American Literature Honors
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
This summer you will read a novel selected by the National Endowment for the Arts as
part of their Big Read program in 2013. That honor identifies this novel as a very
important work. We think it is also important because Hurston is widely recognized as one
of the most important African American writers of the modern era. Hurston also matters
to us as Floridians: she is a Florida writer who, though she was born in Alabama, lived much
of her life in Eatonville, the first Black township in the United States. (You can visit
Hurston’s museum in Eatonville today, and you can attend the annual festival held in her
honor each January, a festival that draws scholars from all over the US.)
You will want to highlight and take notes as you read; you can do that in a hard copy of
the book or on an eBook. If you buy an eBook, please put the Kindle app on your
Chromebook and buy the book through Amazon. With the eBook format, you will have the
capacity to highlight, take notes, and search chapters and words. You can also add the app
to your home computer, iPad, and cell phone. When you return in August, you will write an
in-class essay in which you will quote the text. Your notes will come in handy. Also, you can
purchase an audiobook on Amazon (for approximately $24). Listening to the audio book
while you read the book can really help you understand the dialect AND appreciate a lot
of the humor. Listening only to the audiobook (which is great, especially on a long trip in
the car) while entertaining, won’t help you remember the book very well, so we suggest
listening AND reading.
Zora Neale Hurston wrote during the Harlem Renaissance, a period in which African
American Arts flourished. Writers, musicians, painters, and dancers lived and worked in
Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, during the 1920s and early 30s. During this
period, literary works especially provided all Americans with new, positive, complex images
of African Americans. There were, however, tensions among the writers. Some felt that
Hurston’s use of language represented African Americans as uneducated. When you read
the novel, you will notice that sometimes the narrator speaks in formal English, observing
all the conventional rules of grammar; at other times, the point of view switches to
characters who speak in dialect. Don’t be intimidated by the dialect; rather, appreciate
the dialect and the many humorous remarks the characters say to each other. Don’t you
just have to love a character whose name is “Sop de Bottom,” “Who Flung,” and “Tea
Cake”? Another writer, maybe the greatest American writer, Mark Twain, also writes in
dialect in another book that you will read, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Today
we accept Hurston as a genius, but in 1937 when the book was published, she had to
counter her peers’ criticism.
Hurston tells the story of Janie Crawford, a woman on a quest for independence and love.
You may have read other novels with the Quest Archetypal Pattern, such as the Harry
Potter series. The hero, in this case Janie, undertakes a long journey during which he or
she must perform impossible tasks, battle with monsters, solve unanswerable riddles, and
overcome insurmountable obstacles in order to save the kingdom. The quest pattern is an
archetype because it is as old as ancient mythology.
Here are some things you can do to help yourself read more effectively. We suggest that
you keep a notebook or a document on your Chromebook.
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As you read, try to identify parts of the quest pattern. Here are some things to
look for
A. The call—the hero’s life is emotionally unprofitable, on the brink of decisive
change; an extraordinary event occurs; a herald appears
B. The journey—to a new world
1.) Ordeals and trials test his/her capacity for heroic behavior.
2.) He must battle monsters.
3.) She often takes a night sea journey.
4.) Sometimes he descends into the underworld.
5.) There is always the opportunity for triumph.
C. Helpers and guides—a wise old man or a good mother
D. The treasure—he brings a boon for the people; it is difficult to obtain; its value
is in proportion to the difficulty of the journey
E. Transformation—the hero makes a new beginning.
You will also find many symbols and motifs (repeated patterns that help to convey
a theme). Look for repetitions, especially of the pear tree, the mule, the horizon,
the dream.
The language of the characters is filled with creative similes and metaphors. Make
a list of ten vivid figures of speech.
List the most important characters and find a line or two from the text that
represents each character’s personality.
And, finally, this may help you grab hold of the plot: Janie Crawford’s life
experiences comprise her personal journey. By keeping track of what happens in
each city you will better remember what happens and with whom it happens. Those
cities appear in the following order: (1) Winter Park, (2) Sanford, (3) Jacksonville,
(4) Maitland (Eatonville), (5) The Muck, (6) Palm Beach, (7) Fort Myers, (8) Fort
Read “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” a biographical essay by Hurston. Notice how
the biography runs parallel to the novel in many ways. You can Google the document
or use this link:
http://www.mrisakson.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/How_It_Feels_to_be_C
olored_Me.pdf
7. Read “Looking for Zora” by Alice Walker, another Black woman who is alive and
writing now. Walker is most famous for the novel The Color Purple. When she was a
young university student, she was responsible for a rebirth of interest in Hurston’s
work. This essay tells the tale of Walker’s search for Hurston’s grave. You will get
another piece of Hurston’s sad biographical story. Again, you can Google the essay
or use this link:
http://teacherweb.com/CA/NewburyParkHighSchool/bond/LookingforZora-AWal
ker-3.pdf 8. 8. If you YouTube (Is that a verb like Google?) Zora Neale Hurston, you will find
excellent pieces. Her voice was recorded singing, the movie (Be careful—there are
differences between the book and movie, so note them.) appears, and many good
discussions by scholars are on the site. We’d like you to listen to this one that is
hosted by Vanessa Williams and produce by National Public Radio, written and
produced by Aron Myers in 2013. It takes 14 minutes. Put on your headphones and
relax and listen or run like the kid in AT&T’s running-with-books TV commercial.
Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w96piasYgXo