Journal 7

Theme words:

Hands

Houses

Roofs

Bodies

Watching

Seeing

Water

Kill

Sun

Children

Medicine

Going crazy

Singing

Sobbing

Hurston describes children a lot because she wants to portray that all people have an earnest and pure yearning to find love.

Hurston talks about seeing things compared to doing things. This shows that experience is much more valued and coveted by people than just watching someone doing something.

Hurston talks about the sun to show that a person can always change the situation of their life. The earth is reborn by the sun every morning and a person who is unhappy with their life can also become reborn if they find a way to enjoy their life.

Honorable mentions/ideas:

Hurston contrasts the porch sitters as grotesque compared to Janie who has experience.

Life becomes scary when it loses its meaning. People give up and decide to die.

Something interesting I found: Page 177 Janie loves Tea Cake “fit to kill”

Journal 6

In the first paragraph, Hurston suggests that Janie is afraid of losing the meaning to her life. When Annie Tyler found what she was looking, she no longer knew what to do with her life. Janie is afraid because she doesn't know what she will do if Tea Cake leaves her.

• The purpose of this is to show the reader that waiting all your life for something may not be as rewarding as you think.

In the second paragraph, Hurston shows that Janie is considering her options by switching the point of view from the narrator to Janie. By going to first person, it shows Janie is becoming confident because she is in control of her thoughts and what she says.

• The purpose of this is to show the reader that Janie will not let life lose its meaning if she loses Tea Cake.

In the third paragraph, Hurston describes the sun as "sending up spies ahead of him to mark out the road through the dark". This means that Janie has options other just giving up on life. She is in a very dark place inside of her but the sun is a metaphor for her to make something out of what life gave her.

• The purpose of this is to show the reader that Janie is becoming strong. Instead of doing what the men tell her to do, she is figuring it out for herself.

Comments:

Andrew Smelter:

For your bright yellow highlight about a peaceful death, I think the answer to your question might be that the porch sitters would have talked about how they knew they were right and how Annie Taylor was wrong about going out with all those young men. I think Annie Taylor was ashamed about what happened to her and wanted to escape Eatonville.

I like your analyzation of the last line of the text. I didn't think anything of it but it makes sense that she would be worried. It also supports that she is very worried about Tea Cake

Clara Dunklee:

I never thought about how love killed Annie Tyler after it left her. I think I understand the text a bit more now! Also I never realized that she was looking into the future. I agree with your thoughts of the sun symbolizing Tea Cake. I think the sun represents the rebirth of the world after darkness and also the rebirth of Janie after two loveless marriages.

I am not quite sure how Annie's fate is predetermined when she taken to die in peace. If she was dying, being taken somewhere wouldn't have changed her situation. I think she died because she had nothing to live for. She waited for love all her life but when she finally found it, it hurt her. It took her money and left her by herself. Annie's dream was to find someone to love but after she accomplished her goal she had nothing else to live for so I think she gave up and died. Also I just realized that maybe money represents confidence in this book. Joe was very confident and now that Janie inherited Joe's money she becomes confident.

Ethan Johnson:

I like your thoughts about the words associated with death but Janie was not worried with the money aspect of Tea Cake leaving her. She was more worried with whether or not Tea Cake was hurt or if he was with another woman. Janie was also afraid of becoming like Annie Tyler who lost the meaning of her life when she was taken advantage of.

When Janie is praying, I think Janie is begging God to try to make things better. I think she is so desperate because she is afraid of becoming like Annie Tyler. She doesn't know what she will do with her life if Tea Cake never returns.

I never thought of the chair as a metaphor, but when I read what you said I think your right. I think it could mean that "her world is spinning".
Good work!

Journal 5

They put her to bed and sent for her married daughter from up around Ocala to come see about her. The daughter came as soon as she could and took Annie Tyler away to die in peace. She had waited all her life or something, and it had killed her when it found her.

