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Turn On the Power: The Stories of Janie and Bo

9th Grade English/Language ArtsDesigned by Osman Khan and Teigan

McIntoshENGL 3391

Spring 2011

Table of Contents

Statement of Accountability……………………………………………...……………....….……3

Teaching Notes………………………………………………………………..…………..………4

1

Turn on the Power: The Stories of Janie and Bo

Background Information………………………………………………………....……………….7

Backwards Design Template………………………………………………..……….……..……..9

Calendar……………………………………………………………………..…………….……. 14

Assessments

Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay…………………………………………..……... 20

Their Eyes Were Watching God Test………………………….……………...……....… 21

Their Eyes Were Watching God or Ironman Project…………………………..........….. 26

Lesson Plans

Introducing the Harlem Renaissance and Their Eyes Were Watching God……….….… 28

Dissecting the Dialogue……………………………….……………………….……..… 38

Personification in Their Eyes Were Watching God…………………………………..… 43

Works Cited………………………………………………………………………………..…… 51

Appendices

I. Vital Vocabulary.………………………………………………………..……….…… 52

II. Literature Circles………………………………………………………….…………. 53

III. Bloom Ball Template……………………………………………………………….. 54

IV. “The Flowers” and Activity Sheet……………………………..…………………… 55

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Statement of Accountability

Background Information/ProposalOsman: Harlem Renaissance informationTeigan: Zora Neale Hurston information

Backwards DesignWorked Collaboratively

CalendarOsman & Teigan: Filled in calendar informationTeigan: Layout of calendar

AssessmentAcademic Prompt (Essay): TeiganTest: OsmanProject: worked collaboratively

Lesson PlansHarlem Renaissance: OsmanDialogue: worked collaborativelyPersonification: Teigan

Entire Unit PlanFormatting, Printing, Binding: Teigan

We hereby certify that all tasks for the completion of this Unit Plan were distributed and executed equally as outlined in this statement.

_________________________________________________ _____________________Osman Khan

_________________________________________________ _____________________Teigan McIntosh

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Teaching Notes

Canonical Text: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Summary: Their Eyes Were Watching God follows the life of a mixed African-American

woman, Janie Crawford, and her quest for true love, independence, and identity. As Janie grows

up, she struggles to find acceptance while encountering judgment from others. Each of Janie’s

relationships, with her grandmother, Nanny, Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake, is

complex. Ultimately, the abuse and alienation that she experiences along the way as well as the

choices that she makes for herself mold her into a strong, empowered woman.

Historical Placement: Zora Neale Hurston wrote this novel in 1937, and it is her best-known

work. Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered a great in both African American literature

as well as women’s literature. It is set in central and southern Florida during the early 20th

century, and deals with issues pertinent to this period such as the determination of class by

wealth and land ownership and the difficulties of race relations.

Rational for teaching the text: Everyone struggles with choices in life, relationship problems,

judgment from others, self-discovery, and other hardships. Like the characters in Hurston’s

novel, students are often facing similar issues on a daily basis that test their own morality. By

reading the text and connecting with the characters, the students will be able to discuss their own

issues and ideas dealing with concepts such as love, independence, judgment, and individuality.

Rational against teaching the text: While the book offers many real world experiences and

events that students can learn from there are several instances in the book in which Teacake

expresses himself violently against Janie. At these times, students may think that turning to

violence is the answer to their problems. The teacher must emphasize that these actions were not

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necessary and that there will be consequences as well as the other, alternative forms of

expression that Teacake could have turned to instead of violence.

Young Adult Text: Ironman by Chris Crutcher

Summary: This novel takes place in Spokane, Washington where the main character,

Beauregard “Bo” Brewster, is a high school student and tri-athlete with a bad temper but a strong

work ethic. Bo’s anger issues revolve around his unstable relationships with his father and Coach

Redmond, Bo’s football coach and English teacher, but Bo is able to use his anger as motivation

as he trains vigorously for the Yukon Jack Ironman Triathlon. Meanwhile, Bo struggles to cope

with the discovery that Mr. Serbousek, his supportive Journalism teacher and mentor, is

homosexual. He learns to accept this, and he soon realizes that not all of his relationships need to

be negative. He meets Shelley, another girl from his anger management class who will become

his love interest, as well as his other peers and his wise shop teacher, Mr. Nakatani, whose calm,

patient, and determined characteristics prove vital for Bo.

Historical Placement: Chris Crutcher wrote this novel in 1995, and it is set around the same

time. Because this is such a modern text, the ideas and issues presented in the novel are

extremely pertinent to teenagers today.

Rational for teaching the text: Similar to Janie, a woman who was raised by her grandmother’s

rules and a person who later found herself in a difficult relationship with her first husband, a man

who dominated her life, Bo Brewster, in Ironman, faces pressures from his father and football

coach regarding sports and competition. He later seeks independence and tries to make his own

decisions about his life and future while working through his problems in anger management

classes. This story will show students that there are rational ways to work out their problems as

well.

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Rational against teaching the text: Because these two texts are so different in regards to the

characters’ lifestyles and backgrounds, it might be difficult to grasp the connection between the

two texts. However, these two novels contain distinct similarities in which common threads are

seen. Furthermore, the YA book may also be more appealing to the males in the class, and

encourage them to become more involved in the classroom conversations and activities involving

both the YA text and the Canonical text.

