Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston, 1937

Reading Schedule
Complete the following reading assignments before
coming to class on the day with which they are listed.
Class time will be given to read and work on assignments,
but students are responsible for staying on schedule.
Announced and unannounced quizzes may cover any
material up to the most recent reading assignment; makeup
quizzes may be for any recent reading assignments at the
time of the makeup.
*Unless otherwise noted, HW assignments for the
readings will consist of picking three categories from
your reader response journals, including discussion.

A Day

B Day

2/5

2/4
2/8
2/10
2/12

2/9
2/11
2/16

2/17

2/18

2/19

2/23

2/24
2/26

2/25
2/29

Reading*

We begin reading
together; we will read
the foreword and
attempt to read
Chapters 1 & 2
together
Chapters 1-5
Chapters 6-10
Chapters 11-13
Chapters 14-20 (finish
the book)
Last minute IOCD
review
Connections between
TFA & TEWWG
Prep for 1984
Film Analysis
Begin 1984

"I have the nerve to walk my

own way, however hard, in my
search for reality, rather than
climb upon the rattling wagon
of wishful illusions."
- Letter from Zora Neale Hurston to Countee
Cullen

General introduction to the novel:

One of the greatest writers of our time.

~Toni Morrison
To call Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were
Watching God an "African American feminist classic"
may be an accurate statement-it is certainly a frequent
statement-but it is a misleadingly narrow and rather
dull way to introduce a vibrant and achingly human
novel. The syncopated beauty of Hurston's prose, her
remarkable gift for comedy, the sheer visceral terror
of the book's climax, all transcend any label that
critics have tried to put on this remarkable work. First
published amid controversy in 1937, then rescued
from obscurity four decades later, the novel narrates
Janie Crawford's ripening from a vibrant, but
voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger
on the trigger of her own destiny. Although Hurston
wrote the novel in only seven weeks, Their Eyes Were
Watching God breathes and bleeds a whole life's
worth of urgent experience. (NEA)
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The epic tale of Janie Crawford, whose quest for

identity takes her on a journey during which she
learns what love is, experiences life's joys and
sorrows, and come home to herself in peace. Her
passionate story prompted Alice Walker to say,
"There is no book more important to me than this
one."
When first published in 1937, this novel about a
proud, independent black woman was generally
dismissed by male reviewers. Out of print for almost
thirty years, but since its reissue in paperback edition
by the University of Illionois Press in 1978, Their
Eyes Were Watching God has become the most
widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon
of African-American literature.
With haunting sympathy and piercing immediacy,
Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the story of
Janie Crawford's evolving selfhood through three
marriages. Light-skinned, long-haired, dreamy as a
child, Janie grows up expecting better treatment than
she gets until she meets Tea Cake, a younger man
who engages her heart and spirit in equal measure and
gives her the chance to enjoy life without being a
man's mule or adornment. Though Jaine's story does
not end happily, it does draw to a satisfying
conclusion. Janie is one black woman who doesn't
have to live lost in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish
romantic dreams, instead Janie proclaims that she has
done "two things everbody's got tuh do fuh
theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh
find out about livin' fuh theyselves." (ZNH.com)

Essential Questions for reading Their Eyes Were Watching God

How do we define and shape our own identities?

What might shape a worldview? How does a worldview affect how we see
ourselves and others?
How important is it to find our voice? What happens when that voice is
silenced?
What forces contribute to the complexity of Janies individual and cultural
identity?
How does Janies story challenge or defy stereotypes of her own time and of
ours?
How does Hurston convey the effects of various internal and external forces
on Janies identity formation? How do these effects change throughout the
story?
Identify and describe power and control dynamics between characters and
relate these to Hurstons use of imagery.
Analyze the cyclical structure of Hurstons plot and the novels character
development.
How does the dialogue/dialect reflect the oral tradition? How does Hurston
create this, and what effect does it have on the reader?