Their Eyes Were Watching God Lessons, Activities, and Homework

Our Learning Focus for Today: April 24 2015 Do Now: Period 2, please turn in your work into 3 separate piles on the table. Read silently. Dictionaryland peeps, start at “B”. When I call you up, please come take your novel. Reminders: Due date for novel purchases is Friday May 8th Agenda: Silent Reading Ch. 3-4 Quiz (Period 2 only) Ch. 5-6 Quiz Classwork for Chapters 5 & 6 Start on Ch.7-9 Last Class: Chapter 4 Next Class: Reviewing and analyzing Ch. 5 & 6 and reading Ch. 7-10 Homework: Read Chapters 7-9. I have uploaded links on the website for PDF and audiobook versions. Our Learning Focus for Today: Define the characteristics of a folk tale, and identify the effect of these elements. Generate an analysis that agrees or disagrees with critical commentary.

Chapter 5: Levels of Questions Please take notes on the different levels of questions. This is similar to our HOT style questions from The Crucible. Level 1 – Literal Answers can be found in the text or with further research EX: Who is Aaron Douglas? Level 2 – Interpretive Requires inference and further research to answer EX: What comparisons can you make between a writer’s and an artist’s use of imagery? Level 3 – Universal Answers go beyond what is included in the text and may require additional research EX: How do works of art reflect the artist’s beliefs?

Chapter 5: Janie’s New Life You will now jump back into Chapter 5. On a separate sheet of paper from your notes, create a three-column chart and write three questions for EACH of the levels of questions (total of 9 questions). Model your own questions on the examples below, but DON’T use these!  Literal Interpretive Universal What does Joe Starks say when the audience requests that Janie speak? Based on Joe Stark’s statements about women, what can the reader infer about Joe’s attitude toward women? How does society define male and female gender roles and how do we see that play out with Joe and Janie?

Chapter 5: Janie’s New Life Take 30 minutes to share your questions with your table group. This time will function as an informal Socratic Seminar. As you share each question, take time to discuss possible answers. After 30 minutes, as a group, take another 5 minutes and decide on the question that BEST identifies the central issues of Chapter 5 and write down a justification that explains what central issue it addresses and what makes it a strong question. As a class, each group will share their strongest question. From there we will narrow it down to the TOP THREE (write them down on your own sheet of paper). Take 5 minutes to answer each of the three questions on your own. We will then have a POLITE and ACADEMIC whole class discussion on those three questions.

Chapter 6: Folktales Please continue taking notes on the same sheet of paper you were using before. A folk tale has many or all of the characteristics listed below: They are generally handed down to a group orally. They are characteristic of the time and place in which they are told. The stories speak to universal and timeless themes. The stories try to explain human life and how people deal with life or the origin of something. They are often about common people. The characters struggle with natural events. The stories validate elements of a culture. Stories may entertain with exaggerated characters, conflicts, or dialogue.

Chapter 6: Folktales As an anthropologist (someone who studies different cultures and societies), Hurston collected stories, conversations, and other aspects of oral tradition that she then infused into her writing. Listen again to the story of Matt’s mule.

Chapter 6: Double Entry Journal You will now find four quotes for a double entry journal that connect the various characteristics of a folktale to the story (must be four different characteristics). On the analysis side, discuss which folk tale characteristic your quote exemplifies and explain the effect this folktale element has on the reader Follow (but don’t use!) the example below. Quote and pg.# Characteristic and Analysis/Effect “You mean tuh tell me you rode dat mule all de way from West Florida down heah?” “Sho he did, Lige. But he didn’t mean thu. He suz satisfied up dere, but de mule muzn’t. . .” (pg. Exaggerated characters, conflicts, or dialogue: Giving the mule human desires (not liking West Florida) exaggerates the story and adds humor. Injecting the novel with humor allows the reader to take a breath from the difficult life and situation of the characters within the novel. It provides comic relief for both characters and reader.

Characteristic and Analysis/Effect Chapter 6: Folktales On your own, find four quotes from the folktale about Matt’s mule. Follow the example below (but you can’t use this one!).  Quote and pg.# Characteristic and Analysis/Effect “You mean tuh tell me you rode dat mule all de way from West Florida down heah?” “Sho he did, Lige. But he didn’t mean thu. He suz satisfied up dere, but de mule muzn’t. . .” Exaggerated characters, conflicts, or dialogue: Giving the mule human desires (not liking West Florida) exaggerates the story and adds humor. Injecting the novel with humor allows the reader to take a breath from the difficult life and situation of the characters within the novel. It provides comic relief for both characters and reader.

After Reading Questions Think about the characters, setting, and conflicts in Chapters 5 and 6. Then write analytical responses to the interpretive questions that follow. How has Joe enslaved Janie? What comments does he make that illustrate his view of husbands and wives? Do you see any parallels between Joe’s treatment of the mule and his treatment of Janie? Hurston often used Eatonville, her real-life childhood home, as a setting in her work. Describe Eatonville as it is presented in Their Eyes Were Watching God. What effect is the young town having on Joe, Janie, and their marriage? “She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew how not to mix them.” When have you seen evidence of the two sides of Janie in Chapters 5 and 6? What is the reason for this disparity?