1. Intro. To Their Eyes Were Watching God
Ms. Foley
2014

2. The Author: Zora Neale Hurston
Born January 7th, 1891
Died January 28th, 1960
Folklorist, anthropologist, and author
Father was a Baptist preacher
Mother was a schoolteacher
Raised in Eatonville, FL (one of the first all-black towns in the U.S.)
Sent to boarding school after her mother’s death in 1904

3. The Author: Zora Neale Hurst
Started her degree at Howard University
Left to go to Barnard College, Columbia University (where she was the only black student)
Graduated with a degree in anthropology in 1928
First marriage in 1927 to Herbert Sheen (jazz musician/doctor) – lasted 4 years
Second marriage in 1939 to Albert price (25 years her junior) – lasted 7 months
Traveled extensively through the Caribbean and American South to collect stories, myths, and superstitions of the descendants of the slaves.

4. The Author: Zora Neale Hurston
Part of the “Harlem Renaissance” movement
Frequent collaborator with Langston Hughes in this time.
Her work was very unpopular for a long time. Some of the major criticisms were:
Her use of dialect
Her lack of politics in her writing
Brought back to the spotlight in 1975 by Alice Walker

5. The Novel: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Published in 1937
Set in Central and South Florida during the early 1900’s
Follows main character Janie Crawford from girlhood to adulthood (and through three “marriages”)

6. The Novel: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Themes:
Identity (specifically female identity)
Relationships between the sexes
Independence
What does it means to be successful/fulfilled?
Communication: Speech vs. Silence

7. Their Eyes Were Watching God Journal
How does who we choose as our significant other reflect who we are?
Do the relationships we have with others change us?
In a famous song we are told that “love is all we need.” It this true? Why or why not?