TEWWG CH 20

CHAPTER 20

1.Explain what Janie means on page 191 when she tells Pheoby, “Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons.”

2. Explain how Janie’s use of the word “consolate” (page 192) makes grammatical sense even though it is not Standard American English.

3. On page 192 Janie says there are “two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves.” What are they? What do you think Janie discovers about them?

4. Describe the mood of the end of the book. What has Janie lost? What has she found?


ARGUMENT/PERSUASIVE PROMPTS FOR A TIMED WRITING:
I'LL CHOOSE FROM ONE.
A.
Consider Janie’s description of the day she realized that she was not white (pages 8-9) and compare this description to Zora Neal Hurston’s essay, “How It Feels to be Colored Me.” In both texts, the speaker’s explanation of her awareness of race refers to more than an awareness of skin tone. What does Hurston mean when she writes about “realizing she was colored”? What does Janie become aware of when she views the photo? How would you describe Hurston’s view of racial identity?

B. Two of the interconnected themes in the novel are the search for identity and the individual in opposition to society. Use the following quote from page 77 as a starting point for the exploration of these themes: “Then one day she sat and watched the shadow of herself going about tending store and prostrating itself before Jody, while all the time she herself sat under a shady tree with the wind blowing through her hair and her clothes.” Throughout the novel, what causes Janie to separate her exterior life from her interior life? How does she reconcile this conflict?

C. One of the universal themes of literature is the idea that children suffer because of the mistakes of an earlier generation. Examine the development of this theme in Their Eyes Were Watching God by analyzing the story that Nanny tells about her life (pages 14-20). Discuss Nanny’s interactions with white men and women. How did growing up in slavery impact her worldview? How has her past impacted her relationship with her daughter and granddaughter?