Quotes
“Janie soon began to feel the impact of awe and envy against her sensibilities. The wife of the Mayor was not just another woman as she had supposed. She slept with authority and so she was part of it in the town mind. She couldn’t get but so close to most of them in spirit” (46).
Explain the significance
Janie feels alienated and separated from the townspeople.
Pear Tree
pure natural, true, love
"The porch couldn’t talk for looking."
overstatement, oxymoron, euphemism, epithet, metaphor, personification
What is personification
For the following instance below in Chapter 5, how does Joe try to shape and control Janie’s identity and role in Eatonville?
"Janie's fist taste in presiding over the story....so she dressed in wine-colored red"
What happened that caused Joe to tell Janie to wear a head-rag while she worked?
Joe was jealous of the men he had seen in the store secretly touching it.
"A feeling of coldness and fear took hold of her. She felt far away from things and lonely” (46).
Explain the significance
Joe's control and suppression of her is causing her to lose the desire and love she once had for him.
Janie's dreams , desires, hope and pursuit of happiness
"I've told you a million times to clean your room."
and
"I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse"
oxymoron, euphemism, epithet, overstatement, personification, metaphor?
What is an overstatement
For the following instances below in Chapter 6, how does Joe try to shape and control Janie’s identity and role in Eatonville?
“mule (porch) talkers”
Janie is not allowed to talk to them. Joe had forbidden her to talk to "such trashy people"
Janie had high hopes and expectations when she married Joe Starks. However, there is a change in Janie’s perception in her marriage
She has now a sense of dissatisfaction and frustration with her marriage to Joe. Over time, she realized that her dreams of a happy and fulfilling marriage were not being met.
"There was something about Joe Starks that cowed the town...He had a bow-down command in his face...no sooner he was all set as the Mayor-post master-landlord-storekeeper...."
Describe the significance of this quote in relation to Joe and the townspeople.
Townspeople feel dissatisfied and displeasure with Joe because of his looming control and power over the town.
Janie's "head rag" and Janie's long hair
Symbolizes oppression and suppression of Joe Starks
overstatement, oxymoron, euphemism, epithet, metaphor, assonance
What is an oxymoron
For the following instances below in Chapter 6, how does Joe try to shape and control Janie’s identity and role in Eatonville
Janie wearing her hair down
Joe ordered Janie to tie her hair up in order to hide her beauty.
“It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that took the bloom off of things. But anyway, she went down the road behind him that night feeling cold. He strode along invested with his new dignity, thought and planned out loud, unconscious of her thoughts.”
What does his response suggest about his attitude towards Janie?
Joe feels threatened by the thought of his wife possessing the same education as him
"She wasn't petal-open anymore with him. She was twenty-four and seven years married when she knew....
What is being said her? What does "petal-open" mean?
It refers to the way her sense of self is beginning to unfold and expand, much like a flower's petals opening to the sun. This image symbolizes Janie's gradual awakening to her desires and inner strength.
Eatonvilles's Street Lamp
Enlightenment and progress in the town
"economically disadvantaged", "passed away", "undocumented migrant"
overstatement, oxymoron, epithet, assonance, personification, or euphemism
What is an euphemism
For the following instances below in Chapter 5, how does Joe try to shape and control Janie’s identity and role in Eatonville?
"Janie's possible speech at the lighting of the streetlamp"
Joe says "mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech-makin'." He doesn't allow her to make a speech in front of the townspeople. He thinks a woman's place is in the home.
Once Joe “slapped Janie until she had a ringing sound in her ears and told her about her brains” (72) Janie has an epiphany. What was this epiphany she has about her marriage?
She had no more "blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man" She has a self discovery that Joe is not her "pear tree"
Joe frees the mule and lets it roam Eatonville.
"Freein dat mule makes uh mighty big man outa you."
What is ironic about this statement?
Joe releases the mule while keeping Janie bound in hard work.
Matt Bonner's yellow mule
"Alexander the Great", "Brenda the Busy Bee", "Zach the four-eyed monster"
overstatement, oxymoron, euphemism, epithet, personification, or metaphor?
What is an epithet
For the following instances below in Chapter 6, how does Joe try to shape and control Janie’s identity and role in Eatonville?
"Funeral of the mule"
What is the most tragic aspect of chapter 6?
Janie's self-realization that her marriage to Joe is not the kind of love she is seeking
Joe's immense control over the town and Janie
Joe's physical abuse of Janie