting Joe?They believe she poisoned him for purposes of revengeIrony = For close to twenty years, Jody has been poisoning/slowly killing Janies dreams/hopes2. What do the townspeople believe Janie has done to Joe?He is dying of kidney failure.When a mans kidneys stop working altogether, there is no way for him to live. He needed medical attention two years ago. Too late now. (the doctor, 83)3. What is wrong with Joe?He was going to die any day.Irony = Janie sees death as an eternal being (Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then) when death really introduces people to eternity.Janies concept of death is a vacuum a space "without sides and without a roof" signaling the emptiness and eternity of death. 4. What does the author mean by: She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now?She wants to set things straight between them. She wants him to know that she wanted the best when they got married, but things fell apart as he became more and more greedy and controlling.She wants him to know that she never wished him ill-will, but that she grew to resent him because of the way she was treated.5. Why does Janie visit Jody on his deathbed? What does she say?Answers will vary.Death is proper because it always does what it is supposed to do.It creeps in unnoticed and disappears unnoticed.6. On at least two occasions, Hurston refers to death as square-toed, which means exceedingly proper or straight-laced. Why might Hurston describe death in this manner?It is symbolic of her new freedom from the control and tyranny of their marriage.She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there.Janies womanhood is still in tact; it is something that not even Jody- nor anyone- could take from herYears of confinement and concealment vanish7. Why is it that one of the first things Janie does after Jodys death is let her hair down?Chapter Nine

Answers will vary.She attended his funeral physically appearing to mourn, but in her spirit, she was rejoicing that she was finally free from Joe Starks.She burns all of her head rags and begins to wear her hair in a long braid again1. What do you think the author means by She sent her face to Joes funeral, and herself went rollicking with springtime across the world?Her grandmother made her marry Logan, and it was with this marriage that Janie lost who she was as a person. She blames her for being the person she became. Janie was never able to live her own life since Nanny made her marry Logan.Janie is now free to live her own life, and to do what she wants to do.2. Why does Janie hate her grandmother so much?The narrator describes how God made manthat he made him out of a jewel, but then the angels got jealous of the shine, and broke up the shine. Then they were beaten to sparks and covered with mud.This is symbolic of the spirit and spark in people that has been lost.Janie knew she had a spark buried deep inside her, and wanted to remove the mud and shine again. She means that everyone else is also trying to find their own shine.3. What does the author mean by Like all the other tumbling mud-balls, Janie had tried to show her shine?No suitors have come to see her in six months. They are treating her as if she is fragile and helpless. They try to take care of her in every way.Janie has no interest in them, and often finds their gestures humorous and silly.4. How have the men been treating Janie since Joes death? What is Janies reaction to these men?Janie is not sad about Joes death. She should not have to pretend that she is in mourning for his death when she is not really grieving over him.She knew that Joes death was imminent and had prepared herself for mourning before his death; she has also been waiting for liberation all her life5. What does Janie mean when she says, Let em say whut deh wants tuh, Pheoby. To my thinkin mourning oughtnt tuh last longern grief? Why is this statement important to Janie and her journey?Chapter Ten

Everyone has gone to a baseball gameThis sets the stage for her chance encounter with Tea CakeWhile everyone goes off to see a game, Janie is about to play a game1. Where has everyone gone, leaving Janie alone?Tea Cake = Vergible Woods.Answers will vary:Sweet?Good natured?Companion?Playful?2. What is Tea Cakes real name? Judging from his nickname alone, what kind of person do you think Tea Cake is?He treats Janie as an equal. He doesnt put her down, nor does he treat her as fragile.Janie has already begun to develop a strong, independent sense of selfTea Cake acts as catalyst and supports her rather than stifling her 3. How is Tea Cake different from the other men of Eatonville?She is intrigued and attracted to him, but cautiousJanies quest for the horizon is not one involving materialism (Jody); rather, the pursuit of her goals should be spiritual/mystical (Tea Cake)However, she is so unaccustomed to being involved with a man so concerned with things beyond material life that she sees Tea Cake as too good to be true.4. What is Janies reaction to Tea Cake?