their eyes were watching god - michelle yoo's teaching...

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Yoo 1 Their Eyes Were Watching God This unit will focus on a handful of significant concepts. It will be introduced as a “coming of age” novel. As a class, the many different ideas holding this novel together will be unveiled. As an introductory lesson, the class will read a short story by Zora Neale Hurston called “Spunk” in order to become comfortable with her use of dialect. Through out the lessons, the students will uncover the prominent overarching ideas and concepts that drive this novel. Students will use this background knowledge as well as their interpretations of each character, with their primary focus on Janie in order to conjure their own ideas of love, relationships, class struggles, and racial divisions. As a way to incorporate different viewpoints and to expose the students to different writing styles, they will also read two poems: Ego Trippin’ by Nikki Giovanni and Still I Rise by Maya Angelou in order to truly understand the female voice. They will be asked to write two papers using the novel, choosing from a handful of essay topics. At the end of the novel, students will be asked to look at the text through a critical lens of their choice. This culminating paper will ask the students to contemplate the novel as a whole in order to analyze and uncover the many layers of not only Janie Crawford, but the entire town of Eatonville as well. Grade Level: 12th Grade English Class Length: 46‐minute periods Class Size: 25‐30 students Main Text: Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God Other Texts used: Ego Trippin’ by Nikki Giovanni, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston. Essential Questions What is the role of a female? Not only now but during this time period? What is love? What does it mean to mature? To grow, both physically and emotionally? What challenges arise on the path to discovering ones identity? What is the significance of gender divisions? Enduring Understanding: Students will… Students will understand that gender roles differ from one time period to another. Students will understand that love takes many different forms and will come with many different hardships. Students will understand the path one woman takes in order to gain her independence and achieve her own sense of identity. Facets of Understanding: Explain: The roles of the male and female characters in the novel Janie’s emotional journey with each relationship (Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake). Interpret:

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Page 1: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Michelle Yoo's Teaching ...yesyoocanlearn.weebly.com/uploads/4/5/3/2/4532582/... · Their Eyes Were Watching God ... Giovanni and Still I Rise by Maya

Yoo 1 

 Their Eyes Were Watching God 

This unit will focus on a handful of significant concepts. It will be introduced as a “coming of age” novel. As a class, the many different ideas holding this novel together will be unveiled. As an introductory lesson, the class will read a short story by Zora Neale Hurston called “Spunk” in order to become comfortable with her use of dialect. Through out the lessons, the students will uncover the prominent overarching ideas and concepts that drive this novel. Students will use this background knowledge as well as their interpretations of each character, with their primary focus on Janie in order to conjure their own ideas of love, relationships, class struggles, and racial divisions. As a way to incorporate different viewpoints and to expose the students to different writing styles, they will also read two poems: Ego Trippin’ by Nikki Giovanni and Still I Rise by Maya Angelou in order to truly understand the female voice. They will be asked to write two papers using the novel, choosing from a handful of essay topics. At the end of the novel, students will be asked to look at the text through a critical lens of their choice. This culminating paper will ask the students to contemplate the novel as a whole in order to analyze and uncover the many layers of not only Janie Crawford, but the entire town of Eatonville as well.   

Grade Level: 12th Grade English Class Length: 46‐minute periods Class Size: 25‐30 students  Main Text: Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God Other Texts used: Ego Trippin’ by Nikki Giovanni, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston.   Essential Questions 

• What is the role of a female? Not only now but during this time period?  • What is love?  • What does it mean to mature? To grow, both physically and emotionally?  • What challenges arise on the path to discovering ones identity? • What is the significance of gender divisions?   

Enduring Understanding: Students will… • Students will understand that gender roles differ from one time period to another. • Students will understand that love takes many different forms and will come with many 

different hardships. • Students will understand the path one woman takes in order to gain her independence 

and achieve her own sense of identity.  Facets of Understanding: 

• Explain: ‐ The roles of the male and female characters in the novel ‐  Janie’s emotional journey with each relationship (Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake). 

• Interpret: 

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‐ The value of the female voice. ‐ How Janie has changed through out the novel. ‐ How notions of love change. ‐ Janie’s return to Eatonville and the significance of her journey back. 

Perspective: (Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding) • Recognize the beliefs about the role of African‐American women in not only the South, 

but also the nation as a whole during the 1930’s.  • Recognize the beliefs about love and marriage from the perspective of a young girl 

struggling to find herself through others.  Empathize with: (Standard 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression) 

• A woman trapped in her belief that others define her identity.  • The power of the female voice, attempting to overcome obstacles (poems and novel).  • A young woman on her path to discovering and accepting her own identity.  

