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Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston

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The short story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is about an abusive man who is married to a hard working woman. Through Hurston’s use of diction she is highlighting the idea that an individuals actions are directly correlated with their destiny. This is shown when Sykes uses Delia’s fear of snakes to scare her. In the beginning of the story Delia’s fear of snakes is made clear when Sykes drops his bull whip on her shoulders to scare her. Later in the short story, Sykes brings a rattlesnake into their house. When, Delia tells at him to take the snake out, Sykes yells “Ah aint gut tuh do nothin’... fact is Ah aint got nothin’ but die…you skeered uh dat snake–he’s gointer stay heah tell he die. He wouldn’t bite me cause Ah knows how tuh handle ‘im”
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Biblical Allusions in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” One prominent theme throughout the short story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is that resiliency can carry us through dark times. Hurtson shows readers this idea through biblical allusions, specifically the Jordan River and Jesus’ death. Hurston pays homage to Jesus, an important figure in the Bible. Delia’s husband Sykes often boasts about his mistress to the other villagers in their community. In the months when Sykes flaunted his infidelities around town “Delia’s work-worn knees crawled over the earth in Gethsemane and up the rocks of Calvary many, many times…” (4).

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"Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston and "Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men" by Zora Neale Hurston are two distinct stories that display the author's writing style and literary devices. Both stories are written in the first-person narrative, which provides the reader with an intimate insight into the characters' thoughts and emotions. However, the language used in each story is different. "Sweat" is written in a dialect that reflects the language spoken by the African American characters in the story, while "Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men" is written in a more standard English language, reflecting the author's education and training.

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Throughout the history of mankind, there has always been a battle between good and evil in one form or another. Whether it be light and dark, God and Devil, virtue and vice, peace and war, love love hate, the two sides are always be at odds. Zora Neale Hurston was no stranger to this age-old conflict. Growing up as a black woman in the south in the early 1900’s, and the daughter of a preacher, she was familiar with both the hate and wickedness or unfailing righteousness that a person could possess (Boyd). In her short story, “Sweat,” Zora Neale Hurston explores the theme of good versus evil, the relationship the two forces share, and the inevitable defeat of wickedness through her main characters, point of view, and symbolism.

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704 Words | 3 Pages

In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” and her essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” the African American social group is being represented in many ways. The texts have similar ways that African Americans are represented for the time period. The African Americans or “colored people” are represented in an aspect that comes from the author's point of view. The African Americans are represented as being unbothered, growing up in a closed community, playing the game with whites, and optimistic.

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340 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story “Spunk” by Zora Neal Hurston, the theme throughout the story shows that people get what they deserve from beginning to end. A character Hurston uses in the short story to show people get what they deserve would be Joe Kanty. Throughout the story, the other characters Elijah Mosley and Walter Thomas describe Joe as if he is not a threat in any sort of way. As they see Joe’s wife Lena Kanty with another man by the name of Spunk Banks and knows he is not going to do anything about it. Elijah and Walter, then tend to tease Joe “Say, Joe, how’s everything up yo’ way?

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981 Words | 4 Pages

Aria Jackson Ms. Lavelle 4/21/23 The Harlem Renaissance was known at the time as the, “New Negro Movement.” From literature to music to art, this period emphasized the struggles and experiences of African-Americans as a whole. The Harlem Renaissance explored themes of economic social prosperity, the importance of community, the power of rebirth, and the value of self-expression, and the role of spirituality. Through the neighborhood gossiping about Janie, to not being able to go to the funeral, to her taking off her head rag, and to reminiscing her flashback to phoebe, Zora Neale Hurston departs from the harlem renaissance value of community and reflects the harlem renaissance value of self expression.

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Zora Neele Hurston once said, “Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” This quotation poses the question, does a failed love experience change a person and their journey to self realization? Society’s expectation of marriage. __________.

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One major theme authors universally write their stories around concern the power of human relationships. Though writers may take different paths to communicate this, the strength that comes from these unique connections that exist between individuals resonates with everyone. Authors clearly articulate through a myriad of rhetorical devices that maintaining relationships is a fundamental part in personal growth and allows for a stronger sense of self. In finding companionship and comradery. people become capable of evolving and arriving at better understandings of who they are.

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The Harlem Renaissance was the peak of creativity for African Americans in art, music, and literature. African Americans were discovering self-love and how amazing the Negro actually was. The “New Negro” refused the commonly perceived slave image that many blacks were still viewed as. In Zora Neale Hurston’s essay, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." , she also explains her life and what is was like to be her in the time during the Harlem Renaissance.

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945 Words | 4 Pages

When someone’s story isn't public knowledge, the public tends to make up their story for them. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses third-person narration to demonstrate Janie’s story being told in a way of which she is not in control. By giving her story to Pheoby, Janie hopes to suppress the gossip and assumptions that have been made about her in order to earn her place in society. The role of storytelling demonstrates the necessity of a woman’s story in being part of a community.

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“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurtson exemplifies the amount of disrespect and domestic abuse a woman can handle. It also demonstrated how some males view women in a distasteful and unsatisfied way. Gender and sexuality can initiate most of the specific tactics of domestic violence that can dehumanize an individual, especially women. Zora Neale Hurtson’s character, Delia Jones, demonstrates how women can transition from being inferior to becoming superior in a domestic relationship. The story opened with Delia washing clothes for white people on Sunday, and Sykes verbally abused her for dishonoring God because she was washing clothes that belong to white people on the Sabbath day.

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492 Words | 2 Pages

During the Harlem Renaissance, people believed that this was a time of discrimination but the African Americans took it as a new type of self-determination and pride within their race, and with excitement for the future they could keep a positive focus which later leads to the civil rights movement of 1964. Which created a nonviolent movement that abolished legalized racial segregation, and discrimination throughout the US. In Zora Neale Hurston's book, Their eyes are watching God, Hurston both reflects and departs from the Harlem Renaissance belief that there is excitement for the future as shown by Janie's accomplishments, Independence as well as struggles with her different husbands and adventures. One way the novel shows a reflection is through independence and a sense of newness.

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820 Words | 4 Pages

In the short story Sweat written by Zora Neale Hurston, she tells the story of a hard-working woman named Delia Jones and her abusive, cheating husband Sykes. Delia and Sykes are drastically different characters. Delia is an honest, church going woman, who cleans white people 's laundry to make ends meet and Skyes is a low-down womanizer who uses his wife 's income to support not only himself but also Bertha the woman he is having an affair with. After years of putting up with her husband 's mistreatment, Delia finally holds her ground. She defends her job with a skillet.

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290 Words | 2 Pages

In the poem “Some Keep the Sabbath,” by Emily Dickinson, traditional notions of religious observances are challenged and Dickinson suggests a more personal and individualist approach to spirituality. Not everyone adheres to the same religious practices, which Dickinson suggests by using the word “some” (1). She acknowledges that there are people who observe the Sabbath, but also implies that there are others who do not. This signals her withdrawal from the religious customs of her time. Here, Dickinson contrasts her own unconventional practice with going to church on the Sabbath, “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church,/I keep it staying at home” (1-2).

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1187 Words | 5 Pages

Historical criticism strives to cognize a literary work by examining the social, cultural, and intellectual context that essentially includes the artist’s biography and milieu. Historical critics are more concerned with guiding readers through the use of identical connotation rather than analyzing the work’s literary significance. (Brizee and Tompkins). The journey of a historical reading begins with the assessment of how the meaning of a text has altered over time. In many cases, when the historical context of a text is not fully comprehended, the work literature cannot be accurately interpreted.

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