Their Eyes Were Watching God- Journal #8

1) I think that Hurston chose this title to foreshadow the importance of Religion in the book along with giving the reader some idea of her own views towards religion. When she says that their eyes were watching god, it suggests that they are looking up to God either for advice or for hope. This title makes it seem like God is considered to have power over these people. This can influence the way you read the novel by making the reader pay more attention to the use of religion throughout the book and the literary elements that relate to religion throughout the book.
2) A different title for this book might be, "The Nature of God." I feel that this title still looks at the importance of religion through out the novel, but it adds a secondary focus of nature throughout the novel. It also shows god's control of nature which becomes evident through the scene with the hurricane.
3) The title of my pastiche is "Clear Mind, Clear Heart." I chose this title because it represents the significance of having a clear mind and being confident which my main character struggles with throughout the story. I used the symbol of fog to show when my character has no confidence which illuminiates the clear mind portion of the title.

Printed Quotes- Journal #7

1)Alliteration: “She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight” (Hurston, 11). Hurston uses alliteration to begin a lot of her passages mainly to set the tone of the passage. In this specific passage, Hurston used alliteration to create a relaxed tone that carried over into a more optimistic theme of flowers representing happiness inside the passage. This eventually turns into Janie's belief that love should be as perfect as a bright spring day underneath a shady tree.

2)Symbol-Power:

“She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (Hurston, 86). Hurston uses Janie's hair as a symbol for power throughout her novel. During this scene Joe has just died and Janie is able to let down her hair for the first time in about 20 years. This is important because making Janie put her hair up was one of many ways Joe controlled her. And by putting her hair down, it showed that Janie was now in control of herself. This gesture developed into different themes throughout the novel like self-fullfillment.

3) Syntax: “Janie was a good cook, and Joe had looked forward to his dinner […] before he stalked on back to the store” (Hurston, 72). Hurston uses different syntax an stuctures depending on the setting that she is introducing. In a more relaxed setting, Hurston uses long narrative pieces to describe the beauty of the setting along with very descriptive detail. However, in a more stressfull setting, for example leading up to a fight or dramatic scene, Hurston uses short sentences along with short narrative pieces. She then uses a lot of dialouge to describe the scene. This is very significant when she uses foreshadowing.

Pastiche Editing Process- Journal #6

I completely re-wrote the way I delivered my techniques and theme in my pastiche. I changed the setting and plot so that it was able to illuminate the theme and techniques more effectively. I then chose different symbols that could be resembled more to Hurston's. I used a ton of imagery in the introduction paragraph to give the reader a good idea of the plot and techinques being used. Then in later pargaraphs I used more dialouge to depict these same areas of my essay. I changed many of my sentences by adding more descriptive verbs and nouns. I then added a few more symbols and motifs that I feel illumintates the theme that I am conveying more accurately. I think by adding these few tweeks to the story, it has created a better story that any reader can enjoy, and want to keep reading.

There Eyes Were Watching God- Journal #5

Then, Jake began to think of Fear. Fear, the miss conceivable character that foggs the mind in each direction. That looms over the dark alleyway blocking the way to the illuminating light at the end. What can clear this fog allowing easier travel to the end of the alley. Why does this fog occupy the alley? They crouch in the security of the fog waiting. Demons that might or might not be there. Been walking through that alley before, not knowing what, where or when something would leap out of the fog with a goal of driving him off course farther away from the illuminating light. It was probable for him to find glowing eyes peering out of the edges of the fog any day now. Rachel reassured Jake's safety, but Jake continued cautiously through the alley unconvinced. His sense of security would grow as he passes the glowing eyes and gets closer to the illuminating light. He was going to make it without any harmful events, but that's not what he thought. Rachel encouraged him against his thinking so she knew. And if he had, the. She would know for the fog becomes thicker and darker as it successfully claims a victim. Ignorance flowed out of the alley as a giant shadow dwarfed the alley.


