TEWWG chs 13-15

In chapter 13, Janie leaves Eatonville to go meet Tea Cake in Jacksonville, where they are married and begin their life together. Janie almost immediately becomes suspicious of Tea Cake's motives when the money she brought with her disappears along with him. When he finally does return the next day he has quite a story to tell about a party he threw with her money. Janie’s reaction is to chastise him for having such a good time without her. My reaction probably would have been a lot different. What would you have done had such a scenario arisen in your romantic life? How does Tea Cake win Janie’s money back? Tea Cake then decides to move his new family down on the “muck” which is the locals’ nickname for the Florida Everglades, a large swampy area of Florida. Tea Cake and Janie move to the edge of Lake Okechobee. Early in chapter 14, there are a couple of instances of foreshadowing: One when Hurston describes the area where they live as only being separated from the lake by the dyke (dam), and the other when Tea Cake spends countless hours teaching Janie how to shoot a rifle. Both of these will be important to the story later on. Chapters 14 and 15 both give us insight into life on the “muck” as well as introducing us to a number of new “characters”. How would you describe Tea Cake and Janie’s life on the lake? Also, please give me your impressions of Chapter 15, which is the shortest chapter, but quite revealing about the relationship between Janie and Tea Cake. Please make sure you answer all questions and phrase your response in complete sentences. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Exam schedule for the week of December 16th

The exam schedule for first semester is as follows: Monday, December 16 -------- 1st period exam Tuesday, December 17-------- 2nd and 3rd period exams Wednesday, December 18---- 4th and 5th period exams Thursday, December 19 ------ 6th and 7th period exams Friday, December 20---------- Exam make-up day U. S. History students your diorama projects are due the day of your exam. Psychology students your neuron model project is due on the date of your exam. Grades will be posted by January 6th, which is the day you come back to school from Christmas break. I will NOT be at school that day. This means that all makeup work must be in prior to that date. EVERYTHING must be completed BEFORE you leave for break in order for it to be graded and put into STI over the break.

Their Eyes Were Watching God, chs 8-10

In chapter 8, Joe and Janie essentially start living separate lives after the argument in the store. Joe is sick-- a fact Janie notices, but he won't allow her to take care of him. In fact, he starts taking advice from other people, some of whom don't have his best interests at heart. On Joe's deathbed, Janie expresses to him everything she had been holding in. What is the first thing Janie does after Joe dies? What does this symbolize to her? During Joe's funeral, Janie shows all of the outward signs of being a grieving widow. "The funeral was going on outside...Inside the black expensive folds were resurrection and life." How is Joe's death, in a way, a rebirth for her? Explain what she means by this statement: "To my thinkin', mourning oughtn't tuh last no longer'n grief." She also comes to realize at this time in her life how much she resents her grandmother for trying to get her to conform to a certain station in life, instead of allowing her true self to shine. In chapter 10 we meet a new character, Tea Cake. Janie is immediately attracted to his vibrant energy. She also loves that he doesn't treat her with "kid gloves", but as an actual thinking, feeling human being. To recieve full credit for posting you must respond to the post in complete sentences, and respond to one of your classmates' comments as well. Spelling and grammar count.

Thursday, December 5

U. S. History students did chapter 17 vocabulary and took notes entitled "U. S. Imperialism". Both of these assignments can be found on the class wiki. Please do not forget to read Their Eyes Were Watching God chapters 8- 10 this weekend and respond to the blog post. Your notebook test is scheduled for next Thursday. Psychology students took notes entitled "The Nervous System." These notes can be found on the class wiki. U. S. Government students, did a bellringer, a political cartoon, and a vocabulary activity. Bellringers and Vocabulary activity 10 were both turned in for a grade. Your unit 3 test will be next Tuesday. Your notebook test is scheduled for next Thursday.

Wednesday, December 4th

U. S. History classes will need to read Their Eyes Were Watching God chapters 8-10 and respond to the appropriate blog post over the weekend. We also received our project to go along with the novel today. You can get a copy of it on the absentee bulletin board. The project will be due during exam week. If you would like to get ahead in class, tomorrow we will be doing Chapter 17 vocabulary from your textbook. These terms are already online on the wiki. Psychology classes took Module 8 test today. This was an open book test using pages 154-155 of your textbook. Module 7 vocabulary was assigned at the end of class. These terms are online on the wiki. Government students, please be reminded that you must complete 20 hours of online work in the ACCESS distance learning program. You are quickly approaching your deadline, and this is a graduation requirement. If you missed class today, you missed a bellringer, plus we did guided reading 8-4 and took notes on the executive office of the president. These notes are in a word document located on the class wiki, under Unit 3 Notes. The worksheet is on the absentee bulletin board. We did not turn it in.

Their Eyes Were Watching God, chs 4 & 5

In Chapter 4 of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie meets Joe Starks, who is unlike any black man she has ever met. Describe her impressions of him. How is he different than Logan? Janie and Joe get to Eatonville, Florida in Chapter 5 where they are disappointed to see the state that the town is in. When Joe buys land and starts to build houses and a store in the town, the townspeople are initially excited. They name him mayor, which also gives Janie a certain status. There is a celebration surrounding the installation of a streetlight. As the town grows, however, and Joe attains a certain status, it starts to stir very different feelings in some of the townspeople, particularly when he builds his own house. “Take for instance that new house of his. It had two stories with porches, with banisters, and such things. The rest of the town looked like servants’ quarters surrounding the ‘big house.’” The citizens start to feel inferior, and Joe likes it. He desires to be set apart from others and wants Janie to feel the same, but she doesn’t. We talked in class about how Nanny had put Janie in a “box” because of her own feelings and understanding of what black women needed. Explain to me how Joe is doing something similar. Give examples. Also read the following statement from the last page of chapter five. Analyze what is meant by it. “The town had a basketful of feelings good and bad about Joe’s positions and possessions, but none had the temerity to challenge him. They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of these things, and then again he was all of these things because the town bowed down.” In order to receive full credit for this entry you must answer all the questions and respond to at least one other commenter's post. Your response should be well thought out and articulate. Please remember that you are writing for an audience. Slang is unacceptable.