Self‐Knowledge: • Reflect on love’s role in your life. • Reflect on how outside forces have affected your pursuit of discovering self.  

Content Knowledge and Skills: (Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation) • Florida’s politics and culture in the 1930s (Eatonville, Florida).  • Close reading • Annotation • Writing (not only through in‐class writing assignments, but the two papers that will be 

completed).  Assessments: 

• Written responses to questions posed in class—students will share their responses. • Annotation checks to make sure students are actively reading: “What confused you 

about last night’s reading? What surprised you? What did you enjoy? What did you not enjoy? What struck you? Etc.”  

• “Janie’s Transformation” paper—after students have read up to Chapter 9.  • Culminating Activity: Essay chosen from essay topics (Handout: Essay Topics) 

              

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UNIT PLAN (OVERVIEW)  Lesson 1: Introduction to Zora Neale Hurston and as a class read “Spunk” (Handouts 1‐2)    HW: Read and annotate Ego Trippin’.  Lesson 2: Continuation of Hurston lesson and response to Ego Trippin’ by Nikki  

Giovanni—students will have read this the night before, but it will be read aloud  in class again. (Handout 3) 

Lesson 3: Continuation of Giovanni’s poem. Introduce concept of the female voice using  Ego Trippin’ poem as well as Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. (Handout 4)  

Lesson 4: Intro to novel, Begin Their Eyes Were Watching God in class   HW:  Finish Chapter 2 and annotate. Lesson 5:  Discussion on chapters 1 and 2, respond to questions found during reading for  

homework, address concepts/ideas found through annotation.    HW: Read Chapter 3 and begin character chart in order to track each character  

through out the novel.  Lesson 6: Discuss Chapter 3 and concepts of love and gender.    HW: Read Chapter 4‐5 Lesson 7: Discussion Janie and Nanny. What does this relationship say about love?   HW: Read Chapter 6‐7 Lesson 8: Intro of “Janie’s Transformation” essay (Handout 5).   HW: Read Chapter 7‐8 Lesson 9: Discussion about the different viewpoints of love and age.    HW: Read Chapter 9 Lesson 10: Discussion of text‐relate to society today and self/ in class writing activity: “If  

you were Janie…”   HW: Read Chapter 10 and work on essay.  Lesson 11: Discussion about gender stereotypes (relate back to discussion about “female  

voice”) and figurative language.    HW: Read Chapter 11 and work on essay. Lesson 12: Discussion about Janie as object and the men in her life as puppet‐masters.    HW: Essay #1 due.  Lesson 13: Debrief about essay responses. Did you connect with Janie?    HW: Read Chapters 12‐14. Lesson 14: Reinforce gender role stereotypes using what they know from the text and  

what was discussed in class.    HW: Read Chapters 15‐17  Lesson 15: Discussion on the men in the novel and the role they play in Janie’s life. How    Has Janie continued to transform? Will she find her independence? Discuss Final Essay  

topics (Handout 6).     HW: Read Chapters 16‐end of the novel. Final Essay due: One week from today.  

 * Continuation lessons: discussion of end of the novel, comments about Hurston as a writer, 

Janie as a character, etc.  

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Lesson 1: Introduction to Zora Neale Hurston and read “Spunk.” 

Aim: How can dialect tell us more about the story?   Do Now:  (10 minutes) How does the way someone speaks change your perception of them?    Discussion: (15 minutes) Students will share their responses.   Read‐Aloud: (20 minutes) Students will read aloud “Spunk” and make note of the different dialect.  

1. Why was this written this way? 2. How would it be different if it were in “normal” English? 3. What is this story about? 

 Homework: Students will read Ego Trippin’ by Nikki Giovanni and annotate (historical references, who is speaking, what is the purpose of this poem, etc.). Be prepared to discuss in class.   * In class they will listen to a reading of the poem: http://nikki‐giovanni.com/egotrippingqt.shtml in order to gain a new layer of understanding to the poem. 

                     

   

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Lesson 8: Introduce “Janie’s Transformation” Essay  

Aim: How can our understanding of character be enhanced through a close reading of the text?  Do Now:  Make a timeline of the protagonist Janie Crawford. Be sure to include her ages through out the novel up to this point and whom she has interacted with. (Students can work in pairs to find page numbers and lines to back up their timelines).   Share: Students will share their responses and this timeline will be displayed on the board.   Handout Essay Assignment: After sharing their timelines, the students will receive a handout explaining their first essay for this novel. The essay will focus on Janie and the transformation that she goes through at the beginning of this text. Students will read the assignment out loud and will have an opportunity to ask one another questions as well as pose questions for the teacher.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lesson 15: Discussion about Men in the novel and their role not only in the text, but also in Janie’s life.  

