Their Eyes Were Watching God | Suggested Essay Topics



Their Eyes Were Watching God Guided Reading-

Complete this guide to help you as we read the novel. It can be collected and graded on any day reading is due. It is your responsibility to keep it up to date!

Chapter 1

1. How does Pheoby’s moral code differ from the moral code of the town? Which code is truly “moral?"

2. What is meant by the first two paragraphs of the chapter? Do you agree with it? Explain why you agree or disagree with the narrator.

3. How do the people of the town react to Janie? How does she react to them?

4. Write down three examples of simile/metaphor in this chapter. (Direct quotes)

Chapter 2

5. Write a paragraph from Nanny’s point of view, explaining and justifying her arrangement between Janie and Logan Killicks.

6. The pear tree is one element of nature in this chapter. Name three other symbols of nature.

7. Why is the kissing scene juxtaposed with the description of the pear tree?

8. Describe Janie’s childhood.

Chapter 3

9. Describe how Janie comes to the conclusion that “marriage did not make love.”

10. Do you think that Nanny was satisfied with Janie’s marriage at the time of her death? Use examples from the book to support your position.

11. Write down an example of personification used in this chapter.

Chapter 4

12. How does Janie know that Logan is no longer attracted to her?

13. Name two differences between Logan and Joe.

14. Explain this: “Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun up and pollen and bloomin trees, but he spoke for horizon.”

15. How does Logan abuse Janie with words? Why is she unhappy with him?

16. Give five examples of figurative language in this chapter.

17. Could Logan have kept Janie from leaving him if he had truly told her how he felt? Use examples from the chapter to support your decision.

Chapter 5

18. Is Joe Starks an admirable man? Why or why not?

19. “He’s de wind and we’se de grass. We bend which ever way he blows but at dat us needs him. De town wouldn’t be nothin’ if it wasn’t for him.” Sam Watson says that this is the relationship between Joe Starks and the town. Do you agree with Sam Watson? Why or why not?

20. Why doesn’t Janie make a speech when Joe is elected mayor?

21. Why do the people of Eatonville feel enslaved?

22. Explain: “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.”

23. Write down six examples of figurative language.

Chapter 6

24. How would you interpret the scene of the buzzards?

25. Explain “the business of the head rag.” Why is this an important symbol?

26. What is the significance of “freeing the mule?”

27. Explain the relationship between Joe and Janie. What is the turning point?

28. Give six examples of figurative language.

Chapter 7

29. Describe the argument between Joe and Janie as if you were a customer in the store who witnessed the entire scene. Try to use the point of view of a person from Eatonville, not your own.

30. Why didn’t Janie walk away? (This is not as easy a question as it seems. Try to understand Janie’s position.)

31. Explain: “She got nothing from Jody except what money could buy, and she was givin away what she didn’t value.”

Chapter 8

32. What is wrong with Jody?

33. How is death described?

34. Explain: “Then she starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see.”

35. Read Joe and Janie’s final conversation once again. Examine Joe’s words and comment on his mentality. Why is he so unforgiving to her?

Chapter 9

1. What do you feel is more valued in our society, personal relationships or material wealth? Are the values in our society any different from those in Eatonville?

2. How does the tradition of mourning affect Janie’s life? Comment on the town’s expectations of her versus her expectations for mourning.

3. Explain Janie’s perception of Nanny’s influence on her horizons.

Chapter 10

4. Do you think this is “love at first sight”? Should Janie be cautious after two failed relationships? What signs can you see that Tea Cake may be different from her other two men?

5. How does Hurston use humor in this chapter? Contrast this humor with the “dozens” in previous chapters.

6. Find three examples of figurative language in this chapter.

Chapter 11

7. Why does Hezekiah find it necessary to interfere on Janie’s behalf? Discuss his behavior and look to previous chapters to explain his motivation.

8. What language indicates that Tea Cake may be the answer to Janie’s desires?

9. Find three examples of figurative language in this chapter.

10. What is “the fiend from hell specially sent to lovers?”

Chapter 12

11. How does the town’s opinion of Joe Starks change once Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship is made public?

12. What comment does Janie make about Tea Cake’s love for property? Why might she think this way?

13. What is Janie’s opinion on mourning clothes?

Chapter 13

14. Is Annie Tyler’s story a cautionary tale? What happens to her? Do you think that we should feel sorry for her?

15. How does Janie react to Tea Cake’s confessed “commonness”? Compare Tea Cake’s description of himself with Joe Starks.