I attempted to mimic Hurston exactly on page 84. I changed Death to fear and rumor to ignorance. I used fog to represent fear because if we allow it, fear can prevent us from reaching our goals. I used the illuminating light to represent a goal. I created a character that was allowing fear to control the way he tried to reach a goal, and another character that knew fear was blocking the other's perception. I used ignorance to represent the cause of fear to show that the character was lacking the knowledge about fear which cause the character to be unsuccessful in reaching his goal. This was represented by the giant shadow dwarfing the alley.

There Eyes Were Watching God- Journal #4

On page 77, Zora Neale Hurston uses long, lengthy, and descriptive sentences to set the scene."Then one day she sat watched the shadow of herself [...] which soaks up urine and perfume with the same indifference." (77) Hurston uses this type of syntax to compliment the relaxed tone beneath the text. This is evident when in the next paragraph Hurston switches both of these. "Jody must have noticed it too. [...] long before they darted out of the tunnel of his mouth." (77) In this passage Hurston uses the exact opposite tone and syntax used in the previous paragraph of long and lengthy sentences combined with a relaxed tone, and now uses short and abrupt sentences that creates a very tense tone. Hurston then uses two different names to distinguish the character Joe or Jody. She uses Jody to smoothly transition from a relaxed to tense tone, but "Jody" and "Joe" both have their own underlying meanings. Hurston uses the name Jody to identify the character when he has power over a character or a group of characters in a passage or sentence. "He didn't rear back in his knees [...] and had been fearing for her to see." (77) In this passage Hurston is talking about Jody losing his dominating characteristics that has given him his famous reputation. Because Janie feels sympathy for him, Hurston uses the name Jody to reoresent that. How ever, to start the paragraph when she describes Joe losing his dominating characteristics's Hurston uses the name Joe because he no longer has the ability to maintain contrk, without those characteristics. Hurston then uses the depressing sound of Joe's description to foreshadow his prominent death.

Their Eyes Were Watching God- Journal #3

1) "Words walking without masters, walking altogether like a harmony in a song."(pg 2) Alliteration
2) "An envious heart makes a treacherous ear."(pg 5) Metaphor
3) "She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ethor."(pg 25) Comparison
4) "Dat mornin' on de big plantation close to savanah, a rider come in a gallop tellin' bout Sherman taking Atlanta."(pg 16) Allusion
5) "They have got that fresh, new taste about them like young mustard greens in the spring,"(pg 67) Imagery

Analysis:

1) I think that Hurston uses alliteration in this passage to emphasize the importance of the porch in the beginning of the book. I think that it is also used to show what kind of talk goes on between characters when they are on the porch. When saying words walking without masters it shows that the characters are allowed to speak whatever is on their mind without being guided by a master's belief.

4) I think that Hurston uses this Allusion to establish the setting of the novel, and to give a background to the character of Nanny. By giving a previous experience of Nanny, the reader is able to understand where a part of the character's personality came from while being able to give some context to the story.

Their Eyes Were Watching God- Journal #2

Donald had been anxiously waiting for this day. The day that Robert finally reveals what happened on that fateful day in 1944 when he lost his leg. Donald awaited with eager eyes and open ears thirsting for knowledge. Robert wasn't allowed to share any of his war stories until 40 years after the war. A young and limber 20 year old man during the second world war, Robert was in one of the infantry divisioins that was involved in storming Normandy Beach on D-Day.Robert took a deep breath as he began his story.
"Why yuh wants to know how I luhsts my laeg?" asked Robert.
"It's nots justs yuh laeg sir, I wants to laearn whats it's like to bae in the army.
"I have been dreamin since I was taen to follow in my grandfather's footsteps and join the army," Donald answered with rising excitement in his voice.
Robert's became a slit as he barely muttered: "It's a brotherhood theat yuh will bae ea part of thae rest of yuh life. But yuh have to bae willin to put yuh life on thae line fo any of the men yuh're fightin wit. Are you willin to fulfill this duty?"
"SIR YES SIR!" Donald yelled at the top of his Lungs, as shivers ran down his back in excitement. Donald's eyes grew wide as the graphic story unfolded through Robert's voice.