Combination of Texts: While these texts are from two very different perspectives and times,

students will be able to relate to both Janie and Bo, and they will be able to connect these two

novels through their common themes of love, relationships, independence, judgment,

individuality, and self-discovery.

Unit Plan Essential Questions of Outcomes

1. What influences from others have had an effect on your own life decisions? What were

these effects? How did they change the outcome of your decisions?

2. Explain the impact of abuse and violence on individuals and society.

3. What does the word “power” mean to you? How does one become powerful? What has to

happen for someone to retain this power? How can they lose it?

4. What do you believe life was like for an African American woman in the early 20th

century? How do you think that it is different from an African American woman’s life

now?

5. How have the public dynamics, including treatment and attitudes, between men and

women changed in the past 100 years? Explain your answer.

6. How are men viewed in society? Are they held to some standard or classified to be stud

athletes in order to get attention and respect from others?

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Background Information

The Harlem Renaissance was a period between 1910-1920 when thousands of African

Americans migrated from the south to the north to escape racism and find jobs. With the flood of

individuals were artists, writers, poets, painters, you name it. Some well known writers from the

period include: Langston Hughes, who some of you may have heard of, Richard Wright, W.E.B.

DuBois, and American artist Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman

Bessie Smith who left an impact on some of the musical greats Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Even

though society was still segregated, artistic collaborations broke through that fence. Blacks and

whites played music together and this one was one stepper closer to improve diversity and race

relations.

Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 and died on January 28, 1960. She was

an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the Harlem Renaissance. In her

lifetime, she published four novels and more than 50 short stories, plays, and essays. She is best

known for her 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Her grandfather and father, John Hurston, were both Baptist preachers. Her mother, Lucy

Ann Hurston, was a schoolteacher. Hurston was the fifth of eight. As an adult, in order to attend

high school and get an education, Hurston claimed that she was born in Eatonville, Florida in

1901, but she was actually born in Notasulga, Alabama in 1891. This was her father’s

hometown.

Her family moved to Eatonville, a town in TEWWG, the first all-Black incorporated

town in the United States, when she was three. Her father later became mayor of the town.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notasulga,_Alabama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eatonville,_Florida

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preacher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist


Hurston spent the remainder of her childhood in Eatonville. Her 1928 essay "How It Feels to Be

Colored Me" describes the experience of growing up in Eatonville.

In 1904, Hurston's mother died and her father remarried almost immediately. Hurston's

father and new stepmother sent her away to boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida, but they

eventually stopped paying her tuition and the school expelled her. She later worked as a maid to

the lead singer in a traveling Gilbert & Sullivan theatrical company. In 1917, Hurston began

attending Morgan Academy, the high school division of Morgan College in Baltimore,

Maryland. In order to receive a free high school education at 26 years old, Hurston lied about her

date of birth. She graduated from Morgan Academy in 1918.

Later that year, Hurston began her undergraduate studies at Howard University. She

joined the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and co-founded The Hilltop, the University's student

newspaper. Hurston left Howard University in 1924 and in 1925 was offered a scholarship to

Barnard College where she was the college's sole black student. Hurston received her B.A. in

anthropology in 1927, when she was 36.

She married Herbert Sheen, a jazz musician and former Howard classmate, in 1927. Their

marriage ended in 1931. In 1939, she married Albert Prince who was 25 years younger than her,

but this marriage only lasted a few months.

During a period of financial and medical difficulties, Hurston was forced to enter St.

Lucie County Welfare Home, where she suffered a stroke and died of hypertensive heart disease.

She was buried in an unmarked grave in the Garden of Heavenly Rest cemetery in Fort Pierce. In

1973 African-American novelist Alice Walker and literary scholar Charlotte Hunt found an

unmarked grave in the general area where Hurston had been buried and decided to mark it as

hers.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Walker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertensive_heart_disease

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Arts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard_College

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hilltop_(newspaper)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeta_Phi_Beta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_University

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_Maryland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_Maryland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_State_University

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonville,_Florida


Backwards Design

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Backwards Design

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Backwards Design

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Backwards Design

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Backwards Design

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Calendar

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Calendar

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Calendar

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Calendar

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Calendar

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ESSAY

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TEST

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TEST

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Test

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TEST

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TEST

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PROJECT

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PROJECT

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Your Name: Osman Khan

School: Kennesaw Mountain High School

Lesson Title: Introducing the Harlem Renaissance and Their Eyes Were Watching God

Annotation: The instructor will pass out the Harlem Renaissance Handout (attached to lesson

plan) to each student and then the class will be given 15 minutes to read the article. As they read,

the instructor will ask the students to take down a few notes. Afterwards the students will read a

short story by Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, titled How It Feels

To Be Colored Me. (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/grand-jean/hurston/Chapters/how.html)

(short story attached to lesson plan) After the students read Hurston’s short story, they will be

assessed with a reflection hand out. They will take approximately 25 minutes to answer the short

questions and write a one paragraph reflection to the questions in the procedure. This lesson is

designed to give the students a glimpse of who the writer was and her writing style before they

begin reading the novel.

