Journal #10

THESIS:

People change intellectually along with their close relationships and experiences in life.

Quotes to back it up:

“That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all. She was there in the store for him…” (87)

“All dis bowin’ down, all dis obedience under yo’ voice-dat ain’t whut Ah rushed off down de road tuh find out about you.” (134)

After Joe dies: “The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair.” (135)

“She sent her face to Joe’s funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world.” (137)

• Joe’s death was an event in Janie’s life that influenced her to free herself from the restrictions he put on her. She changed her mind about submission to males after Joe’s death. She decided that she would wear her hair down.
• This shows, through Janie’s relationship with Joe, that Hurston believes that Janie became quiet and submissive because of Joe but then because of the event of his death she changed.

Possible changes:

The word ‘along’ could change to a word that fits better like ‘with’.

I could try to rephrase how I say ‘their close relationships and experiences in life.”

‘close relationships’ does it have to be close relationships?

Find more proof in the text, and re-word until accurate to what Hurston would think.

Journal #9

Brooklyn. Her note to her dad said Brooklyn. She was going to move to Brooklyn to study design at the Pratt Institute. Her dad couldn’t tell Halley to wait. Pack her luggage right away she was planning on leaving as soon as she got home. Slow down and stay awhile because he was going to miss Halley. Come here, pumpkin, daddy is going to miss you more than ever and the farm will too.

Halley left way before the farm did, the only people that saw her leave weren’t enough awake to remember. They could remember she looked very happy. She looked like she was chasing something that was so big it wouldn’t fit were she was now so she had to go find it. The plane gliding through the air, and to many things for her to thing about.

And there was the city looking down over Halley. Intimidation, the dark old storm that is looming in the distance. It lives far away but when one wonders by it can suck them in and shake them up a few. Halley was ready to face the storm. So she thought. Daddy back at home tending the garden. How she make life here the same is unknown to her.

Halley wasn’t liking the big city as much as she once thought she had. Called her Daddy saying, “I love it here! The food is great, the people here are beautiful and great artists, but it’s just not the same as home.”

“You don’t sound right. You have been liking it huh?”

“Yeah Daddy I like everything except I can’t decide how to make me stop feeling homesick.”

“Oh Halley, I remember telling you to slow down and stay home a while.”

“I would have if I only knew how strange Brooklyn is after a while. It’s been a few months and I don’t feel the same as I used to at home.”

“You change a lot in strange places Halley. You feeling ok though?”

“Yeah I been doing great, like I said food is great, things are great but I don’t know why I don’t feel great.”

“You homesick that’s why!”

Halley remembered that time in middle school when she had sprained her ankle at a basketball game. Remembering her mom fixing her up a wrap and her Daddy talking about how great she’d done. Somehow she remembered being happier than ever. Now, she thought, why do I care about how I been doing. I don’t know how I am.

I used the theme, the emotional and intellectual state is more important than the physical condition. I used Hurston’s 3rd person limited narration, I tried to match the way she writes her narrations. The other element I copied from Hurston was the way she makes dialogues without tags and how the narration is before and after every dialogue. The way I described words is similar to Hurston’s. I also characterized Halley similar to the way Hurston characterized Janie by showing inner conflict and growth and conclusion through experiences in their lives.

Journal #8

No dialogue tags:
"It makes uh whole heap uh difference wid most folks, Tea Cake."
"Things lak dat got tuh do wid conveniences, but in ain't got nothin' tuh do wid love." (160)

This happens when Tea Cake and Janie are talking outside of the store when they first meet. Hurston doesn't use dialogue tags when her characters talk but instead she uses their names a lot in their dialogue to show who is talking. She does this to make the story sound smoother.

3rd person limited narration:
In the cool of the afternoon the fiend from hell specially sent to lovers arrived at Janie's ear. Doubt. All the fears that circumstance could provide and the heart fell, attacked her on every side.

This happens after Tea Cake leaves for work after the first night they spend together.
Hurston uses 3rd person limited narration to remind the reader that most of the book is Janie telling the story. So she is the only person that you can see the thoughts of. Hurston also did this to show the changes that Janie is going through more dramatically, from her point of view.

Motif of hair:
"It's mine too. Ah ain't been sleepin' so good for more'n a week cause Ah been wishin' so bad tuh git mah hands in yo' hair. It's so pretty. It feels jus' lak underneath uh dove's wing next to mah face.

This happens when Tea Cake is at Janie's house late at night talking.
Hurston uses this motif to show Janie's relationships from her point of view. Janie's hair is very beautiful and the men in this book all like it. Hurston shoes the different characteristics of Janie's husbands by showing the reader hoe they treat Janie's hair. It is a way of contrasting the different personalities.

