Class updates for January 30

If you missed class today we copied notes on World War I and the Russian Revolution. These are online at the wiki or the webpage. Don't forget to bring Their Eyes Were Watching God to class tomorrow. We will be reading chapter 17 and you have a quiz on chapters 13- 16. Your project is due on Monday-- no excuses. If you will not be at school on Monday, turn it in early. I will NOT accept late projects.

Their Eyes Were Watching God, chapter 16

In chapter 16 we are introduced to Mrs. Turner, a woman who runs a restaurant with her husband that is frequented by the workers. Mrs. Turner admires Janie, but despises Tea Cake. Why? Explain Mrs. Turner's philosophy on black- white relations and skin color. Do you believe that Mrs. Turner's beliefs are are still reflected by certain segments of the black race today? Explain.

Their Eyes Were Watching God, chs 10-12

Janie meets Tea Cake in chapter 10. Describe their first interactions. What does Tea Cake symbolize to Janie? How does he force her to look at herself inside and out? Describe the reaction of the townspeople when they find out about them in chapter 12. Why are Janie's friends so against them being together? What is the misunderstanding the townspeople have concerning Janie about what she wants and what THEY think she wants? What does Janie mean when she says she had lived her grandmother's way ?

Their Eyes Were Watching God, chs 8 & 9

In chapter 8, after Janie and Joe have a very public fight in which she questions his manhood, Joe moves ut of their bedroom. His health steadily deteriorates and he refuses to see her. He instead surrounds himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear. This hurts Janie but she doesn't tell Joe that. In chapter 8 to what does Hurlston compare rumor? Why is this an apt comparison? What is the first thing Janie does after Joe dies? Why is this important to her? In chapter 9 during Joe's funeral, a contrast is drawn between Janie's inside and outside and what she was feeling. Her sorrow is all on the outside, not because she is actually sad, but because its what people expect. What does she feel on the inside? What do YOU think about this? Is it disrespectful? Or understandable? Why? Janie also comes to realize that she has ambivalent feelings about Nanny. Why does she hate her grandmother, when as far as the outside world can see she has had a good life?

Their Eyes Were Watching God, chs 1-4

The opening paragraph in the book draws a distinction between men and women, and how they view their dreams and desires. Hurston portrays women as being more practical because they build their dreams around the truth, while men wish for things they can never attain. The people on the porch are presented to us as something less than human, but again the difference between the thoughts of the men and the thoughts of the women are made apparent.The men hold on to her image as an object of their fantasy, while the women show their envy. Chapter 1 occurs in the present. Chapter 2 and subsequent chapters occur in the past as Janie tells her life story to Phoeby. We learn that she was raised by her grandmother, and that she was a product of rape, and that the children she went to school with made fun of her because she lived on the white peoples' property. Why were they REALLY making fun of her? Did you find it interesting that Janie said she didn't realize she was black until she was about 6 years old? In ch 3 Janie comes to see Nanny to talk to her about marriage. What is it she wants to know? There is a distinct difference between what Janie wants for herself & what Nanny wants. What does Janie want? What does Nanny want for her? How does Nanny measure happiness? What is the 'bloom time, green time & orange time' that Janie waited? In chapter 4 we meet Joe Starks. What is it about Joe that attracts Janie? Why is she still hesitant to leave with him? What is the 'far horizon' she speaks of?

We've moved

Welcome to our new blog.  (Dang it.)  Don't worry, we'll get it looking as good as the last one soon.