Primary Learning Outcome: At the completion of this lesson, students will have a better

understanding of the 1920’s and a sense of Hurston’s culture during the Harlem Renaissance

allowing them to better understand Hurston’s story. After reading her short story, students will

be further prepared to read the classic text.

Assumptions of Prior Knowledge: Before this lesson, students may not have read a single work

from the Harlem Renaissance, and they may be completely clueless as to who Zora Neale

Hurston was. This unit plan will probably be a turning point in the student’s literary career. They

will be exposed to a different time in American literature. At their grade level, they should have

a clear understanding that writers are poets first. As students read the short story, they should be

paying close attention to the culture and dialogue spoken by characters, as well as Hurston’s

voice as writer and person.

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Assessed GPS’s:

ELA9RL3 Student deepens understanding by relating literary works to contemporary context or historical backgrounda. Relates a literary work to non-literary documents from its literary periodb. Relates a literary work to non-literary documents or other texts relevant to its historical setting

ELA9W1 the student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals closure. The student d. Uses precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate modifiers, and active rather than passive voice. e. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.

ELA9RC2 The student participates in discussions related to curricular learning in all subject areas. The student

e. Examines the author’s purpose in writing.

ELA9LSV1 The student participates in student-to-teacher, student-to-student, and group verbal interactions. The student

a. Initiates new topics and responds to adult-initiated topics. b. Asks relevant questions. c. Responds to questions with appropriate information. d. Actively solicits another person’s comments or opinions. e. Offers own opinion forcefully without domineering. h. Clarifies, illustrates, or expands on a response when asked to do so; asks classmates for

similar expansions. i. Employs group decision-making techniques such as brainstorming or a problem-

solving sequence (i.e., recognizes problem, defines problem, identifies possible solutions, selects optimal solution, implements solution, evaluates solution).

Non-Assessed GPS’s:

ELA9RL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in literary works from various genres and provides evidence from the works to support understanding. The student

a. Applies knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a universal view or comment on life or society and provides support from the text for the identified theme.

b. Evaluates how an author’s choice of words advances the theme or purpose of a work. c. Applies knowledge of the concept that a text can contain more than one theme. d. Compares and contrasts the presentation of a theme or topic across genres and explains

how the selection of genre affects the delivery of universal ideas about life and society.

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ELA9RC4 The student establishes a context for information acquired by reading across subject areas. The student

a. Explores life experiences related to subject area content. b. Discusses in both writing and speaking how certain words and concepts relate to

multiple subjects.

National Standards:

1. National Standard 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

2. National Standard 2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.

3. National Standard 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4. National Standard 9. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

Materials:

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

2. How It Feels to Be Colored Me short story by Zora Neale Hurston

3. Harlem Renaissance Handout

4. Harlem Renaissance/Short Story Worksheet

5. Pens, pencils, paper

6. Computer, internet, and speakers for music.

Total Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Procedures:

1. (15 minutes) Begin the lesson by having a short class discussion about the Harlem Renaissance, and check to see how many students know anything about the era.

a. The Harlem Renaissance was a period between 1910-1920 when thousands of African Americans migrated from the south to the north to escape racism and find jobs. With the flood of individuals were artists, writers, poets, painters, you name

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it. Some well known writers from the period include: Langston Hughes, who some of you may have heard of, Richard Wright, W.E.B. DuBois, and American artist Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman Bessie Smith who left an impact on some of the musical greats Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Even though society was still segregated, artistic collaborations broke through that fence. Blacks and whites played music together and this one was one stepper closer to improve diversity and race relations.

2. (25 minutes) Give out the Harlem Renaissance hand out (attached to this lesson plan). Allow students to read the article. Then pass out Hand out the short story, ‘How it Feels to be Colored Me,” and read the story as a class. Either read the story to them or ask for volunteers to read. Then give the students time to write a one paragraph analysis of the short story and its relationship with the Harlem Renaissance Handout (Cunningham). Afterwards hand out the Harlem Renaissance Worksheet (attached to this lesson plan).

3. (20 minutes) Go to NEA’s Jazz in the Schools Website at www.neajazzintheschools.org. Go to Lesson 2 and click on “Listen.” Play clips of music from the 1930s. Ask students to take notes as they listen and to identify patterns in the music.

What does the music express about the people of the Harlem Renaissance? When was the Harlem Renaissance? (1920s and 1930s) When was Their Eyes Were Watching God written? (1937) Also emphasize how literature written years after the movement can still

have a profound impact on the Harlem Renaissance.

4. (10 minutes) Have students volunteer to read their work aloud to the class, and/or discuss as a class jazz music, Hurston’s writing styles, and the Harlem Renaissance.

How did people feel during the Harlem Renaissance? How are these feelings expressed in Hurston’s writing? Do you think that her writing style effectively portrays the time in which

she was writing? In other words, does her writing act as a sort of time capsule for the Harlem Renaissance?

How does jazz music make you feel? What do you think it’s intended purpose is and does it accomplish that purpose?