The thing made itself into pictures and hung around Janie's bedside all night long. Anyhow, she wasn't going back to Eatonville to be laughed at and pitied. She had ten dollars in her pocket and twelve hundred in the bank. But oh God, don't let Tea Cake be off somewhere hurt and Ah not know nothing about it. And God, please suh, don't let him love nobody else but me. Maybe Ah'm is uh fool, Lawd, lak dey say, but Lawd, Ah been so lonesome, and Ah been waitin', Jesus. Ah done waited uh long time.

Janie dozed off to sleep but she woke up in time to see the sun sending up spies ahead of him to mark out the road through the dark. He peeped up over the door sill of the world and made a little foolishness with red. But pretty soon, he laid all that aside and went about his business dressed all in white. But it was always going to be dark to Janie if Tea Cake didn't soon come back. She got out of the bed but a chair couldn't hold her. She dwindled down on the floor her head in a rocking chair.

(Hurston, 119-120)

Figurative Language: Hurston personifies the sun in a friendly way. The way the sun is personified is similar to Tea Cake. The way the sun peeks over the “door sill of the world” sounds like something Tea Cake would do. The sun also symbolizes a new beginning and because Tea Cake was juxtaposed with the sun, Tea Cake is a new beginning for Janie.

Allusion: Hurston makes and allusion to Eatonville to show that Janie doesn’t want to go back to the watchers. She doesn’t want to become one of their subjects “to be laughed at and pitied”. Janie knows what she is doing is not what is expected of her. She knows the town will talk about everything they don’t agree with and turn it into something bad.

Sensory Details: Color and light are mentioned a lot in the text. Dark is contrasted with light. Hurston contrasts dark with light because the colors represent her life with and without Tea Cake. Light is associated with life. When the sun comes up, Hurston says that the sun “made a little foolishness with red. But pretty soon, he laid all that aside and went about his business dressed all in white”. The significance of this is, red and white each symbolize a part of Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship. The red is when they were first meeting and were fooling around with each other. Red is often associated with love romance or liking someone. The white is Janie and Tea Cake’s love for each other. White is associated with purity, rebirth, and among other things, eternity. This shows that Janie is happy with her life now and wants to be with Tea Cake for the rest of her life.

Mood: The mood for this passage is worrisome. We don’t know whether or not Tea Cake is going to come back to Janie. Hurston does this to show Janie’s love for Tea Cake. This proves that her love for him is real and not just something she is doing to escape her old situation with Joe and the town.

Dictation: Hurston’s dictation is simple and straightforward. She uses conversational words and sentences to deliver her meaning. Hurston does this to demonstrate how Janie is thinking. She isn’t thinking of anything other than if Tea Cake is alright, if Tea Cake is being faithful, and what she is going to do if Tea Cake never comes back.

Repetition: When Janie is praying, she repeats “Lawd and God”. Janie does this because she scared for Tea Cake and for herself. She doesn’t want to lose Tea Cake and she doesn’t want to have to live life by herself again.

Organization: Hurston changes the point of view in the text. First it is the narrator but then it switches to first person of Janie and then it goes back to being the narrator. Hurston switches to first person to show us how desperate Janie is to get Tea Cake back. The first person dialect grants the reader a look into Janie’s mind.

Syntax: When Hurston describes Janie praying, Hurston puts allot of commas in the sentences. This shows that her thoughts are all occurring at the same time. She is just spouting her feelings to God. This proves that Janie is very worried about Tea Cake.

Purpose: I think the purpose of this passage is to show the reader how Janie’s views of love and life have changed. This is a rebirth for Janie. Her life has meaning now.

Some other words that seemed interesting.

Killed, die, laughed, pitied Ah not know nothing about it, fool, dwindled.

