Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston - LSC-Kingwood
Zora Neale Hurston was born in Eatonville, Florida, January 7, 1903 and died on January 28, 1960 in Fort Pierce. When Hurston lived there, Eatonville was one of the rare all-black towns - and is still 89% African American. Forced to leave school at the age of thirteen to take care of siblings, she was still able to get an associates degree from Howard University and to receive a B.A. degree in anthropology from Barnard. She did graduate work at Columbia University.
Her careers included employment as an actress, maid, librarian, and college professor. However, she is best known for her work as a writer and folklorist. She was one of the most important authors of the Harlem Renaissance Movement, a major Black literary and cultural movement in New York's Harlem during the 1920's. The Harlem Renaissance movement stimulated pride and confidence in Black life and culture. Among the talented writers, musicians, playwrights, etc, congregated in Harlem at this time were Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker, Eubie Blake, and James Weldon Johnson.
Hurston is said to have influenced the writing of Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison. Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered her finest work of fiction. This work is controversial since some critics feel that she glosses over Black oppression and focuses on the woman or individual. Others say that this novel is a celebration of Black language and cultural heritage. Hurston died in poverty. Alice Walker (The Color Purple) arranged for a gravestone for Hurston in her beloved Eatonville.
Video: Take 5 minutes to watch the video and learn about the life and times of Zora Neale Hurston. Also listen to Zora Neale Hurston read and sing songs she collected in her work for the WPA sponsored by Florida Folklife project.
Topics to Consider
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Librarian talk . . . About Getting Started! As you begin, narrow your topic to a size that you can manage. Consider keywords that will help you find the information you need. These can be names of people, literary works, events, or broader identifying terms. Use keywords for locating information in the library catalog, electronic databases, and on the internet. |
Themes to Consider:
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Librarian Talk . . . About Books! Many books are available both online and in the library. So much has been written about this novel, books will be one of your best resources.The best way to find books about Hurston's work is to search the library catalog. Choose "Subject Keyword" from the menu options and type in Hurston. This will bring up all the subjects which have Hurston in them. Be creative and try several searches. Find a common Library of Congress number and browse the shelves. This is a good way to discover books you may not find in the catalog.
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Catalog terms you might consider using Subject Keyword are: Zora Neale Hurston | Their Eyes Were Watching God |
| REF PN771.G27 Vol 7,30,61 |
Contemporary Literary Criticism [CLC] | This multi-volume set contains excerpts from critical essays in books and journals. Use these volumes to 1) select a topic or theme, 2) find the full article or essay in the library, and 3) locate other articles and books from the "Further Reading" section. |
| REF PS221.T834 Vol 4 |
Twentieth Century American Criticism | This multi-volume set has biographical and general critical entries for most important American authors of this century. It is helpful for an overview. |
Biographical Information in Books
| CALL NUMBER | TITLE | DESCRIPTION |
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| REF E185.96.N68 1992 | Notable Black American Women | Brief biography, critical analysis of the book, and references. |
| REF PN41.D5 Vol 51, 86 |
Dictionary of Literary Biography | DLB is a multi-volume work which provides detailed biographical sketches of the authors' literary writings as well as general critical commentary. It is a most useful collection. |
| PS3515.U789Z465 | Dust Tracks on a Road | If you have time, this book is recommended. Their Eyes Were Watching God is said to be autobiographical. Read this autobiography by Hurston and draw your own conclusions. |
Character Information in Books
| REF PS374.C43M35 | Major Characters in American Fiction | Long-ish entries on the most important characters. |
| PN56.4.H37 | Characters in 20th-Century Literature | Brief entry on the characters in this book under Hurston. |
| REF E184.A1K58 Vol 6 |
Encyclopedia of Multiculturalism | Use the index to find entries on Hurston, Harlem Renaissance, Folklore, and other topics of interest to you. |
| REF F209.E53 | Encyclopedia of Southern Culture | Great entries on Southern Folklife, Women's Life, and quite a bit of information throughout on Hurston. Worth spending time with. |
| REF NX511.N4H37 | The Harlem Renaissance: A Historical Dictionary for the Era | This book attempts to give brief biographical sketches and entries explaining the culture of Harlem. It references books and articles where more information can be found. |
FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES
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Librarian Talk . . . About Finding Journal and Newspaper Articles! To find articles in newspapers and journals, letters, reference books, illustrations, photographs and more, use your Lone Star College System library card to login to the following databases. If you find an interesting article that is not full-text, please give the correct bibliographic information to our Reference Librarians and they will see that you get the article. They will need full bibliographic information - and your name and address. Send your phone number as well, so they can contact you if they need to. There is some overlap of articles in the following databases. However, we encourage you to use more than one. All are excellent sources for this topic. [Get a card] |
Academic Search Complete Index to journals articles, some full text. Limit to "scholarly (peer reviewed) journals" to find articles from appropriate resources.