5. (25 minutes) Now would be the appropriate time to assess the students understanding of the Harlem Renaissance and how it relates to Hurston’s writing style. Work with students and continue discussion until you find that they grasp the concepts in procedure 4. During this time, it would be beneficial to discuss various other authors from the Harlem Renaissance to give students a better range of stories from that time period. Let them know that they will be choosing another author from the Harlem Renaissance and completing some research on that author for homework.

6. At the end of class, go over the worksheet and collect the short essays. If any class time remains, allow the students to read ahead and have them write down any notes. Ask them

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to pay close attention to the dialogue and the culture that is made evident through Hurston’s characters.

Assessment:

The students will be given three hand-outs total. One will be the Harlem Renaissance history and

informational hand-out. Second, the students will be given Hurston’s short story “How It Feels to

Be Colored Me,” and lastly, they will be given the Zora Neale Hurston Worksheet, with a few

questions and a brief essay.

Extension: The teacher can ask the students to think of the Jazz age and the particularly the

woman from the novel, or even Hurston herself, and compare them to African American culture,

writers, and movements today.

Remediation: If students do not understand the Harlem Renaissance and its influence on

Hurston’s writing it would be a great idea to read some of the Harlem Renaissance handout as a

class and discuss this period in history further. You can further assess if students grasp the

concept in this way.

Works Cited and Consulted:

Cunningham, Sarah Bainter, and Erika Koss. "The Big Read | Their Eyes Were Watching God."

The Big Read | National Endowment for the Arts. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.

Hurston, Zora Neale. "How it Feels to be Colored Me." World Tomorrow, 11 (May, 1928) 215-216.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Mordern

Classics, 2006. Print.

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How It Feels to Be Colored MeBy Zora Neale Hurston

I AM COLORED but I offer nothing in the way of extenuating circumstances except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother's side was not an Indian chief.

I remember the very day that I became colored. Up to my thirteenth year I lived in the little Negro town of Eatonville, Florida. It is exclusively a colored town. The only white people I knew passed through the town going to or coming from Orlando. The native whites rode dusty horses, the Northern tourists chugged down the sandy village road in automobiles. The town knew the Southerners and never stopped cane chewing when they passed. But the Northerners were something else again. They were peered at cautiously from behind curtains by the timid. The more venturesome would come out on the porch to watch them go past and got just as much pleasure out of the tourists as the tourists got out of the village.

The front porch might seem a daring place for the rest of the town, but it was a gallery seat for me. My favorite place was atop the gatepost. Proscenium box for a born first nighter. Not only did I enjoy the show, but I didn't mind the actors knowing that I liked it. I usually spoke to them in passing. I'd wave at them and when they returned my salute, I would say something like this: "Howdy do well I thank you where you goin'?" Usually automobile or the horse paused at this, and after a queer exchange of compliments, I would probably "go a piece of the way" with them, as we say in farthest Florida. If one of my family happened to come to the front in time to see me, of course negotiations would be rudely broken off. But even so, it is clear that I was the first "welcome to ourstate" Floridian, and I hope the Miami Chamber of Commerce will please take notice.

During this period, white people differed from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there. They liked to hear me I I speak pieces" and sing and wanted to see me dance the parse me la, and gave me generously of their small silver for doing these things, which seemed strange to me for I wanted to do them so much that I needed bribing to stop, only they didn't know it. The colored people gave no dimes. They deplored any joyful tendencies in me, but I was their Zora nevertheless. I belonged to them, to the nearby hotels, to the county everybody's Zora.

But changes came in the family when I was thirteen, and I was sent to school in Jacksonville. I left Eatonville, the town of the oleanders, a Zora. When I disembarked from the riverboat at Jacksonville, she was no more. It seemed that I had suffered a sea change. I was not Zora of Orange County any more, I was now a little colored girl. I found it out in certain ways. In my heart as well as in the mirror, I became a fast brownwarranted not to rub nor run.

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BUT I AM NOT tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all. I do not be long to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are all but about it. Even in the helter skelter skirmish that is my life, I have seer that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation more of less. No, I do not weep at the world??I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.

Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the grand daughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me. Slavery is sixty years in the past. The operation was successful and the patient is doing well, thank you. The terrible struggle that made me an American out of a potential slave said "On the line! " The Reconstruction said "Get set! " and the generation before said "Go! " I am off to a flying start and I must not halt in the stretch to look behind and weep. Slavery is the price I paid for civilization, and the choice was not with me. It is a bully adventure and worth it all that I have paid through my ancestors for it. No one on earth ever had a greater chance for glory. The world to be won and nothing to be lost. It is thrilling to think to know that for any act of mine, I shall get twice as much praise or twice as much blame. It is quite exciting to hold the center of the national stage, with the spectators not knowing whether to laugh or to weep.

The position of my white neighbor is much more difficult. No brown specter pulls up a chair beside me when I sit down to eat. No dark ghost thrusts its leg against mine in bed. The game of keeping what one has is never so exciting as the game of getting.

I do not always feel colored. Even now ? I often achieve the unconscious Zora of Eatonville before the Hegira. I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.

For instance at Barnard. "Beside the waters of the Hudson" I feel my race. Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock surged upon, and overswept, but through it all, I remain myself. When covered by the waters, I am; and the ebb but reveals me again.