Journal #7

Jordan thought about Dreams. Dreams are abstract artists that live in an invisible world that is only visible through sleep. They come in all shapes and sizes and wander around looking for something impossible. What do Dreams do with time, time is intangible to the Painter. The Artist makes ideas and creates itself into something beautiful. Recreating and searching all day for something intangible, the painter fights with other artists for a chance to grasp it. Searching ever since the idea was first created. Jordan helped the artist search hoping he could find the end any day now. She was nervous but excited. Oh Kendall! Jordan struggled to help her search. Jordan wondered if she could help the artist grasp it, but only Kendall had the power to find the end. Kendall’s reality got in the way of the abstract artist confusing it and forcing the intangible object away from its reaches, but she wouldn’t give up. She would be fine as long as they didn’t destroy the painters ideas. She could protect the ideas. That’s what she thought. Reality was stronger than she thought. If the painter never finds time then the painting will never get finished, Jordan would know when it is possible, because time would slow down enough for the painter to grasp it. Other artists with similar ideas could only see time they couldn’t catch it. People watched and hoped that time would slow all the way down for them. Hope, that the artist could find time for itself, was all that people had.

I wanted to describe how it can be fun to chase a dream but since Herston was discribing a struggle, I changed it to fit her style more.

Journal #6

Death, that strange being with the huge square toes who lived way in the West. The great one who lived in the straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof. What need has Death for a cover, and what winds can blow against him? He stands in his high house that overlooks the world. Stands watchful and motionless all day with his sword drawn back, waiting for the messenger to bid him come. Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then. She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now. She was sad and afraid too. Poor Jody! He ought not to have to wrassle in there by himself. She sent Sam in to suggest a visit, but Jody said No. These medical doctors wuz all right with the Godly sick, but they didn't know a thing about a case like his. He'd be all right just as soon as the two-headed man found what had been buried against him. He wasn't going to die at all. That was what he thought. But Sam told her different, so she knew. And then if he hadn't, the next morning she was bound to know, for people began to gather in the big yard under the palm and china-berry trees. People who would not have dared to foot the place before crept in and did not come to the house. Just squatted under the trees and waited. Rumor, the wingless bird, had shadowed over the town.

• Personification: Death is described as a bird because birds travel through the air and are free to go where they want. It lives in the west because that is an unfamiliar place to Janie. It lives in a house with no protection because since it is death then it has nothing to fear. It has been around forever.
• Dialect: This is the only word in this passage that is in Janie’s dialect. Perhaps to remind the reader that she was the one that was thinking about death.
• Motif of trees: The tree motif is there because they represent how Janie is changing and in this part of the book the trees are creating a shadow of death in her life.
• Jody’s name: Throughout the book Jody is called either Jody or Joe maybe this could show how he changed after he got married to Janie. Jody is the governor who bosses his wife around and Joe is the well of man that Julie fell in love with. Two-headed man could also describe his two personalities.
• Foreshadowing: Later in this chapter Janie finally tells him what she thinks about him and then he dies. So he finds out what “had been buried against him” then the bird comes with his sword drawn. This foreshadows his death and what Janie says to him before he dies.

Journal #5

Zora Neale Hurston in Their Eyes Were Watching God uses control and sexism as motifs to show the struggles that a black woman in the early 1900’s would have.

Journal #4

Patterns in chapters 5 and 6
1.Controlling others: Pg. 87. Joe tells Janie to pull her hair back because he was jealous of other men staring at it. Pg. 115. Mrs. Tony asks Joe to cut her a piece of meat for her and her kids but he purposely cuts a much smaller piece. Also Janie's Grandma was controlling  because she made Janie marry Mr. Killicks.
2.Silence:Pg. 69 Joe is giving his governor speach and they ask Janie to speak and Joe tells everyone that she wont. This forced Janie to be silent for the first time in with Joe. This also shows control. Pg.90 Janie says that saying something would just cause 'disagreement and confusion' after she sees the men from the porch tease the mule. Before that she had said something out loud about how she dissaproved and Joe overheard and hated that she said it. This to shows controlling behavior. Janie learns to be silent.
3.Pride:Pg.75 Joe became the governor of the town and people respected him because he was literate and he had this pride that made people want to 'bow-down'. For example his new house was larger than everything else in town almost like a royal castle. He was very pridefull. Pg. 98 Janie wasn't happy and Joe was mad because he thought that she should be because she was mrs governer. He thought that he was doing her good by being governor and giving her fancy things. This shows pride because he is so proud about what he has he doesn't notice why she isn't happy.

Journal #3

 

1. Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence was an African American artist during the Harlem Renaissance. He was a cubist painter. Cubism is a French style of painting where the painter uses bright colors and shapes. Lawrence was born on September 7, 1917 and died on June 9, 2000. The collection of art that made him famous was called the “Migration Series”. This series depicted African Americans moving from the rural south to the cities in the north. Lawrence was one of the most famous African American painters in the 20th century.

2. The Seglabesque Dialect – The Nazalie Pooohzartan’z come from a floating island above Germany. The fathers on this island usually move to Germany after the first child is born which makes the mothers extremely protective of their kids. The only school sanctioned sport they have there is competitive ballet. Nazalie Pooohzartan’z are generally peaceful people but they are dangerously competitive. If a Pooohzartan wants the main role in a ballet they will often go crazy and become a little masochistic to get the role.