Nanny Crawford - Janie's grandmother born and raised a slave and determined that Janie will break the cycle of oppression of black women.
Logan Killicks - Janie's first farmer husband.
Joe Starks - Janie's politically ambitious and successful second husband.
Tea Cake Woods - Janie's third husband. The husband with whom Janie finds real love.
Phoebe Watson - The friend to whom Janie is telling the story of her life.
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Librarian Talk . . . Evaluating the Internet! The Internet will be a wonderful source of original documents. Browse the sites we have suggested below. Remember, you do want to find reputable sites. Ones from .edu, .org, .gov may be best. Think about:
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- Zora Neale Hurston
- official website presented by the estate of Zora Neal Hurston.
- Zora Neale Hurston- bibliography
- Zora Neale Hurston
- Use this biography and bibliography to learn more about Ms. Hurston and Their Eyes Were Watching God.
- Zora Neale Hurston, American Author
- Biographical information, personal observations, and links to other Hurston pages.
- Zora Neale Hurston
- Teacher's resource file - e-texts, web sites, audio recordings.with plenty of links and ideas for researchers.
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- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Especially for teachers, this has great information about writing on this book.
- Perspectives on Gossip
- Comparison on the use of gossip in novels from three authors, including Hurston.
- Hurston
- Analysis to help you understand the writings from Sylvan Learning Center. Students, remember, Professor Minton knows all of these sites and sources well!
- Hurston Festival
- An annual festival in Eatonville - and look at the participants. Wow! What a treat it would be to attend.
- Wired for Books
- On June 29, 1997 professors of literature at Ohio University, Marilyn Atlas and Edgar Whan, came to Studio B in the Ohio University Telecommunications Center to record a discussion about the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. They were joined by guest scholar Annette Oxindine of Wright State University. These are the very interesting transcripts of the conversation.
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HARLEM RENAISSANCE
- The Harlem Renaissance: 1919-1930
- Information from many sources about the Harlem Renaissance.
- Black Onyx: Black Folktales
- An essay and teaching unit on black folktales. Bibliography included.
- Documenting the American South
- This site is one of the best for finding information about the south - it contains original documents, essays, and much much more. Search Hurston and other terms.
LIBRARIAN and FACULTY REVIEWS
The Lone Star College-Kingwood Librarians bring your their comments after reading Their Eyes Were Watching God.
The words bubble and tumble over each other like poetry. When Janie tells her story, you forget that she's using dialect and just want, like her friend Phoeby, to hear the rest of the story. Phoeby sits on the porch listening, not daring to move because she doesn't want the story to end. You'll keep on turning the pages, unable to put the book down because Janie might leave and you've got to hear the rest of the story. What is the story? It's about love and change and a woman's place in the world.
--Susan Goodwin
Janie's tale has just about everything: love, sex, violence, and suspense; comedy and tragedy; and unforgettable imagery and dialogue. What more could anyone want?
--Professor Joseph Minton
"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board." Such a memorable first line! Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a story within a story. Janey tells Phoebe Watson the story of her marriages and, through her telling, we watch as she searches for self-definition. While this book is the story of a black woman living in a black community, I really liked it because Hurston ignores the (stereo)typical ethnic issues and writes a story of a woman's life and her personal growth. And while the book is written in rural southern black dialect, instead of slowing me down, I felt the lyrical dialog made the characters come to life. I loved this love story and will read it over and over. My copy is NOT for re-sale.
--Peggy Whitley
Janie longs for love. After two lonely and loveless marriages she meets and marries Tea Cake. He is the love of her life. "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." But Janie's joy is short-lived. They have been together for two years when they get caught in a hurricane, and Tea Cake is bitten by a rabid dog in an attempt to rescue Janie. What happened next? "... the sun went down."
--Ann Jenkins
GETTING HELP FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT
| Librarian Talk about getting help!
Support for a successful paper is more than finding the right resources. Putting it all together takes time and effort. Sometimes it takes additional help from the librarians or tutors. Please consider the following resources if you need additional help. Remember, the expert on the assignment is your professor; use your LSC Online in-class email to contact her. |
Citing Sources Using MLA Style | Lone Star College-Kingwood Library guide. Examples of both paper and electronic citations.
Avoiding Plagiarism | Excellent information and guide on how to avoid plagiarism from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.
University of Texas Copyright Crash Course | This helpful guide on copyright is suggested by Lone Star College-Kingwood Teaching and Learning Center.
The Learning Center | Check the TLC hours for in-house tutoring.
English 1302 Students: | Write Professor Joseph Minton
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