Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston

Time Period of the Novel This book was written in 1937 by Zora Hurston Story takes place in the early 1900’s Civil War 1861-1865 --- Their Eyes Were Watching God takes place around 30 years after African Americans were free individuals http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil- war/reconstruction

Author Zora Neale Hurston Born Jan. 7, 1891 in Alabama Needless to say tensions were still high in the south with lynching’s and segregation being an unfortunate part of her everyday life Moved to Eatonville, FL when she was three years old; Eatonville was the first incorporated black town in the United States Father was a minister and later became mayor of Eatonville; Hurston later said that Eatonville allowed her to grow up free from the prejudices of white society

Author Zora Neale Hurston In the book the main Character Janie Crawford is an African American woman reflecting over her life and telling her story The novel roughly parallels Zora’s romance with a delightful younger man who may have been the prototype for Tea Cake

Zora Neale Hurston Graduated from Barnard College in 1928 with a degree in anthropology (study of humankind) Contributed to the Harlem Renaissance Movement of the 1920’s Her works contains almost exclusively African American characters

Their Eyes Were Watching God Set in Eatonville, FL, which was based on the community that Hurston grew up in Has been studied in the context of the literature of the Harlem Renaissance, Southern-American literature, feminist literature, and African American literature

Eatonville, Florida Eatonville, Florida isn’t a fictional setting It was the first all- black incorporated town in the United States Hurston’s father was mayor of Eatonville

More About the Time This town was created after the Emancipation Proclamation given by President Abraham Lincoln Not only were many Black people viewed as second class citizens during this time period but women also had very few rights ---this is very evident throughout the story It wasn’t even until 1920 when the 19th amendment was passed and women received the right to vote And it was another 43 years after that, that the equal pay act was passed

Themes & Symbols of the Novel Power as a means to achieve happiness Love versus independence The individual’s relationship to a community Gender differences

Dialect in Their Eyes Were Watching God Dialect – the language of a particular area, class, or group of people, including the sounds, grammar, and diction (word choice) of that particular group Example: “She ain’t even worth talkin’ after. . .She sits high, but she looks low. Dat’s what Ah say ‘bout dese ole women runnin’ after young boys.”

All about Janie  Janie is the main character --- she is not like most of the other African Americans in the story Janie’s grandmother was a slave and her biological grandfather was white; Janie’s mother, who is also “lighter” skinned was raped by her school teacher and so as a result Janie is also “Lighter” skinned then most of those she associates with in the story Throughout Janie’s life her fairer skin plays a large role in how she views herself and how others view her.

How It Starts Novel is the story of Janie Crawford’s search for love told in the form of a frame story Frame Story: The author begins the novel and ends the novel with the same two people in the same setting, with only an hour or two having elapsed Sitting on the steps of her back porch, Janie tells her story to her friend Phoebe Watson

How it Starts In the first few pages, we see Janie returning to her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, after nearly two years of absence Her neighbors are curious to know where she has been and what has happened to her They wonder why she’s returning in dirty overalls when she left in bridal satin