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Essay Assignment: __Their Eyes Were Watching God__ by Zora Neale Hurston

Please respond to one of the following essay questions. Your essay should include an introductory paragraph which includes a thesis statement, three paragraphs supporting your thesis and a conclusion paragraph. Your supporting paragraphs should include quotations from the text (at least one per paragraph) to support your position.


 * 1) Ultimately Janie finds fulfillment in her relationship with Tea Cake. What is it about Tea Cake, his treatment of Janie, and their relationship that is so satisfying for Janie? (Suggestion: you may want to contrast Tea Cake with Logan Killicks and Joe Stark).


 * 1) Janie, her mother Leafy, and grandmother Nanny have all suffered injustices at the hands of men. Explain those injustices and how their lives were impacted.


 * 1) Prior to reading the book, we discussed the Harlem Renaissance. Some of Neale Hurston’s fellow writers criticized her book __Their Eyes Were Watching God__ because they felt it didn’t portray a positive image of their race. The author disagreed; share your reasons for why you agree with her that her novel, while not idealistic, does present many positive images of African Americans.

The essay is due April 14 and will be returned April 18. You will be able to make a revision if you would like to improve upon your grade; the revision will be due back to me April 21.

I’ll be looking for how well you answer the essay question you chose, and how you use the text to support your position. Avoid just stringing quotations together…I want to understand how a quote supports YOUR ideas about the book.

Have fun with this assignment! Janie is a great character and there is lots of material for you to work with.

Mrs. Brownfield

Response from Micah: The first prompt is the one that attracts me the most because it deals with the principal struggle in the story: Janie actualizing her self-concept. My three main points would be: 1. Tea Cake provided challenges that Janie wanted to accept. 2. Tea Cake offered a way of life congruent with Janie's hopes. 3. Because Tea Cake cherished Janie for being herself, Janie allowed herself to do the same. The second prompt addresses the roles and relationships between men and women. My essay would address the physical and mental abuse that all three women experienced and how it resulted in Nanny’s search for protection, Leafy’s alcoholism and abandonment of her child, and Janie’s search for acceptance. The final prompt would be the most challenging for me to write because I saw this story as an individual’s struggle. However, Janie and other characters present positive images of African Americans in their determination and desire for self-actualization.

All the prompts address principal themes in the story, assist in reading with purpose and require reflection.