Transcript Their Eyes Were Watching God - Ste. Genevieve R

Their Eyes Were Watching God
By Zora Neale Hurston
THEMES/SYMBOLS
• THE PEAR TREE—trees are symbolic in this
novel, and central to the themes of love and
identity.
• TWO leaves--on each leaf, define for yourself
the following:
– IDENTIFY (yellow)—Who am I? Who do I want to
be?
– LOVE (green)—What is love?
MARRIAGE
• Janie Crawford’s idea of marriage quickly shifts in the first
few chapters of this novel, as she kisses her first boy
(Johnny Taylor) and marries her first two husbands (Logan
Killicks and Joe Starks).
• Focusing on Chapters 1-4, answer the following questions
(handout—mark key passages to use for paragraph):
– How does Jannie define marriage? How does that view of
marriage evolve?
• Write a well-developed paragraph, meeting the following
criteria:
– TOPIC SENTENCE
– TWO EXAMPLES from the novel for support
– CONCLUDING SENTENCE
IMPORTANT QUOTES
• “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on
board. For some they come in with the tide. For
others they sail forever on the horizon…Now,
women forget all those things they don’t want to
remember, and remember everything they don’t
want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they
act and do things accordingly.” (Ch. 1, page 1)
– Each pair will choose a quote from Chapters 2-11.
– On your note card (front), write the quote with
chapter and page number.
– On the back, answer the following question: Why do
you think this quote is significant?
PLOT SUMMARY
• What is the POINT of VIEW of this novel? Do
you think this is effective? Why or why not?
• Why tell the story in the form of a
FLASHBACK? Hurston reveals that Teacake is
dead. Why do this?
• Who are the MAIN CHARACTERS?
– What role do the women on the porch play?
– How would you describe Janie’s three husbands?
How do they change and shape her?
PLOT SUMMARY
• What is Janie’s main PROBLEM (CONFLICT)?
• DISCUSSION of IMPORTANT QUOTES
• THEMES
– TOPICS: IDENTITY, LOVE, MARIAGE and DREAMS
– What universal statements do you think Hurston is trying to
make about the above topics?
• SYMBOLS
– PEAR TREE (pg 10, 12, 14, 16,
• Janie’s mom named Leafy—why might this be significant?
– MULE (pg 14, 23, 29, 41, 58)
– DRESS/HAIR (pg 4, 55)
– “I god” (pg 35, 50)—Joe Starks often begins a statement with
this phrase. Why is it significant?