Dialect:
1) ou is changed to uh
2) e is replaced with ae unless the e is used to modify the sound of a word"like"
3) words that end in t's must include a s following the t unless "wants"
4) a is replaced with ea unless the a is used to modify the sound of a word
5) or at the end of a word is replaced by o.
6) words that end in th now end in t
7) words that in ing now only end in "in"

Their Eyes Were Watching God- Journal #1

From the first chapter I see Janie as being a very confident person who is very comfortable in her own skin. This is proven when the people on the porch are criticizing Janie for being in overalls instead of being in a summer dress, how she has her hair down and instead of feeling the need to protest she continued to walk to her house. I also perceive Janie as being a very humble person. This is shown in Janie's reaction when Pheoby compliments Janie on her age by saying: "... Gal, you sho looks good. You looks like youse yo' own daughter." Janie then replies with: " Ah takes dat flattery offa you, Pheoby, 'cause ah knows it's from de heart." By using this statement, she politely thanks Pheoby without showing any knowledge of her described beauty. I perceive the narrator as someone who is biased towards females because of how sitters are described as "tongueless, earless, and eyeless conveniences." when these people are very harshly criticizing Janie. The narrator also starts the novel off with figurative language that criticizes the abilities of man to fulfill their dreams. To me the figurative language states that men aren't able to fulfill their dreams because men don't have enough time to follow through on any of their dreams.

Post #4- Practice Test

1) In 1984, Winston is the             
2) "The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features." (1984)
3) "Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the production of pig-iron." (1984)
4)"It was a blazing hot afternoon." (The Stranger)
5)"Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure. The telegram from the Home says: Your Mother passed away. Funeral Tomorrow. Deep Sympathy.
Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday."(The Stranger)

Word Bank:
Symbol
Hyperbole
Protagonist
Metaphor
Characterization

Post #3-Chronology

Chronology is when an author arranges events in order from what happened most recently to what happened last.This can be connected to history when historians use a chronological timeline to describe the order of historical events. Chronology can be used to show development of a character through out a novel. In The Stranger the author organizes the main events of Meursalt to show the development of the character throughout the rest of the novel by placing the death of Maman at the beginning and Meursalt awaiting his execution at the end. It is also used to show cause and effect of major events.

Post #2- Climax

The climax is the "main event" of a novel. The main purpose of the plot is to build up to the climax to create an exciting finish to a novel. This is done through the use of rising action before the climax. The rising action usually consists of smaller problems or events that will all add up to created a dramatic and excting climax of a novel. Another way to think of the climax, is as a peak. For example, in a sport you want to peak at the right time.

Post #1

1) Out of the three books I enjoyed my dystopian novel, 1984, the most. In this novel I felt that Orwell did an amazing job at displaying the effects of Totalitarianism in a normal society. I felt like this was done through clearly depicting how all the citizens lived in complete fear of Big Brother and the Party. I also liked this book because of how it changed my mindset. In the book it described different scenarios where the citizens were limited to a certain amount of chocolate, cigarettes, or other items that the citizens felt were a necessity which caused them to ration these items. This really made me realize how important it is to cherish the things you have and not take things for granted.

2) The book I enjoyed least was There Eyes Were Watching God. Although the depiction of the southern dialect during that time period was a new interesting twist, it wasn't very enjoyable. The way the author used dialogue in the book was really confusing and took a very long time to get used to. This made it much harder to read. However I did manage to enjoy the book after getting the hang of the dialogue. I felt that the beginning of the plot was very boring and hard to get in to. The ending to this novel is what bugged me most of all. When Janie killed Tea Cake, I felt that it contrasted the author's theme of needing a relationship to be content with oneself. This is mainly because not only did Janie end up single, but she killed her spouse and was still able to be content with herself.

3) For The Stranger, the main element that I would focus on is the inability for the character to find himself, or be excepted into society. For example when the character's mother dies, he has trouble feeling remorse when everyone expects him to, and then stereotypes him as somebody that is troubled because he can't feel remorse towards the death of his mother. Something else I found rather significant and interesting was how the sun affected him. When he murdered the Arab he described the sun as if it was the cause of his actions. During this incident he described the sun as "The same as it was the day Maman died." I feel that this proves the sun is the cause of his anger.