News Article

This opinion piece relates to the seminar we had last week about "Good Hair" and societal standards put on African American women. It's a really interesting read. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/opinion/sunday/why-black-women-are-fat.html?_r=1

Ch. 13

Teacake and Janie decide to move to Jacksonville, Florida. Once they get to the town, they get married. Then, we find out that Janie has taken two hundred dollars with her as emergency money, but she doesn’t tell Teacake. 

The next morning Teacake leaves to get fish for breakfast. However, Teacake doesn’t return, and Janie is missing her emergency money. When Teacake comes home the next morning, he tells Janie a story about how he spent her two hundred dollars on an extravagant dinner party with the whole town. After the story is over, Teacake swears that he will make more money than Janie brought because he is a very talented gambler. 

Janie accepts his apology, and for the next week Teacake practices his dice rolling and card dealing. Then, once the paychecks go out at the railroad yards, Teacake heads out to gamble with the men. Janie waits up all night again, and Teacake comes straggling in around midnight. Janie goes outside to get him, and she realizes he had been stabbed. Teacake tells another elaborate story. This time Teacake tells Janie how he escaped the fight less harmed than the other guy, but in the process he still won some money. He tells Janie to check his coat pocket and she pulls out three hundred and twenty two dollars. 

Lastly, Teacake tells Janie that they are going to take a trip to the Everglades to have fun and make some money. 

“He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.” Why has Janie's soul been forced into “hiding?” How Janie able to come out of her shell and “shine” when she is with Teacake? Why does Hurston  choose to use "self-crushing" to describe the love Janie felt for Teacake?

Ch. 18

In chapter 18 of Their Eyes Were Watching God, a hurricane is coming towards the Everglades. Before the storm hit the Everglades, they were all "staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God."

Why is the quote above important?

When Janie and Tea Cake were on their way to Palm Beach, "they passed a dead man in a sitting position on a hummock, entirely surrounded by wild animals and snakes. Common danger made common friends. Nothing sought a conquest over the other."

Explain the quote. Why does "common danger" make "common friends"?

Chapter 18

In chapter 18, water is clearly a big theme and is seen as a destructive force. Do you think the use of water coming for them is a metaphor for death? or for something else? Why does Hurston refer to water as "monster" and uses a lot of personification? Use an example from the text to support your thoughts.

Chapter 14

In Chapter 14, we see the transition Janie and Tea Cake make for living in the Everglades. They move into a house as soon as it becomes available. Tea Cake finds a job in planting seeds, but then has to wait for the picking season to start making money again. In the time between planting and picking seasons, Tea Cake teaches Janie to shoot, which she becomes very good at. As the workers pour in, and the picking season starts up, their house becomes the center of gambling. Also, when Tea Cake asks Janie to work in the field with, she agrees and shocks many people. She then quickly becomes popular because she is funny and knows how to have a good time. With Janie's acclimation to her new environment, she shows that she is much more capable than anyone had ever suspected. It is because of this capability that she is able to change the opinions of everyone, while adapting to a new style of life. How would Janie's marriage with Joe have panned out differently if he had let her express herself or do as she pleased? Would she feel like she had lived a more satisfying life? Would she have felt like she needed a new life with Tea Cake? Express your thoughts.

Chapter 17

Are humans naturally good, or naturally evil?


Put another way, are we defined as who we are at our best, or as who we are at our worst? An average? Both?

Relate this back to Tea Cake. Is it hard to redefine him after such a great first impression? How do you see him now?

Ch. 15

In chapter 15, Janie grows jealous of Nunkie, who keeps flirting with Tea Cake.  One day, Nunkie and Tea Cake go missing in the field.  Janie finds them wrestling in the sugar cane, they are wrestling.  nunkie runs off and Tea Cake uses the excuse of 'he was just trying to retrieve something she had playfully stolen from him'.  Janie fights with Tea Cake when they get home and tries to hit him.  Tea Cake convinces her it was nothing and they end up in bed.  Examine the difference in how Janie and Othello handle their jealousy.  How is this effected by their roles in society and the time periods? Do you think Othello or Janie had more reason to be jealous?