SOMETIMES IT IS the other way around. A white person is set down in our midst, but the contrast is just as sharp for me. For instance, when I sit in the drafty basement that is The New World Cabaret with a white person, my color comes. We enter chatting about any little nothing that we have in common and are seated by the jazz waiters. In the abrupt way that jazz orchestras have, this one plunges into a number. It loses no time in circumlocutions, but gets right down to business. It constricts the thorax and splits the heart with its tempo and narcotic harmonies. This orchestra grows rambunctious, rears on its hind legs and attacks the tonal veil with primitive fury, rending it, clawing it until it breaks through to the jungle beyond. I follow those heathen follow them exultingly. I dance wildly inside myself; I yell within, I whoop; I shake my assegai

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above my head, I hurl it true to the mark yeeeeooww! I am in the jungle and living in the jungle way. My face is painted red and yellow and my body is painted blue, My pulse is throbbing like a war drum. I want to slaughter something give pain, give death to what, I do not know. But the piece ends. The men of the orchestra wipe their lips and rest their fingers. I creep back slowly to the veneer we call civilization with the last tone and find the white friend sitting motionless in his seat, smoking calmly.

"Good music they have here," he remarks, drumming the table with his fingertips.

Music. The great blobs of purple and red emotion have not touched him. He has only heard what I felt. He is far away and I see him but dimly across the ocean and the continent that have fallen between us. He is so pale with his whiteness then and I am so colored.

AT CERTAIN TIMES I have no race, I am me. When I set my hat at a certain angle and saunter down Seventh Avenue, Harlem City, feeling as snooty as the lions in front of the Forty Second Street Library, for instance. So far as my feelings are concerned, Peggy Hopkins Joyce on the Boule Mich with her gorgeous raiment, stately carriage, knees knocking together in a most aristocratic manner, has nothing on me. The cosmic Zora emerges. I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads.

I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored. I am merely a fragment of the Great Soul that surges within the boundaries. My country, right or wrong.

Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me.

But in the main, I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against a wall. Against a wall In company with other bags, white, red and yellow. Pour out the contents, and there is discovered a jumble of small, things priceless and worthless. A first water diamond, an empty spool bits of broken glass, lengths of string, a key to a door long since crumbled away, a rusty knife? blade, old shoes saved for a road that never was and never will be, a nail bent under the weight of things too heavy for any nail, a dried flower or two still a little fragrant. in your hand is the brown bag. On the ground before you is the jumble it held? so much like the jumble in the bags could they be emptied that all might be dumped in a single heap and the bags refilled without altering the content of any greatly. A bit of colored glass more or less would not matter. Perhaps that is how the Great Stuffer of Bags filled them in the first place? who knows?

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HANDOUT

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Osman’s handout

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Your Name: Osman Khan and Teigan McIntosh


Lesson Title: Dissecting the Dialogue

Annotation: Students will gain a better understanding of the author, Zora Neale Hurston, and her work. Students will gain other background and historical information about the Harlem Renaissance in respect to the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The instructor will introduce the dialect within the text. They will listen to the recording of the first four pages of the novel by Ruby Dee that is available online, and then the instructor will read the rest of Chapter 1 aloud to the class.

Primary Learning Outcome: After this lesson, students will be able to discuss the work of an African American writer prominent in the Harlem Renaissance. They will be able to read and understand the dialect present within the dialogue of the text and how the language adds to the cultural background for Hurston and her characters.

Assumptions of Prior Knowledge: Students should have learned about the Harlem Renaissance in the previous lesson and touched on the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston. Before the lesson, students should have come in contact with people who speak with other dialects or accents. These connections could be direct, in person, or indirect, through some form of media.

Assessed GPS’s:

ELA9RL1 The student demonstrates comprehension by identifying evidence (i.e., examples of diction, imagery, point of view, figurative language, symbolism, plot events and main ideas) in a variety of texts representative of different genres (i.e., poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation. The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of the structures and elements of fiction and provides evidence from the text to support understanding; the student:

a. Locates and analyzes such elements in fiction as language (i.e., diction, imagery, symbolism, figurative language), character development, setting and mood, point of view, foreshadowing, and irony.

ELA9RL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to contemporary context or historical background. The student

b. Relates a literary work to non-literary documents and/or other texts relevant to its historical setting.

ELA9W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals closure. The student b. Selects a focus, structure, and point of view relevant to the purpose, genre expectations, audience, length, and format requirements. d. Uses precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate modifiers, and active rather than passive voice.

38Khan & McIntosh


e. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.



b. Responds to a variety of texts in multiple modes of discourse. e. Examines the author’s purpose in writing.

National Standards:

1. National Standard 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

2. National Standard 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials:1. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston2. Fill-in-the-blank Handout3. Access to Computer/Speakers/Projector


Technology Connection: To dive into the text, the instructor will open the Zora Neale Hurston official website and play the sound clip of Ruby Dee reading the opening pages of Their Eyes Were Watching God as students read along in their books. This will let students hear the voices in the book and understand the dialect found within the dialog portions of the book.

Procedures:

1. (5 minutes) The instructor will ask students what they remember about the Harlem

Renaissance and Zora Neale Hurston from the previous lesson.

What is the Harlem Renaissance? Why was it important?

Who is Zora Neale Hurston? Why are we studying her work?

