#aplit15hurston5

[marieclark55]

TEWWG Reflection Chapters 1-5

           Boy do I love what the story is turning into! I’m surprised how much more I enjoy the book when rereading it 6 months later. I understand the frustrating feeling many people have when reading over the dialogue but as I grow used to saying the words faster to make sense of them, I gain a new appreciation of Hurston’s unique style of colloquial language. I loved how the story started with the end up front because not many stories I have read begin with that. I enjoy it because I can piece together the story and how the ending works out because of all the events Janie is about to tell us. Previously, I didn’t understand how important Janie’s moment under the tree and talking with her Nanny about love was to the overall story. This time, I really enjoyed Hurston’s elaborate imagery as the bee pollinates the tree. It really shows how love is reciprocal which I think is something that will continue throughout the story. I enjoy the split narration of the story where we get Janie’s perspective as well as an omniscient point of view to describe everything! We see love and fulfillment take a very important theme already because Janie runs off with Logan and Jody in search of a lasting love. Sadly, she finds out love doesn’t come from marriage as well as love doesn’t equal the same to everyone. For example, as Jody grows Eatonville, Jody is so happy he can be powerful and give Janie all her desires, however Janie speaks a different love language and wants his attention, not money. But he declines that idea, especially when telling Janie to pin her hair up, a sign of her freedom to be herself. While Janie was chasing her horizon, it is evident this isn’t even close to her peaceful place so we read on to find out what’s next for Janie. I hope she finds her voice again and gains back control of her own life.

[lexgallagher]

Eyes are Watching God Chunk 1

While reading chapter 1-5 i found it very interesting of how Hurston first goes on to talk about how Janine is judged by the sitters soon as she got back to her hometown. However, at first I thought the book was going to be about how the “sitters” judge her. Which honestly I when I thought this I figured this was going to be a book I would hate. However,  toward the middle of Chapter 2 I found out this isn't the cause. She sits down with her old friend Phoebe and starts telling the story of her life since she left. Which so far is really interesting to me because I really like hearing the story of other people. I’m now looking forward to reading this book. 

[alyvp-blog]

TEWWG 1-5 When I first started reading the book many times I would get confused when the characters were having a conversation. This is mainly because of the dialect that the characters use. It wasn't hard to read it but when I got to a word that I didn't really understand I would stumble through the text and it made it hard for me to understand what the characters were saying. However, after getting used to the dialect it was really easy to read. I realized that after a little while I started reading without even realizing the difference in the language. I liked that Hurston used this dialect because it made the whole setting of the story come alive in my head. I would picture all these people talking to each other just in the same way that it was in the book. So even though it was a bit confusing to me at first, now I see how it's become natural for me to read the text.

[rnaddysmith]

TEWWG Reaction

I really like this book. When I read it, everything flows in a constant image and narrative inside my head, and I am submerged in the book. I don’t even notice I’m reading. It’s been a long time since that’s happened to me with a book I have to admit. This is because I absolutely love her writing. One thing that I value maybe more than anything else about a writing is the figurative language. There are some writers where the imagery and metaphors they use feel forced. Then there is Zora Neal Hurston, who writes every single metaphor in the most perfect and creative way that I scream internally because she hits whatever she is describing so on the mark. That has been the one thing I’ve enjoyed the most so far with this book, and so I thought I’d include a couple of my favorite examples: “Oh to be a pear tree - any tree in bloom! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing need for her?” “She knew God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonder to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of it’s making.” Also an example would be that whole scene with the birds eating the carcass of the mule. Which, by the way, I’m surprised we haven’t talked about this scene at all cause it seems almost out of place in this book. It’s this random fantasy-esque scene within a realist fiction novel, which I love, but I’m also wondering why it was placed there.

[isabellariver87-blog]

In the first section of Their Eyes Were Watching God I noticed how a lot of motifs are tossed around especially in the first chapter. For example the ship metaphor relating to time is the first line which sets up the entire novel. Then there are the nature and mule motifs. Later these ideas start to fade out, when the story is being told because the author wanted to develop the characters. Then we start to see new ideas and possibly themes emerge. Power seems to play a key part of the story, the way Jody has power over the people in the town and most of all power over his wife. Also the power theme applies to the gender roles. This was a major point we discussed in our group discussion. A major question I brought up was is this a feminist book? This got the discussion going. 

[oliviahelland]

Hurston 1-6

Wow! I'm surprised by I actually genuinely enjoy this novel. Hurston's description and use of imagery creates almost a movie inside of my head as I read. The quirkiness of the dialogue does nothing less than add to the movie in my head! In addition to the style of this book, the storyline and ideas produced are intriguing and thought provoking. Through these first few chapter I have gained an understanding of Janie and gradually like Janie's character more and more. Personally, I think there has been hints of foreshadowing in these chapters, based on those foreshadows I hope Janie "blossoms" into her true self as the story continues.

[ryaleelee-blog]

Hurston 5

I love reading this book.  Every time i get to dialogue i immediately get this weird voice in my head that tries to talk in a deep southern accent and it is so fun.   Regarding the characters I am not gonna lie, i kinda had mixed feelings about Janie.  Honestly i think she is a little selfish.  I was given that impression when she was with her first husband how she was so stubborn about not helping him.  In reality he did want what was best for her but she could not see it because she had these idealistic images about romance and love in her head.  I took Janie for a fool.  However as I am reading on my feelings for her change.  After seeing the way she gets treated she has every right to be a dreamer because frankly her life sucks.    Overall i like this book

[andrewgretkie-blog]

ch 1-5 evaluation

During the first 5 chapters I have noticed how hard it is to understand what each character is trying to say. You pretty much have to read everything at once or you lose where you are and have to restart. I'm also kind of confused about things as we are discussing how the book is about female empowerment but so far in the book every time Janie goes against her husband she gets quiet and doesn't fight back. The book is good though for the fact that you can see each character so clearly with the way that Zora uses the dialect so that you are forcing yourself to read the book like they would have talked.