 

Aim: How influential are the people in Janie’s life?  

Do Now:  Who is the most influential person in your life? Why?   

Share: Students will share their responses to the Do Now, which will lead into a discussion of the people that are in Janie’s life.  Discussion:  

1. Who are the most influential people in Janie’s life?  2. Why do they have such power over her? 3. How does each character differ? (Nanny, Logan, Jody, Phoeby, Tea Cake, etc.)  4. What does this tell you about Janie? 

 In‐Class Writing: Students will be asked to go back to the text and look for examples that explain their claims about each character. They will write these in their notebooks and will be prepared to share their findings with the class.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

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Handout 1 

 

ZORA NEALE HURSTON 

 

In Class Text: Their Eyes Were Watching God 

“Those that don't got it, can't show it. Those that got it, can't hide it.” –Zora Neale Hurston  

  Hurston was born on Jan. 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama. She soon moved with her family to Eatonville, Florida while she was a still a toddler. A lot of her writings take place around her Florida hometown. Hurston used her fiery intellect and infectious sense of humor to elbow her way into the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, befriending influential poets like Langston Hughes and singer/actress Ethel Waters. She graduated from Barnard College in 1928, and by 1935 she had several short stories and articles, as well as her novel Jonah’s Gourd Vine published.    The late 1930’s and early 1940’s marked the high point of her career. She published Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937 and Moses, Man of the Mountain in 1939. Her autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road was published in 1942.    Zora Neale Hurston died on January 28, 1960.  Abridged list of works by Hurston: 

Their Eyes Were Watching God Dust Tracks on the Road Jonah’s Gourd Vine Moses, Man of the Mountain Seraph on the Suwanee Tell my Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haitin and Jamaica I Love Myself when I Am Laughing...and Then Again when I Am Looking Me  

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Handout 2 

SPUNK

A giant of a brown-skinned man sauntered up the one street of the Village and out into the palmetto thickets with a small pretty woman clinging lovingly to his arm.

“Looka theah, folkses!” cried Elijah Mosley, slapping his leg gleefully. “Theah they go, big as life an' brassy as tacks.”

All the loungers in the store tried to walk to the door with an air of nonchalance but with small success.

“Now pee-eople!” Walter Thomas gasped. “Will you look at 'em!” “But that’s one thing Ah likes about Spunk Banks—he ain’t skeered of nothin‘ on

God’s green footstool—nothin’! He rides that log down at saw-mill jus‘ like he struts ’round wid another man’s wife—jus‘ don’t give a kitty. When Tes’ Miller got cut to giblets on that circle-saw, Spunk steps right up and starts ridin'. The rest of us was skeered to go near it.”

A round-shouldered figure in overalls much too large, came nervously in the door and the talking ceased. The men looked at each other and winked.

“Gimme some soda-water. Sass’prilla Ah reckon,” the newcomer ordered, and stood far down the counter near the open pickled pig-feet tub to drink it. Elijah nudged Walter and turned with mock gravity to the new-comer.

“Say, Joe, how’s everything up yo‘ way? How’s yo’ wife?” Joe started and all but dropped the bottle he held in his hands. He swallowed

several times painfully and his lips trembled. “Aw ‘Lige, you oughtn’t to do nothin’ like that,” Walter grumbled. Elijah ignored

him. “She jus‘ passed heah a few minutes ago goin’ theta way,” with a wave of his

hand in the direction of the woods. Now Joe knew his wife had passed that way. He knew that the men lounging in

the general store had seen her, moreover, he knew that the men knew he knew. He stood there silent for a long moment staring blankly, with his Adam’s apple twitching nervously up and down his throat. One could actually see the pain he was suffering, his eyes, his face, his hands and even the dejected slump of his shoulders. He set the bottle down upon the counter. He didn’t bang it, just eased it out of his hand silently and fiddled with his suspender buckle.

“Well, Ah’m goin‘ after her to-day. Ah’m goin’ an' fetch her back. Spunk’s done gone too fur.”

He reached deep down into his trouser pocket and drew out a hollow ground razor, large and shiny, and passed his moistened thumb back and forth over the edge.

“Talkin‘ like a man, Joe. Course that’s yo’ fambly affairs, but Ah like to see grit in anybody.”