2. (10 minutes) Then, the instructor will discuss with the class the dialogue within the novel

and its importance in effectively portraying the characters within the novel as well as the

cultural connection to Hurston’s own life. The instructor will reiterate the division

between the black dialect and the voice of the narrator.

39Khan & McIntosh


Ask students if there is a difference between the way they talk with their

friends and the way they talk with their parents.

What about the difference between a class paper being turned in for a

grade and an email to a friend?

3. (30 minutes) The instructor will ask students to take out their cell phones and look at their

most recent text conversation. (If students do not have cell phones or text messaging

capabilities, they will simply make up a text conversation.) Have students write out the

conversation line by line as in the lines of a play. (If they are confused by this concept,

give them an example on the board in the front of the classroom.) Underneath the

conversation, have students translate the lines into complete sentences. Emphasize that

they should write more formally for this second draft as if they were going to turn it in for

a grade. (If this analogy does not work, tell them they should pretend that they must turn

in their paper to the President of the United States.) Their second draft of the

conversation should contain correct punctuation and grammar.

4. (15 minutes) Then, students will open their books to Chapter 1, and they will follow

along while listening to Ruby Dee read the first few pages. Afterwards, the instructor will

complete the reading of Chapter 1 aloud to the class as students follow along in their own

books.

5. (10 minutes) The instructor will ask for class feedback on how they felt about the

dialogue so far and provide answers to any questions that students may have.

Was the writing hard to understand?

Did it get easier as we read the chapter?

Was it beneficial to hear the text aloud? Why or why not?

If you have trouble reading the text at home, what might be some ways to make it

easier for you?

6. (5 minutes) The instructor will then introduce the Vital Vocabulary assignment (found in

Appendix 1) by showing an example of a vocabulary word from the first page of the

novel, “sodden.” (The example is attached to this lesson plan.)

7. (15 minutes) Students will begin to interpret a piece of Hurston’s dialogue from Chapter

1. They will write a translation of their chosen portion of text (at least 5 lines long)

explaining what it says in formal English as well as the central focus of the speaker.

40Khan & McIntosh


Underneath their translation, they should create a journal type reflection on their

experience evaluating the text in this manner.

Assessment: Students will be given participation credit for the in class discussion surrounding Chapter 1. The next day, students will turn in their translation journal and reflection for a journal grade.

Extension: Students who finish their translations early may choose to present their translated sections of text to the class.

Remediation: If students do not catch on to the dialogue quickly, the instructor will lead the class in a collaborative translation of a specific passage.

Works Cited and Consulted: Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Mordern


Sutro, Martha. “Their Eyes Were Watching God Unit.” Curriki. 28 February 2011. <http://w

ww.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Coll_msutro/TheirEyesWereWatchingGodUnit?bc=>.

“Zora Neale Hurston: The Official Zora Neale Hurston Website.” 2007. Estate of Zora Neale

Hurston and Harper Collins. 28 February 2011. <http://www.zoranealehurston.com/>.

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Vital Vocabulary Example

1. Sodden (adjective): soaked with liquid or moisture; saturated

“She had come back from the sodden and the bloated; the sudden dead, their

eyes flung wide open in judgment” (1).

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper

Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.

When the washer finished its cycle, Teigan transferred the sodden clothes

from the washing machine into the dryer to be dried.

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Your Name: Teigan McIntosh


Lesson Title: Personification in Their Eyes Were Watching God

Annotation: The instructor will remind students of the definition of personification, give

examples from the text, and ask students to share a few of their own examples. Then, the

instructor will read “Go Down Death” by James Weldon Johnson aloud to the entire class before

they break into groups to discuss the personification present in this poem and how it relates to

Hurston’s writing style. In these groups, students will personify a character and present their

writing to the class.

Primary Learning Outcome: At the completion of this lesson, students will have a clear

understanding of personification, and they will be able to implement personification into their

own writing. They will work collaboratively in groups and produce writing that engages the

reader and maintains a focused, coherent thought throughout.

Assumptions of Prior Knowledge:

Before this lesson, students should have completed reading of Their Eyes Were Watching God

through chapter thirteen. While reading, they should have been keeping up to date with their

reading journal and vocabulary list.

Assessed GPS’s:

ELA9W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals closure. The student d. Uses precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate modifiers, and active rather than passive voice. e. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.


a. Identifies messages and themes from books in all subject areas. b. Responds to a variety of texts in multiple modes of discourse.

43Khan & McIntosh


d. Evaluates the merits of texts in every subject discipline. e. Examines the author’s purpose in writing.

ELA9LSV1 The student participates in student-to-teacher, student-to-student, and group verbal interactions. The student

a. Initiates new topics and responds to adult-initiated topics. b. Asks relevant questions. c. Responds to questions with appropriate information. d. Actively solicits another person’s comments or opinions. e. Offers own opinion forcefully without domineering. h. Clarifies, illustrates, or expands on a response when asked to do so; asks classmates for

similar expansions. i. Employs group decision-making techniques such as brainstorming or a problem-

solving sequence (i.e., recognizes problem, defines problem, identifies possible solutions, selects optimal solution, implements solution, evaluates solution).

j. Divides labor to achieve the overall group goal efficiently.


