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Compare Hurston Sweating For Political Racial Awareness With Sweat

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Hurston Sweating for Political Racial Awareness with “Sweat” Zora Neale Hurston, novelist, anthropologist, feminist, and short story writer, grew up in Notasulga, Alabama. Her views on the stereotypical African American image in society during her time aligned with W.E.B. Du Bois. She opted for change and wittingly encouraged it through her writing. Her famous short story “Sweat” concerns a washwoman named Delia Jones, who endures her abusive husband’s wrath both physically and socially. Delia is plagued with the fear of snakes, which ultimately leads to the death of her husband, Sykes, after he attempts to pull a dangerous prank on her. “Sweat” was originally published for the magazine FIRE!!, a popular magazine of the Harlem Renaissance in 1926 (Ryan 2). Readership of this magazine included mainly younger African Americans and African American critics (Britannica). While reading Barbara Ryan’s essay “In/visible Men: Hurston, ‘Sweat’ and Laundry Icons,” she brings up a good question that I found very interesting: Does Delia care about her house “too much?” (Ryan 1). And if she does, why would she feel the need to put so much effort into her job as washwoman to afford the house she is staying in? I came to the conclusion that she could possibly be using her home-loving as a diversion from …show more content…

“Fire!!” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 Jan. 2012, www.britannica.com/topic/Fire-American-magazine. Oates, Joyce Carol, and Zora Neale Hurston. “Sweat.” The Oxford Book of American Short Stories, Oxford University Press, 1992, pp. 1019–1030. Ryan, Barbara. "In/visible Men: Hurston, ‘Sweat’ and Laundry Icons." Short Story Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 219, Gale, 2016. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420120468/LitRC?u=sfsu_main&sid=LitRC&xid=f4d43d81. Accessed 19 Jan. 2018. Originally published in American Studies, vol. 51, no. 1-2, 2010, pp.

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As Sykes grinds dirt into the clothes that Delia’s washing, Delia decides to stand up for herself. She tells Sykes that even if he says he doesn’t care, her washing those clothes is what put food on his plate and kept a roof over his head. I think that this exchange shows that Hurston cares very little for the gender roles in society. Even though men are supposed to be the providers, Delia is the sole provider in the relationship and yet Sykes still treats her like garbage. I believe that this is Hurston’s way of challenging the idea of male domination and the patriarchal society being present no matter what the situation

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1406 Words | 6 Pages

Anthropologist, and Harlem Renaissance writer and activist Zora Neale Hurston sought to share the “untouched, raw” characters of the South with her readers. Zora masterfully incorporates metaphors, imagery, idioms, and personification into her narratives as she shares her biography, folk tales, voodoo customs, and the social context of black life. Similar to Dust Tracks on a Road Zora Neale Hurston's autobiography, she uses metaphors and imagery to rise from her childhood poverty in the rural South to a leader taking over a captivating movement of her time, the Harlem Renaissance. In Mules and Men, a black America’s folklore who grew up hearing the songs and sermons, sayings and tall tales that have formed an oral history of the South since the time of slavery. Figurative language in Hurston’s work is used in order to convey its themes and messages and make the language richer and deeper.

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Name: Lakisha Minnis Instructor: Mr. Compton English 2202-001 Date: April. 24, 2017 Sweat Zora Neale Hurston is a prolific writer famed for numerous award winning plays, novels and short stories. In this paper, I will be elaborating on a character from the novel Sweat. Her novel Sweat was first published in 1926. Sweat is a novel that tells a story about the good, evil, and domestic abusive husband.

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238 Words | 1 Pages

Zora Neale Hurston creates a very specific imagery in her short story “Sweat”, and the way she writes the dialect in this story completely portrays the African American culture in the mid to late 1920’s. Hurston uses “words” like “Sho” to imitate an African American saying the word “sure”. She also uses apostrophe’s in specific places on words like “aggravatin’” and “Ah’m” as in “I’m”. The way Hurston uses dialect in this story makes it seem much more realistic and makes you feel as if you are actually there watching all that is going on. Hurston uses many different techniques in her writing style to portray

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The town had not changed. Same love of talk and song” (Hurston, 1935, p.7). It is known that she really loved living in Eatonville and often regarded it as her place of birth. I believe that it is for this very reason that her focus of observation is the culture of the African-American people with regards to their folktales as well as their practice of hoodoo. She need not observe the living people of Eatonville as she comes from there; she is a person of Eatonville so instead she studies something she felt was where her

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Throughout the text, Hurston infers that she's optimistic about being colored. “How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company”(67)? Hurston writes that she feels discriminated against but also feels how could anyone not want to be in her presence therefor She feels optimistic about the future. Hurston recalls that “Slavery is sixty years in the past” (65).