16. What does Janie hide from Tea Cake? What happens when Tea Cake goes away one morning?

17. Do you think Tea Cake can be trusted? Why or why not?

Chapter 14

1. Describe the hierarchy of this society. How are the most important people in this society determined?

2. Contrast Janie’s life with Tea Cake to her life with Joe.

Chapter 15

1. How do you think Janie feels in the town now? Does this situation demean Janie or Nunkie in the eyes of the farmers? Explain your answer.

Chapter 16

1. How does Mrs. Turner’s relationship with her husband affect her character? What are their roles in the marriage?

2. Find three examples of figurative language.

Chapter 17

1. Why do you think Mr. Turner doesn’t interfere at all in the fight in the café?

2. How do you think this fight affected Mrs. Turner? What will her attitude be about dark-skinned blacks in the future?

Chapter 18

1. Compare the characterization of the animals in this chapter with previous chapters. How does the strength of the hurricane affect animals, and what is the significance of these symbols?

2. The line “their eyes were watching God” is found in this chapter. Why do you think this is the name of the novel?

3. How does Motor Boat deal with the disaster differently than Tea Cake? Compare and contrast the characters’ handling of the crisis.

Chapter 19

1. How does the white society of the jury differ from the societies that we have already seen and commented upon? Compare and contrast the courtroom society with the Everglades society.

2. How is Janie’s “reaction” to Tea Cake an act of mercy? Use examples from the novel to support your conclusions.

Chapter 20

1. What item of Tea Cake’s does Janie keep?

2. What do you think will happen to Janie? Support your answer with details from the text.

Vocabulary

percale : a smooth-textured closely woven cotton or polyester fabric

lacerate: to distress somebody deeply or agonizingly

commiserate : to express sympathy or sorrow

pugnacious: inclined to fight or be aggressive

desecrate: to damage something revered

sodden: extremely wet and heavy

fracas: noisy quarrel or fight

transmutation: change from one form to another

paunch : large, round, protruding stomach

counterpane: cover for a bed and bedding

endurable: manageable, acceptable

dwindle : to decrease little by little

ostentatiously : marked by a vulgar display of wealth

maul: to handle someone too roughly

remorseless : showing no compassion

inaudible: not loud enough to be heard

unattainable : out of reach

seraph: a high ranking angel

temerity : reckless confidence that might be offensive

distend: to expand or inflate by pressure

peevish: bad tempered, irritable

Welcome to your essay for Their Eyes Were Watching God. You will have ONE CLASS PERIOD to complete this assignment. ALL ESSAYS MUST BE WRITTEN IN PENCIL AND MUST BE LEGIBLE TO BE SCORED.

50 points

Choose one of the outlines below and use it to guide you through an analytical essay. Make sure you do the following:

Begin each paragraph with a clear topic sentence. Support with details from the novel- USE MUST USE TEXTUAL SUPPORT AND DOCUMENT IT IN MLA FORMAT. End each paragraph with a closing sentence and transition to the following paragraph.

Good luck!

Topic #1

Throughout her life, Janie has to fight what is expected of her by other people. Follow her life in the novel, and comment on how she battles these perceptions.

Outline

I. Introduction and Thesis Statement: The people with whom Janie lived tried to restrict her to an understood, stereotypical role, but Janie was able to free herself from these accepted roles.II. II. II. Nanny

III. Logan

IV. Joe Starks

V. Conclusion

Topic #2

Compare the settings of the novel in terms of the system of power that is used in each society. How is power used in each society?

Outline

I. Introduction and Thesis Statement: The setting in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is directly related to the hierarchy of power in each location.

II. Janie’s pear tree and home with Nanny

III. Eatonville

IV. The Everglades

V. The hurricane

VI. Conclusion

Topic #3

Compare and contrast Tea Cake and Joe Starks, and specifically their relationships with Janie and others.

Outline

I. Introduction and Thesis Statement: Tea Cake and Joe Starks are two characters who, throughout the novel, have the opportunity to interact and form relationships with other characters. How they maintain their respective relationships provides insight to their characters.

II. Joe Starks and others

III. Tea Cake and others

IV. Relationship of each with Janie

V. Conclusion

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