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Zora Neale Hurston Essay

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Zora Neale Hurston was a famous American novelist, active during the Harlem Renaissance era. A talented short story writer, folklorist and anthropologist, Hurston wrote four novels and published 50 short stories. Zora Hurston was best known for her 1937 novel called, "Their Eyes Were Watching God".
Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Notasulga Alabama, Hurston denies being born in 1891, and claims she was born in 1901. Hurston was the child of two former slaves. With her father, John Hurtson, was a pastor, and her mother, Lucy Ann, was a great mother until she died in 1904. The family moved to Florida when Hurston was very young, which inspired Hurston to later write her autobiography, "Dust Tracks on a Road." Hurston lived a long, hard life, after her father was involved in a subsequent remarriage. Sadly, her father abandoned her at a very young age. Hurston was forced to live with different family members for the next few years since her father abandoned her. Hurston learned to support herself, getting multiple jobs to make money. Hurston 's financial efforts, brought her an education. One of Hurston's jobs included working as a maid for an actress in the touring Gilbert and Sullivan group. Hurston's hard work paid off, when she earned an associates degree from Howard University, in literature. Then studying …show more content…

"Their Eyes Were Watching God,'' was a more personal, more "languid", rather than the political and male-centric novels that dominated the era of literature. She changed the standards of literature with her coming of age novel. The impact of the novel still affects today's society as it is regarded as a seminal work in American literature and in women's culture. Her novel shed light on race relations, gender roles, value of women in a relationship and

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Zora Hurston a superior author who wrote short stories and often used folklore, and religious references in her writing. Hurston in Their Eyes Were Watching God uses symbolism throughout the book followed with a vast amount of metaphors and similes. She used this unique style in order to draw in the reader's attention and to get them to feel as if they were there. Hurston starts every chapter out with either a metaphor or a simile. For instance the very first sentence of Their Eyes Were Watching God is a metaphor, “ Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.”

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- Zora Neale Hurston, born January 7th, 1891, was an African-American author, widely known for her classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Being raised in Eatonville, Florida, the first black township of the United States, Hurston was indulged in black culture at a very early age. Zora was described to have a fiery, yet bubbly spirit, befriending very influential people, one being American poet, Langston Hughes. With heavy influence from her hometown, along with the achievement of the black women around her, an abundance of motivation came when Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. The novel promotes black power, all while rejecting the stereotypes held against women.

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Zora Neal Hurston was 1 of many authors who left an impact on society. As Delia worked hard to Take care of her home, her husband as unemployed which made him insecure. Delia was also trapped

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Set in Eatonville Florida, the story of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, is told from a third person narrator who recounts Janie Mae Crawford’s life to her best friend Phoebe Watson. Although the narrator isn’t Janie, it seems as if the narrator is framed around her character. Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama to a teacher and a Baptist preacher. Hurston moved to Eatonville Florida where the story takes place at a young age. Eatonville was known as the first all black incorporated town.

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses speech as a tool to show the progression of the story. Janie Crawford, the main character of the novel, finds her true identity and ability to control her voice through many hardships. When Janie’s grandmother dies she is married off, to be taken care of. In each marriage that follows, she learns what it is to be a woman with a will and a voice. Throughout the book, Janie finds herself struggling against intimidating men who attempt to victimize her into a powerless role.

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In The Eyes are Watching God, the author Zora Neale Hurston expresses the struggles of women and black societies of the time period. When Hurston published the book, communities were segregated and black communities were full of stereotypes from the outside world. Janie, who represents the main protagonist and hero, explores these communities on her journey in the novel. Janie shows the ideals of feminism, love, and heroism in her rough life in The Eyes. Janie, as the hero of the novel, shows the heroic qualities of determination, empathy, and bravery.

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After moving to the Harlem neighborhood, Zora Neale Hurston became friends with the famous African-American writer, Langston Hughes, and she also made relationships with Countee Cullen. After to moving to this neighborhood her apartment became and was a popular spot for gatherings among friends. While living in this area, she acquired various literary successes. She was also able to go to and acquire a scholarship to Barnard College, where she pursued the subject of anthropology, which is the study of humanity, and she also studied Franz Boas, who was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of anthropology. Furthermore, she returned to Florida in order to collect African-American folk tales that will, later on, would be published as

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses multiple voices throughout the story to show all the parts that come together to fully understand Janie’s story. It seems important to acknowledge that there are two narrators: Janie and the anonymous speaker that helps Janie tell her story. Although Janie is the main narrator, the anonymous narrator speaks every now and then about Janie. The main example is at the very beginning of the story when the anonymous narrator is telling of Janie walking back into Eatonville and describing the scene.

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“Zora Neale Hurston was important to Americans because she was so determined and persevere through life’s challenges to make masterpieces” (Hemingway 21). “She has published more books than any other African American author” (history.com). Hurston’s style of writing contains folk stories from different places like the south, Caribbean, and from Latin America (Biography.com). She conducted anthropological research in Haiti (biography.com). Hurston died in 1950 because of hypertensive heart disease at a retirement home (Encyclopedia Britannica).

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston develops a contrast between the male and female genders of the time period of the story, and the male and female gender of today. Hurston wrote this novel in or about a time when women were considered simple-minded , women were disempowered by the empowered man in the relationship, and women can only gain power through marriage. But when Janie kisses Johnny Taylor, her view of men changes after seeing “a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!

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In the book “Sweat,” the author Zora Hurston implies that the theme of this short story is that “what goes around comes around,” additionally, the theme entails that a life led by good morals and a strong faith can lead a person to the right path. The marriage between Delia and Sykes started out well, but it quickly turned bad when Sykes started physically abusing her. From that moment on the marriage was not the same, and Delia was forced to succumb to the oppressive behaviors of Sykes. The first theme is shown when Sykes decides to bring a snake into the house and Sykes tells Delia to “‘look in [the] box…, [he had gone and bought her something],’” (4). Once Delia opened it she wanted, “‘[that] rattlesnake [to get away] from [her],’” only

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Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in the town of Notasulga, Alabama. At the age of two, Hurston and her family moved even farther south to a small town named Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville is recognized as the first all black town in the United States. Zora’s father was a baptist preacher in Eatonville and Hurston described him as always making life difficult for his wife and eight children. During her lifetime, Hurston studied and graduated from four different colleges that helped her focus and channel her writings into what they are.

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Biography of Zora Neale Hurston African American author, folklorist, anthropologist, and Harlem Renaissance figure, her works and contributions to the world of literature acknowledge her as one of the great writers of our American history. Zora Neale Hurston, born in Notasulga, Alabama on January 7, 1891 to former slaves John and Lucy Potts Hurston, was the fifth child and second girl out of eight children. Her birth records have never been found, so the singular year of her birth has long been a dispute (Bloom 7). In the family bible, according to Hurston’s biographers, her name is recorded as Zora Neal Lee Hurston; at some point an “e” was added to Neal and “Lee” was dropped (King 1).

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People of all differences can dream for the enrichment of their lives. Hopes and dreams are prevalent in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God whether they are eradicated or achieved. The protagonist of the novel, Janie Crawford, longs for a passionate, loving marriage despite all other oppositions for her to marry for security. However, Janie is constantly mocked by her dreams which appear just out of reach.

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Although I read the book Their Eyes Were Watching God in high school, I do not believe I was prepared to understand the logic behind who the author really was. Watching the film Zora’s Roots before reading any major short story or novel by Hurston can allow readers to gain a better understanding of the meaning behind the writing. Undoubtedly, Hurston was also able to be viewed as the great anthropologist and novelist that she was. I would recommend this film for an English, literature, poetry, or even a creative writing classes.

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