Journal 4

So Bill stopped wondering about work. Work, that obnoxious entity with the short due dates that lurked everywhere at school. The time consuming thing that hides in lockers like a box with no light, and no hope. What need has Work for a student, and a binder to contain it? It stays in its backpack that is toted over the world. Lurks quiet and oppressive all day with it’s papers stored, waiting for the student to go home. Been assigned to kids before there was a reason or a rhyme or an understanding. He was likely to encounter an unannounced pop quiz sitting on his desk any day now. He was tired and unstudied also. Poor Townzen! She ought not to have to correct this all by herself. He sent Thomas to the classroom to suggest help, but Townzen said No. These principals were good with the discipline-needy but they couldn’t help with a problem like this. She would be more awake once the small child stopped crying for her. She was going to get sleep after all. That is what she hoped. But Thomas said no, so she understood. But if he didn’t she was going to find out, for people started congregating in the classroom and around the desks. Students that wouldn’t even think to go into IB English now peeked in but didn’t come into the classroom. Just looked thought the blinds and watched. Sleeping, that illusive state, had escaped the classroom.

third post

I was reading and I saw Sam’s name reoccur a lot. I did some research on “http://www.zelo.com/firstnames/findresults.asp?name=Sam&Submit=Find+It” and found out that the meaning of the name Sam is “listener”. I found that ironic because Sam is doing all the talking to Matt. I thought Sam doesn’t do much listening at all but then I realized that he was part of the watchers described in the beginning of the book. Maybe the irony of Sam describes the irony of the watchers. The watchers talk about everything but they know nothing. They make up what they want to hear just to please themselves. The watchers listen all day and talk until its dark. Another meaning of Sam is “God’s name” or “God’s heart”. I found this interesting because Sam is always annoying Matt. “You’se uh stinkin’ lie, Sam”. When you think of God you think of something truthful but because Sam is always teasing Matt, Sam becomes less god-like. I think Hurston does this to make Sam’s character more complex and to emphasize the irony of Sam’s name.

Random thoughts:

Another name I found was Roberts. Roberts is referring to the child that almost got trampled by the mule. Why this is ironic is because Roberts means “bright fame” but Roberts is just a small side character.

second journal

Page 47, third paragraph. “Take for instance […] flours painted on the sides” (47).

Foil: The “big house” and the rest of the community.

Analysis: The town surrounding Joe’s house looks very rundown in comparison. “The rest of the town looked like servants quarters next to the ‘big house’”(47). This shows the vast economical differences between Joe and the rest of the town. Having the house be so different from the town makes Joe and Janie very different from the town as well. Because they are wealthy and powerful, they are set apart from the poor and the powerless.

Repitition: Colors

Analysis: Colors are talked about greatly in this passage. The house is “a gloaty, sparkly white and the spittoon is said to be “gold-looking”. All of the mention about color made me thing about how colors can signify power and wealth. Back during Janie’s lifetime white people had all of the power. The fact that Joe painted his house white symbolizes that he has all the power over the town. Also the gold spittoon shows wealth. Gold has always been a symbol of wealth and power. A gold spittoon is a bit of a paradox because gold symbolizes power, but a spittoon’s only purpose is to collect old tobacco that has been spit into them. The spittoon has power but no respect. This sounds to me like the spittoon may symbolize Janie living with Joe.

Motif: People feel like Joe is superior to them.

Analysis: The town’s people feel intimidated whenever they are around Joe. They “feel funny talking to him”. They don’t have power and they know that Joe does. Joe can kick anyone he wants out of the city. He is the only one with that power. With the house he has and all the commodities that all of the towns people don’t have, it is pretty obvious to the townspeople that Joe has more power and wealth. This makes the townspeople wonder if Joe is a superior human. They see all of his things and feel bad that they don’t have what he has. “it weakened people”.

Tone: The tone is very informative.

Mood: I feel apprehensive. I feel like something big is going to happen. There is a conflict going on with the town’s people and Joe. It is a little suspenseful.

Purpose: I think the purpose of this passage is to show how Janie is isolated from everyone because of Joe. The gold spittoon shows how Janie is put up for display. The theme of people thinking that Joe is superior to them shows that Janie is isolated from everyone because of Joe’s wealth and power.