ELA9RL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in literary works from various genres and provides evidence from the works to support understanding. The student

a. Applies knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a universal view or comment on life or society and provides support from the text for the identified theme.

b. Evaluates how an author’s choice of words advances the theme or purpose of a work. c. Applies knowledge of the concept that a text can contain more than one theme. d. Compares and contrasts the presentation of a theme or topic across genres and explains

how the selection of genre affects the delivery of universal ideas about life and society.

ELA9RC4 The student establishes a context for information acquired by reading across subject areas. The student

a. Explores life experiences related to subject area content. b. Discusses in both writing and speaking how certain words and concepts relate to

multiple subjects. c. Determines strategies for finding content and contextual meaning for unfamiliar words

or concepts.

National Standards:

3.Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

44Khan & McIntosh


6.Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.

9.Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and

dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

Materials:

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

2. “Go Down Death,” by James Weldon Johnson

3. Pens, pencils, paper


Procedures:

7. (10 minutes) Begin the lesson by having a short class discussion about the role of personification in literature.

a. Ask students what they know about personification. Give them a clear definition from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms: “A figure of speech by which animals, abstract ideas, or inanimate things are referred to as if they were human” (166).

b. Gather their thoughts: Why do authors use personification?c. Question them further: Do they think of personification as a powerful or effective

literary device? Why or why not?

8. (20 minutes) While students follow along in their books, read aloud the following passages from the novel that demonstrate Hurston’s powerful personification. If students do not respond to the text immediately, consider reading the passage again asking them once more to listen closely for the personification and what the words are saying about the object being personified.

Context: Janie gets ready for bed one night doubting that her new husband, Tea Cake, will return. She finds reassurance in the sun:

“Janie dozed off to sleep but she woke up in time to see the sun spending 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” (120).

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As a class, discuss the nature of the sun as this passage illustrates it. While reading this passage, what do you picture in your mind? What kind of sun do you imagine who sends up spies, peeps over a door sill, and makes foolishness?

Context: Janie encounters Death as she watches her husband grow weak:

“So Janie began to think of Death. Death, that strange being with the huge square toes who lived way in the West. The great one who lived in a straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof. What need has Death for a cover, and what winds can blow against him? He stands in his high house that overlooks the world. Stands watchful and motionless all day with his sword drawn back, waiting for the messenger to bid him come. Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then. She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now” (84).

As a class, discuss the elements of personification in this passage; death is portrayed as having a home, gestures, a history, feathers, and flesh.

9. (20 minutes) Give students an example of personification from another writer by reading “Go Down Death,” by James Weldon Johnson. (Give each student a copy of the provided handout.) This poem complements Hurston’s use of personification. Death appears directly in the third, fourth, fifth, and last stanzas of the poem.

Both Johnson’s poem, “Go Down Death,” and Zora Neale Hurston’s selected passage from Their Eyes Were Watching God are about death. Discuss their similarities and differences.

How does Hurston personify death in the first passage? What about Johnson? Point out that there is no single ‘right’ way to treat a universal occurrence such as death.

Remember to show students how the language in both the poem and the passage from the novel give specific detail. It is important to note that this small, specific language helps writers from using clichés or overly-general language.

Have students indicate instances in which the language appeals to each of their five senses. Stress the importance of the five senses (hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch) in figurative writing.

Ask students, “Why give human traits to something as seemingly abstract as death?”

10. (5 minutes) At the board, ask the students in the class to name some abstractions other than death that they might want to personify. Write their responses on the board in list form. If students are reluctant at first, the term “abstraction” may be overwhelming to them. Give students a jump-start by mentioning such words as “love, happiness, or courage” to start the list.

11. (25 minutes) Break students into groups of two or three and ask them to choose an abstraction from the list on the board to personify in writing. Writing as a group, they will

46Khan & McIntosh


brainstorm and draft a creative description of their selected abstraction. Encourage students to avoid clichés by writing with small, specific language and to include the five senses in their descriptions.

12. (10 minutes) Have students volunteer to read their work aloud to the class.

Assessment: Students will be assessed based on their preparedness for class, i.e. did they come

prepared? Do they have a paper and pencil or pen? Do they have their book and have they

completed the reading? Students will also be graded for in-class participation, including class

discussion and group work on the writing assignment. While the students are working in groups,

the instructor will walk around the classroom with the grade book to check off students who are

actively participating and contributing to their group’s work. The groups do not have to read

their writing aloud to the class, but they do have to turn in the hard copy of their writing to the

instructor at the end of the period as a “ticket out the door”. The instructor will check this written

portion based on the attached rubric in regards to length, at least 75 words, style and creativity,

including at least 10 descriptive phrases personifying their abstraction, and coherence, the flow

of the work and level of reader understanding. The writing should contain no grammatical or

spelling mistakes.

Extension: For students who finish the assignment early, they could talk quietly as a group

about ways in which topics are personified in other readings or other types of media. The

resources that they discuss could be both in and out of class experiences. Students, depending on

how many finish early, could list these personified ideas and categorize them as positive,

negative, or neutral. Then, they could evaluate why they think these personifications are effective

or not. This activity could help students to identify personification outside of the classroom in the

real world which could help validate the concept for them.

