2016 Summer Reading
Pope John Paul II High School
English 11
American Identities
Summer Reading Instructions
No sources, other than the sources listed on this assignment handout, may be consulted for this assignment.
1. Read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Complete the annotating and reading
assignment below.
2. Be prepared to participate in discussions and to write an in-class essay on the summer reading during
the first week of school. The reflection and chart are due the first day of class.
Questions?
English 11 Summer Reading Contact: Ms. Pamela Strobel ([email protected])
Ms. Pamela Strobel ([email protected])
Of Hurston's fiction, Their Eyes Were Watching God is arguably the best-known and perhaps the
most controversial. The novel follows the fortunes of Janie Crawford, a woman living in the black
town of Eaton, Florida. Hurston sets up her characters and her locale in the first chapter, which,
along with the last, acts as a framing device for the story of Janie's life . . .
One person the citizens of Eaton are inclined to judge is Janie Crawford, who has married three men
and been tried for the murder of one of them. Janie feels no compulsion to justify herself to the
town, but she does explain herself to her friend, Phoeby, with the implicit understanding that
Phoeby can "tell 'em what Ah say if you wants to. Dat's just de same as me 'cause mah tongue is in
mah friend's mouf."
Hurston's use of dialect enraged other African American writers such as Wright, who accused her of
pandering to white readers by giving them the black stereotypes they expected. Decades later,
however, outrage has been replaced by admiration for her depictions of black life, and especially the
lives of black women. In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston breathes humanity
into both her men and women, and allows them to speak in their own voices.
--Alix Wilber (from Amazon)
Fiction Summer Reading Assignment
As you read the novel, annotate for the following:
1.
2.
3.
Hurston’s use of dialect vs. proper grammar
Animal & nature imagery
Thematic Ideas
a. Voice, language & storytelling
b. Gender roles/relations
c. Desire, love, & independence
d. Power, judgment, & jealousy
e. Race/racism
When you have finished reading the novel, create and complete
a reading passage chart on word choice and reader’s feeling
(mood). Create the chart as a Word document or on Google
Drive. The chart should be completed and printed by the 1st
class meeting. (See the attached document for an example of
how to set-up the chart.)
When you have completed the Reading Passage Chart, choose
one passage and write a one page, double spaced reflection that
explains how the feelings in the passage help the author convey
her purpose.
Issue #: [Date]
Reading Passage Chart Assignment – for Their Eyes Were Watching God
Identify 10 passages where Hurston’s word choices make you feel a particular way. Then, identify what feeling is
evoked and what words or phrases in the passage make you feel that way. (An example passage has been chosen
from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief.)
Passage
EXAMPLE:
“They’re the ones I can’t stand to
look at, although on many
occasions I still fail. I deliberately
seek out the colors to keep my
mind off them, but now and then,
I witness the ones who are left
behind, crumbling among the
jigsaw puzzle of realization,
despair, and surprise. They have
punctured hearts. They have
beaten lungs.
Feeling/Emotion
Evoked
Sadness;
loneliness;
desertion
Words/Phrases that Contribute to
the Feeling
“can’t stand to look at”; “fail”;
“desperately”; left behind”;
“crumbling”; “despair”;
“punctured hearts”; “beaten
lungs”
When you have completed the Reading Passage Chart, choose one passage, and write a one page, double spaced
reflection that explains how the feelings in the passage help the author convey her purpose.
Issue #: [Date]
Issue #: [Date]