Joe Kanty laid down a nickel and stumbled out into the street. Dusk crept in from the woods. Ike Clarke lit the swinging oil lamp that was almost

immediately surrounded by candle-flies. The men laughed boisterously behind Joe’s back as they watched him shamble woodward.

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“You oughtn’t to said whut you did to him, Lige—look how it worked him up,” Walter chided.

“And Ah hope it did work him up. 'Tain’t even decent for a man to take and take like he do.”

“Spunk will sho' kill him.” “Aw, Ah doan’t know. You never kin tell. He might turn him up an‘ spank him fur

gettin’ in the way, but Spunk wouldn’t shoot no unarmed man. Dat razor he carried outa heah ain’t gonna run Spunk down an‘ cut him, an’ Joe ain’t got the nerve to go up to Spunk with it knowing he totes that Army 45. He makes that break outa heah to bluff us. He’s gonna hide that razor behind the first likely palmetto root an‘ sneak back home to bed. Don’t tell me nothin’ 'bout that rabbit-foot colored man. Didn’t he meet Spunk an‘ Lena face to face one day las’ week an‘ mumble sumthin’ to Spunk ‘bout lettin’ his wife alone?”

“What did Spunk say?” Walter broke in—“Ah like him fine but ‘tain’t right the way he carries on wid Lena Kanty, jus’ cause Joe’s timid ‘bout fightin’.” "You wrong theah, Walter. ‘Tain’t cause Joe’s timid at all, it’s cause Spunk wants Lena.

If Joe was a passle of wile cats Spunk would tackle the job just the same. He’d go after anything he wanted the same way. As Ah wuz sayin’ a minute ago, he tole Joe right to his face that Lena was his. ‘Call her,’ he says to Joe. ‘Call her and see if she’ll come.

A woman knows her boss an’ she answers when he calls.‘ ’Lena, ain’t I yo‘ husband?’ Joe sorter whines out. Lena looked at him real disgusted but she don’t answer and she don’t move outa her tracks. Then Spunk reaches out an‘ takes hold of her arm an’ says: ‘Lena, youse mine. From now on Ah works for you an’ fights for you an‘ Ah never wants you to look to nobody for a crumb of bread, a stitch of close or a shingle to go over yo’ head, but me long as Ah live. Ah’ll git the lumber foh owah house to-morrow. Go home an‘ git yo’ things together! '

" ‘Thass mah house,’ Lena speaks up. ‘Papa gimme that.’ "‘Well,’ says Spunk, ‘doan give up whut’s yours, but when youse inside don’t

forgit youse mine, an’ let no other man git outa his place wid you!' “Lena looked up at him with her eyes so full of love that they wuz runnin‘ over,

an’ Spunk seen it an‘ Joe seen it too, and his lip started to tremblin’ and his Adam’s apple was galloping up and down his neck like a race horse. Ah bet he’s wore out half a dozen Adam’s apples since Spunk’s been on the job with Lena. That’s all he’ll do. He’ll be back heah after while swallowin‘ an’ workin‘ his lips like he wants to say somethin’ an' can’t.”

“But didn’t he do nothin‘ to stop ’em?” “Nope, not a frazzlin‘ thing—jus’ stood there. Spunk took Lena’s arm and walked

off jus‘ like nothin’ ain’t happened and he stood there gazin‘ after them till they was outa sight. Now you know a woman don’t want no man like that. I’m jus’ waitin‘ to see whut he’s goin’ to say when he gits back.”

II But Joe Kanty never came back, never. The men in the store heard the sharp

report of a pistol somewhere distant in the palmetto thicket and soon Spunk came walking leisurely, with his big black Stetson set at the same rakish angle and Lena

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clinging to his arm, came walking right into the general store. Lena wept in a frightened manner.

“Well,” Spunk announced calmly, “Joe come out there wid a meatax an' made me kill him.”

He sent Lena home and led the men back to Joe—Joe crumpled and limp with his right hand still clutching his razor.

“See mah back? Mah cloes cut clear through. He sneaked up an‘ tried to kill me from the back, but Ah got him, an’ got him good, first shot,” Spunk said. The men glared at Elijah, accusingly.

“Take him up an‘ plant him in ’Stoney lonesome,”‘ Spunk said in a careless voice. “Ah didn’t wanna shoot him but he made me do it. He’s a dirty coward, jumpin’ on a man from behind.”