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Hurston also displays elegance and class in her work; Cheryl Wall described Hurston’s work as being “a tree in bloom.” Moreover, Hughes’s

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Zora Neale Hurston wrote “Sweat” during the Harlem Renaissance. A time when writers, artists, and musicians were exploring and greatly influenced by the events taking place in their social and cultural environments. There is plenty that can be taken away from the story. Hurston use of symbolism with sweat, laundry, and a snake give so much more meaning to the story.

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The amount of torment one human can endure is amazing, and Delia Jones in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” isn’t exempt. She manages to hold together a home, work full-time, clothe and feed her extremely abusive husband. The question lingers; how can one continue to live in this kind of situation. It seems that for Delia, God plays a big part in her life, and Zora has appropriately left behind contextual references, symbols and representations in “Sweat”. Faith is a major theme utilized in the short story, while Sykes’ timely end rewards Delia for her priest-like patience.

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Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat,” which was published in 1926, is a story set in the 1920s of a verbally and physically abusive marriage. The story is meant to show how the female main character, Delia, tries to stand up to her abusive and worthless husband while being the primary provider for both of them. Hurston uses phallic symbolism, like the bullwhip and the snake, to describe the husband, Sykes. On the other hand, gynocentric symbolism is used to describe and represent Delia. Hurston uses these very different aspects of symbolism to highlight the differences between the two characters and to help the reader comprehend the short story.

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858 Words | 4 Pages

Sweat by Zora Neale Hurtson takes the looks into secrecies and conflicts of family, particularly at the mid-1920s when family had a slightly different meaning than it does today. Within the short story the question of families is presented through symbolism, imagery and the word and accent that is used. Perspiration by Zora Neale Hurston was published in 1926. During the 1920s the law had been moved into her little story that details the struggling lives of married American couples in the deep south. Born and raised in Florida, Hurtson got an excellent view on the society of the movement and environment.

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Also, comparing "Sweat" to Jeffrey Edleson's "Social Workers” further highlights the feminism in Hurston's story. Zora Neale Hurston’s "Sweat", portrays the struggles and abuse faced by women in a patriarchal society. The main character Delia, is an African

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676 Words | 3 Pages

Before I began reading, I tried guessing what the story was about. Only knowing that the title was “Sweat”, I thought the story might be about sports or hard labor. Then I opened up the story and the first thing I noticed was that the author’s name was Zora Hurston. I only found out that the author was female once I saw “her” in the section below describing her life and writing career. I found out other important things such as she lived in Florida, she wrote during the Harlem Renaissance (1920s), she died impoverished, and her work was eventually found by the women’s movement.

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Zayan Farzad Ms. Barnett English 9 Honors April 3, 2024. Comparing “Sweat” and “Thoughts on the African American Novel” The texts “Sweat” written by Zora Neale Hurston and “Thoughts on the African American Novel” authored by Toni Morrison provide insight into different cultures during the early 20th century. Both works were written by African-American females, in which they both had extremely weak roles in society. “Sweat” is a short story about an African American couple living in Florida with the wife named Delia and the husband named Sykes.

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During this rough time period, segregation was common and prohibition was recently introduced. Along with this, many other social and political issues played a role in Hurston's "Sweat." Consequently, a historical background of the early twentieth century would be ideal in order for the reader to better comprehend and appreciate the work thoroughly. In this story, Hurston writes about Delia and Syke's work lives. In the early 1900's, approximately sixty percent of African American woman and about twenty percent of men were employed (Mclaughlin).During this time period, men felt that they were vastly superior over women.

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