Pronunciation:

• ‘r’ = ‘zar’ (Cara = Cazara)
• ‘o’ = ‘oooh’ (Corn = Cooohrn)
• ‘ce’ = ‘zzz’ ( Dance = Danzzz)
• ‘t’ = ‘z’ (Wanted = Wanzed

Grammar:

• Pooohzartan’z use ‘z’ instead of ‘s’ to make words plural.
• They usually talk without taking breaths, so they don’t have commas or periods.
• When they want something they scream it.
• When they introduce themselves they say “Ehe is ….” then they bow.

Vocabulary:

• I = ‘ehe’
• Studio = Meescooohwnia
• Black Swan = Seglabesque
• Mother/Mom = Mazza
• My = Mehezer

3. Dialogue between a dancer from Portland, Oregon named Cara and a Natalie Pooohzartan named Mila Kuniz.

One day Cara was walking into the Body Vox studio when she saw a strange girl with scratches on her back and huge black wings. “Hi, my name is Cara what is your name?” Cara asked curiously. The strange girl turned around really fast and said, “Ehe is Mila Kuniz,” then she bowed gracefully and said, “Ehe came hezare because mehezer mazza wanzed me zoooh have mozare danz zzaraining”. Cara was a bit startled by her accent so she asked, “Wow, where did you develop that beautiful accent?”. “Ehe am a Nazalie Pooohzartan we develooohped this dialecz fzarom soooohme alienz a looohng zime agooooh Ehe can’z remembezar the szozary vezary well,” she said. “How did you end up in here in Portland?” Cara asked awkwardly. “Ehe zooohk the zzarain,” she sounded annoyed. Frustrated, Cara rephrased her question, “Oh, I meant why did you come here out of all places?” Mila started screaming and it started Cara, “EHE WANZED ZOOOH GOOOH ZOOOH THIS MEESCOOOHWNIA AND BE THE LEAD IN THE SEGLABESQUE!”. Cara was a little startled by this so she responded by saying, “Aaah ok,” then she giggled a little. “I can get the director for you, he’ll probably have you audition,” Cara said nicely. “EHE WANT TOOOH BE THE SEGLABESQUE EHE DOOOHN’T WANT TOOOH TZARY OUT EHE WILL BE THE SEGLSBESQUE,” Mila said a little out of breath, “Mehezer mazza wants me zoooh be a winnezar at evezarything Ehe have zoooh be the best danzer ever Ehe wont even need to audizioooohn fozar the lead.” Cara was a little tired of talking to Mila so she said, “Ok well good luck then Mila, break a leg.” Mila freaked out and started scratching her back. Then she said, “Ehe wont be pezarfecz if Ehe break mehezer leg!” Cara was becoming a little scared so she quickly ran away.

Journal #2

Journal #2 (Analytic): Pick a passage from your reading (between one paragraph and half a page). Copy the passage onto your blog and make a list of the decisions that Hurston made in writing that passage. What techniques, what patterns, what questions, what tone, what word choice, etc.

"It was a spring afternoon in West Florida. Jamie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the backyard. She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days. That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to came and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world was breathing out smell. It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep. It connected itself with other vaguely felt matters that had struck her outside observation and hurried themselves in her flesh. Now they emerged and questioned about her consciousness."

This passage is written in third omniscient because the narator is talking about Janie and her inner feelings. I think the blossoming pear tree relates to Janie because she to is blossoming. Maybe the pear tree also symbolises God or a higher being because she is so captivated by it, it is almost like it is trying to talk to her or tell her something important. The blossoming leaves foreshadow the rest of the book because Janie is also growing throughout the book. The singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears could also maybe be God. The rose of the world that was breathing out smell: this is a cool sentence because it uses verbs that you wouldn't think of using to describe smell. It is a personification of the roses and again referencing the higher being. The last sentence, Now they emerged and quested about her consciousness, could mean that the blossoming tree is what caused her to start thinking about herself and what she wants to do, pulling her out of an unconscious way of life that a lot of people live in. The pear tree caused her to question life in ways she hadn't before.

Journal #1

Journal #1 (Reflective): If you could tell your life story to one person, to whom would it be? Where would you begin (moment that changed your world view)?
If I had had one person to tell my life story to it would be the admissions director at the Yale architecture school because education means a lot to me and that is where I want to end up someday. If I told them my life story maybe they would be inspired and accept me into their college. I would start my story when I first decided to be an architect in fourth grade. Then I would describe changes in my life before that event then after all the way up until present day. I would describe it this way to show the significance of that moment in fourth grade and how it changed my life. This way I could also grab their attention by making them question why this happened.

Final - The Stranger Cover - Society6

 

Look what I found!

 

Final - The Stranger Cover - Society6