Spunk turned on his heel and sauntered away to where he knew his love wept in fear for him and no man stopped him. At the general store later on, they all talked of locking him up until the sheriff should come from Orlando, but no one did anything but talk.

A clear case of self-defense, the trial was a short one, and Spunk walked out of the court house to freedom again. He could work again, ride the dangerous log-carriage that fed the singing, snarling, biting, circle-saw; he could stroll the soft dark lanes with his guitar. He was free to roam the woods again; he was free to return to Lena. He did all of these things.

III “Whut you reckon, Walt?” Elijah asked one night later. “Spunk’s gittin' ready to

marry Lena!” “Naw! Why, Joe ain’t had time to git cold yit. Nohow Ah didn’t figger Spunk was

the marryin' kind.” “Well, he is,” rejoined Elijah. “He done moved most of Lena’s things—and her

along wid ‘em—over to the Bradley house. He’s buying it. Jus’ like Ah told yo‘ all right in heah the night Joe wuz kilt. Spunk’s crazy ’bout Lena. He don’t want folks to keep on talkin‘ ’bout her—thass reason he’s rushin‘ so. Funny thing ’bout that bob-cat, wan’t it?”

“What bob-cat, ‘Lige? Ah ain’t heered ’bout none.” “Ain’t cher? Well, night befo‘ las’ was the fust night Spunk an‘ Lena moved together an’ jus‘ as they was goin’ to bed, a big black bob-cat, black all over, you hear me, black, walked round and round that house and howled like forty, an‘ when Spunk got his gun an’ went to the winder to shoot it he says it stood right still an‘ looked him in the eye, an’ howled right at him.

The thing got Spunk so nervoused up he couldn’t shoot. But Spunk says twan’t no bob-cat nohow. He says it was Joe done sneaked back from Hell! ”

“Humph!” sniffed Walter, “he oughter be nervous after what he done. Ah reckon Joe come back to dare him to marry Lena, or to come out an' fight. Ah bet he’ll be back time and agin, too. Know what Ah think? Joe wuz a braver man than Spunk.”

There was a general shout of derision from the group. “Thass a fact,” went on Walter. “Lookit whut he done took a razor an‘ went out to

fight a man he knowed toted a gun an’ wuz a crack shot, too; ‘nother thing Joe wuz skeered of Spunk, skeered plumb stiff! But he went jes’ the same. It took him a long time to get his nerve up. ‘Tain’t nothin’ for Spunk to fight when he ain’t skeered of

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nothin‘. Now, Joe’s done come back to have it out wid the man that’s got all he ever had. Y’ll know Joe ain’t never had nothin’ nor wanted nothin‘ besides Lena. It musta been a h’ant cause ain’ nobody never seen no black bob-cat.”

“‘Nother thing,” cut in one of the men, “Spunk wuz cussin’ a blue streak to-day ‘cause he ’lowed dat saw wuz wobblin‘—almos’ got ‘im once. The machinist come, looked it over an’ said it wuz alright. Spunk musta been leanin‘ t’wards it some. Den he claimed somebody pushed ’im but ‘twant nobody close to ’im. Ah wuz glad when knockin' off time come. I’m skeered of dat man when he gits hot. He’d beat you full of button holes as quick as he’s look etcher.”

IV The men gathered the next evening in a different mood, no laughter. No

badinage this time. “Look, ‘Lige, you goin’ to set up wid Spunk?” “New, Ah reckon not, Walter. Tell yuh the truth, Ah’m a lil bit skittish. Spunk died

too wicket—died cussin' he did. You know he thought he wuz done outa life.” “Good Lawd, who’d he think done it?” “Joe.” “Joe Kanty? How come? ” “Walter, Ah b’leeve Ah will walk up theta way an' set. Lena would like it Ah

reckon.” “But whut did he say, 'Lige?” Elijah did not answer until they had left the lighted store and were strolling down

the dark street. “Ah wuz loadin‘ a wagon wid scantlin’ right near the saw when Spunk fell on the

carriage but ‘fore Ah could git to him the saw got him in the body—awful sight. Me an’ Skint Miller got him off but it was too late. Anybody could see that. The fust thing he said wuz: ‘He pushed me, ’Lige—the dirty hound pushed me in the back!‘—He was spittin’ blood at ev’ry breath. We laid him on the sawdust pile with his face to the East so’s he could die easy. He heft mah hen‘ till the last, Walter, and said: ’It was Joe, ‘Lige—the dirty sneak shoved me . . . he didn’t dare come to mah face . . . but Ah’ll git the son-of-a-wood louse soon’s Ah get there an’ make hell too hot for him. . . . Ah felt him shove me. . .!' Thass how he died.”