Some quick ideas or things I found interesting but haven’t thought about yet:

I god, what does it mean?

What does umph symbolize?

Why end in amen on pg 43?

Giving speeches occurs a lot in chapter 5.

There are lots of religion references.

There are lots of light references.

There are some people in the village talking about black people being hard on each other.

1st journal entry

Thomas Woodward

1^st journal entry

9/10/11

Logan Killicks is described as an “ole skullhead” on page 13. Skullhead is not something you would call your future spouse. Skullhead is quite a morbid term for describing someone you would marry. Skullhead implies that he is already dead or that he is only a plain, boring set of bones. Logan is described as being void of all fleshy, interesting, human features and being void of love. Hurston uses the term skullhead to subtly show that Janie views Logan as an unlovable thing. This shows that Janie is willing to get married only because her Nanny wants her to. Janie is being pushed into the relationship by her Nanny. Skullheads can also be intriguing. Janie is curious about marriage and decides to try it out. “Did marriage end the cosmic loneliness of the unmated? Did marriage compel love like the sun of the day?” (21). Here Janie is thinking about the pros and cons to getting married. She fears that she will be stuck in a loveless relationship and waste her life with Logan. Logan is being described as a plain set of bones, people don’t like being around boring things or people. It is extremely difficult to love someone you find boring. Throughout Janie’s time with Logan, she is always commenting about how she doesn’t love him.

Why does Janie want to please her Nanny so badly? Why did Hurston associate death with marriage? Why does Janie want to get married at such a young age?

Joe Starks only thinks of Janie as a possession. When Janie meets up with Joe after her fight with Logan, Joe is in a car waiting for her. When she gets up on to the seat, Janie describes it as “With him on it, it sat like some high, ruling chair” (32). This shows that Janie feels optimistic about her future because she feels as if she is being lifted out of her old abusive life but in more subtle ways Hurston is foreshadowing how Joe will treat Janie. Hurston shows that while Joe is around, everything Janie does is on display. What I mean by that is, Joe is showing Janie off. He views her as a possession but nothing more. When you own nothing and have no money, being treated like royalty seems unimaginably good, but when possessions conflict with freedom then things begin to feel tainted. “It sat like some high, ruling chair” this tells us that Janie can have all the things she wants “Just like Joe had said. With new clothes of silk and wool” (33) but once she is in the “high, ruling chair”, Joe never wants her to come back down. Joe wants her to look pretty all day even if it means Janie loses her freedoms. Janie is being “owned” by Joe.

Why does Joe want to be married to Janie when she is only a possession to him? Wouldn’t it be more fun for Joe and Janie view each other as equals? Why does Janie want to be married so badly that she will marry a complete stranger?

Nanny is a very traditional character. She wants Janie to be married off to a successful person because it was what she was supposed to do when she was younger. Nanny feels that Janie shouldn’t marry by her heart but marry for wealth and possessions. She feels that to be successful, a person should marry someone else from a higher social class. “Whut I seen just now is plenty for me, honey, Ah don’t want no trashy nigger, no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor usin’ yo’ body to wipe his foots on” (13). Nanny is not concerned about whether or not Janie likes Johnny. Nanny is more concerned that Janie would think about having a relationship with a person of a lower social class. “Dat’s what makes me skeered. You don’t mean no harm. You don’t even know where harm is at” (13). Janie is Nanny’s most precious belonging. Nanny wants to give Janie the best future possible but the only way Nanny knows how is by prearranged marriage.

Even if it means Janie will not enjoy the relationship she is in, Nanny still wants to marry her off to a successful man. “‘Don’t think Ah don’t feel wid you, Janie, ‘cause Ah do.’”

Why didn’t Nanny tell Janie about prearranging a marriage with Logan? Why did society start having prearranged marriage? It doesn’t really accomplish anything. Why must Janie be married off right when she reaches her womanhood?