Characters
Who is the main character and how would you describe them so far?
Janie
a dreamer, young, modern perspective, independent
What is unique about the way Janie was raised?
She was brought up by nanny alongside the children of a white family (treated as an equal to the white children).
What does the description of the pear tree on page 10-11 represent?
Janie, in the bloom of womanhood, puberty, beginning to understand her body and her desires.
How does Janie's and Nanny's ideals of marriage contrast?
Janie: marriage=love, romance, passion
Nanny: protection, safety, security
What did Hurston go to school for?
Anthropology
What is Nanny's back story?
Nanny was born a slave, had a baby by her slave owner right before becoming free. Got a job with a kind white family and raised her child and grandchild alone.
Why does Janie choose to run away with Joe Starks?
Janie wants to have the life she dreamed of, wants a chance at happiness and love, and she knows it will never happen if she stays with Logan.
Janie is unhappy in her marriage with Logan.
What is special about the diction Hurston uses to describe the pear tree?
The language is beautiful/poetic compared to other parts of the book so far. She purposely highlights nature, emphasizing this as a natural process, not something to be ashamed of, but celebrated!
What theme is developed with the description of the porch sitters in the last paragraph of page 1 and first paragraph of page 2?
Judgment is a mixture of truth and fiction.
Powerful people use words to control others.
Passing judgment provides a false sense of power.
To feel powerful, ignore the cruel judgment of others.
3. Passing judgment provides a false sense of power.
Why did Hurston choose Florida for the setting of the novel?
1. It was her hometown
2. It was a uniquely black built and run community
3.people travel to Florida: it attracts people from everywhere
How does Logan Killicks feel Janie should behave?
As his wife she should submit to him: do what he says no questions asked. She should be less independent. She should do as much work as he does (compares her to his previous wife).
How old is Janie when she gets married?
16
On page 3, Pearl Stone says, “Ah ain’t got her to study ‘bout,” and Lulu Moss replies, “She ain’t even worth talkin’ after.” Why is this ironic?
Everyone is talking about Janie.
How does Joe Starks character develop a theme of self determinaton?
Dresses for the job he wants: he is dressed in nice clothes, feeding his ambitions to be somebody; wants to have a big voice and buy in big. He plans to invest in the up and coming black built and run communities in Florida. Walks with confidence, like he knows where he is going.
How has the study of anthropology helped Hurston as a writer?
-provides her with cultural perspective and the ability to view things in their larger context
-allows her to understand the culture and community evolution
-helps her keep a more objective perspective as a narrator, presenting things as they really are rather than through a personal bias
Why is Joe Starks significant to Janie?
Joe represents a taste of what Janie thought love and marriage could be (pear tree); he flatters Janie, and treats her differently than Logan.
How does Nanny respond to Janie's first kiss?
Nanny assumes she must marry Janie off immediately to protect her from harm and ensure her future safety.
Reread the passage from page 13.
“Ah wanted yuh to school out and pick from a higher bush and a sweeter berry.”
What does Nanny mean when she uses the figures of speech “a higher bush and a sweeter berry”?
She wanted Janie to have independence.
She wanted Janie to find her own husband.
She wanted Janie to have a higher class husband.
She wanted Janie to move on to higher education.
3. She wanted Janie to have a higher class husband.
Re-read this sentence from a conversation between Nanny and Janie on page 23:
“Humph! I don’t ‘spect all dat tuh keep up. He ain’t kissin’ yo’ mouf when carry on over yuh lak dat. He’s kissin’ yo’ foot an ‘tain’t in uh man tuh kiss foot long. Mouf kissn’ is on uh equal and dat’s natural but when dey got to bow down tuh love, dey soon straightens up.”
What theme does Nanny develop about love in this passage?
Romantic love is not possible early on in marriage.
Romantic love only lasts between equals.
Romantic love doesn't include kissing.
Romantic love is not natural for men.
2. Romantic love only lasts between equals.
What is vernacular?
Writing language as it would be spoken, phonetically, writing slang
What was Janie's mother's name? Where is she?
Leafy, after getting raped by her school teacher and having Janie, she disappeared; drinking and stopped coming home.
Who are the "porch sitters" in chapter 1?
The people of the town, sitting on their porches at the end of the day as Janie arrives back to town. They sit, the women in judgment and the men sexualizing Janie as she walks home after being gone for a while.
“It was a cityfied, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn’t belong in these parts. His coat was over his arm, but he didn’t need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world…He was a seal-brown color but he acted like Mr. Washburn or somebody like that to Janie”(27).
What does this description symbolize?
gender norms
silence
class
love
3. Class
How do gender norms impact Logan's and Janie's marriage?
Janie: Independent woman, feels marriage should be an equal and romantic partnership
Logan: believes Janie should be more dependent; she should SUBMIT to him as her husband and do whatever he wants, no questions
Why was it important to Hurston to include black vernacular in her writing?
-preserved black culture of the time
-an accurate representation of a misrepresented/under-represented culture
-tells a more accurate story of the evolution of language in the United States through the legacy of slavery