“If spirits kin fight, there’s a powerful tussle goin‘ on somewhere ovah Jordan ’cause Ah b’leeve Joe’s ready for Spunk an‘ ain’t skeered any more yes, Ah b’leeve Joe pushed ’im mahself.”

They had arrived at the house. Lena’s lamentations were deep and loud. She had filled the room with magnolia blossoms that gave off a heavy sweet odor. The keepers of the wake tipped about whispering in frightened tones. Everyone in the village was there, even old Jeff Kanty, Joe’s father, who a few hours before would have been afraid to come within ten feet of him, stood leering triumphantly down upon the fallen giant as if his fingers had been the teeth of steel that laid him low.

The cooling board consisted of three sixteen-inch boards on saw horses, a dingy sheet was his shroud.

The women ate heartily of the funeral baked meats and wondered who would be Lena’s next. The men whispered coarse conjectures between guzzles of whiskey. Source: Zora Neale Hurston, “Spunk,” in Alain Locke, ed., The New Negro (New York: A and C Boni, 1925), 105–111.

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Handout 3  

Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why): Nikki Giovanni I was born in the congo I walked to the fertile crescent and built the sphinx I designed a pyramid so tough that a star that only glows every one hundred years falls into the center giving divine perfect light I am bad I sat on the throne drinking nectar with allah I got hot and sent an ice age to europe to cool my thirst My oldest daughter is nefertiti the tears from my birth pains created the nile I am a beautiful woman I gazed on the forest and burned out the sahara desert with a packet of goat's meat and a change of clothes I crossed it in two hours I am a gazelle so swift so swift you can't catch me For a birthday present when he was three

I gave my son hannibal an elephant He gave me rome for mother's day My strength flows ever on My son noah built new/ark and I stood proudly at the helm as we sailed on a soft summer day I turned myself into myself and was jesus men intone my loving name All praises All praises I am the one who would save I sowed diamonds in my back yard My bowels deliver uranium the filings from my fingernails are semi-precious jewels On a trip north I caught a cold and blew My nose giving oil to the arab world I am so hip even my errors are correct I sailed west to reach east and had to round off the earth as I went The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid across three continents I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal I cannot be comprehended except by my permission I mean...I...can fly like a bird in the sky...

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Still I Rise Maya Angelou You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Handout 5  

Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay One

The Transformation of Janie

Janie undergoes a significant transformation through out her

relationship with Jody. In this essay, go beyond our class discussions about

the transformation between Janie at age sixteen to who Janie is at this point in

the novel at age thirty-eight. Keep this question in mind: “Why has she

undergone this transformation?”

• 12 point, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, Times New Roman • 2 pages • Use references from the text as well as your own analysis • Due:

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Handout 6 

ESSAY QUESTIONS

Choose 1 of these essay prompts to write about. Your essay must be 3-5 pages double-spaced, have the proper heading (Name, Date, Teacher, Class/Period), and must also

have a title. Be sure to include textual evidence to support your arguments.

This essay is due:

1. After years of polite submission to her male counterparts, Janie gains her voice in Chapters 7 and 8. Prior to her defiance of Joe, Janie observes the way Daisy, Mrs. Bogle, and Mrs. Robbins are treated by the men. These three Eatonville women provide caricatures—quick, stereotyped sketches—of what it means to be a black woman in this small Florida town. In what ways do these caricatures highlight a larger disrespect toward women? How do they show Janie’s increasing difficulty with the way men judge women? 2. In 1937, the novelist Richard Wright (Native Son) reviewed Their Eyes Were Watching God. He argued: “Miss Hurston voluntarily continues in her novel the tradition which was forced upon the Negro in the theater, that is, the minstrel technique that makes ‘the white folks’ laugh…The novel carries no theme, no message, no thought. In the main, her novel is not addressed to the Negro, but to a white audience whose chauvinistic tastes she knows how to satisfy.” How would you answer his criticism? 4. What is the relationship between Janie’s silent voice and her cloistered hair? What happens to Janie after “she tore off her kerchief and let down her plentiful hair” (Chapter 8)? How does her hair reflect her womanhood? 5. Consider Janie's three husbands separately. What distinguishes them from one another? What characteristics do they share? 6. The pear trees, bees, and the horizon occur in several instances in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Discuss the significance of these symbols and metaphors in the novel.

7. What is the significance of the title Their Eyes Were Watching God to the novel? Why would Hurston have chosen it?