1. Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston

2. Time Period of the Novel
This book was written in 1937 by Zora Hurston
Story takes place in the early 1900’s
Civil War Their Eyes Were Watching God takes place around 30 years after African Americans were free individuals
war/reconstruction

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

9. 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

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

11. 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.”

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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