Remediation: If students do not grasp the concept of personification or abstraction as quickly as

the instructor had hoped for them to, more examples could be provided. Perhaps after the class

compiles a list of abstractions, they could personify one of them as a class before splitting into

groups.

47Khan & McIntosh


Works Cited and Consulted:

Baldick, Chris. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1990.

“‘Go Down Death’ by James Weldon Johnson.” PoemHunter.com. 28 February 2011. <http://

www.poemhunter.com/poem/go-down-death/>.



Sutro, Martha. “Their Eyes Were Watching God Unit.” Curriki. 28 February 2011. <http://www.

curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Coll_msutro/TheirEyesWereWatchingGodUnit?bc=>.

48Khan & McIntosh


Go Down Death By James Weldon Johnson

Weep not, weep not,She is not dead;She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.Heart-broken husband--weep no more;Grief-stricken son--weep no more;Left-lonesome daughter --weep no more;She only just gone home.

Day before yesterday morning,God was looking down from his great, high heaven,Looking down on all his children,And his eye fell on Sister Caroline,Tossing on her bed of pain.And God's big heart was touched with pity,With the everlasting pity.

And God sat back on his throne,And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:Call me Death!And that tall, bright angel cried in a voiceThat broke like a clap of thunder:Call Death!--Call Death!And the echo sounded down the streets of heavenTill it reached away back to that shadowy place,Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.

And Death heard the summons,And he leaped on his fastest horse,Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.Up the golden street Death galloped,And the hooves of his horses struck fire from the gold,But they didn't make no sound.Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,And waited for God's command.

And God said: Go down, Death, go down,Go down to Savannah, Georgia,Down in Yamacraw,And find Sister Caroline.She's borne the burden and heat of the day,

She's labored long in my vineyard,And she's tired--She's weary--Go down, Death, and bring her to me.

And Death didn't say a word,But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse,And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides,And out and down he rode,Through heaven's pearly gates,Past suns and moons and stars;on Death rode,Leaving the lightning's flash behind;Straight down he came.

While we were watching round her bed,She turned her eyes and looked away,She saw what we couldn't see;She saw Old Death. She saw Old DeathComing like a falling star.But Death didn't frighten Sister Caroline;He looked to her like a welcome friend.And she whispered to us: I'm going home,And she smiled and closed her eyes.

And Death took her up like a baby,And she lay in his icy arms,But she didn't feel no chill.And death began to ride again--Up beyond the evening star,Into the glittering light of glory,On to the Great White Throne.And there he laid Sister CarolineOn the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears,And he smoothed the furrows from her face,And the angels sang a little song,And Jesus rocked her in his arms,And kept a-saying: Take your rest,Take your rest.

Weep not--weep not,

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She is not dead; She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.

50Khan & McIntosh

Grading Rubric for Group Writing Assignment

1 2 3 4 5Length (at least 75 words)Style & Creativity (10 descriptions) Coherence (understanding)Grammar (-1 for each mistake)

51

Group Members: ________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

1 = Does not meet expectations 5 = Exceeds Expectations

TOTAL ____________ X 2 = ____________


Works Cited

Baldick, Chris. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1990.

Cunningham, Sarah Bainter, and Erika Koss. "The Big Read | Their Eyes Were Watching God."

The Big Read | National Endowment for the Arts. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.

“‘Go Down Death’ by James Weldon Johnson.” PoemHunter.com. 28 February 2011. <http://

www.poemhunter.com/poem/go-down-death/>.

Goodsite, Michelle. “Literature Circle Guidelines.” ENGL 3391 Syllabus, Spring 2011. 11 April

2011.

Hurston, Zora Neale. "How it Feels to be Colored Me." World Tomorrow, 11 (May, 1928) 215-

216.



SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Their Eyes Were Watching God.” SparkNotes.com.

SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.

Sutro, Martha. “Their Eyes Were Watching God Unit.” Curriki. 28 February 2011. <http://www.

curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Coll_msutro/TheirEyesWereWatchingGodUnit?bc=>.

“Zora Neale Hurston: The Official Zora Neale Hurston Website.” 2007. Estate of Zora Neale

Hurston and Harper Collins. 28 February 2011. <http://www.zoranealehurston.com/>.

52Khan & McIntosh


Vital Vocabulary Guidebook

Goal: Build your own vocabulary and USE new words in oral and

written communication.

Personal Vocabulary ListThis list will be unique to the student. Each person will have a different personal vocabulary list,

and these words come from your experiences with new vocabulary OUTSIDE the classroom.

Your job is to discover new words from three different sources- books, newspapers/ magazines,

and conversations/ lectures. These are the ONLY acceptable sources for finding new words.

Choose your words carefully: pick words that are challenging, especially ones that are

new to you, but not ridiculous. Follow these guidelines as you record your vocabulary

information:

Follow the style format exactly when you record your words, right down to the

punctuation marks. Be sure to skip a single line between each word selection

You may be called on in class to supply/explain one of your words- be sure you

understand your words and what they mean!

Example:

Sodden (adjective): soaked with liquid or moisture; saturated

“She had come back from the sodden and the bloated; the sudden dead, their

eyes flung wide open in judgment” (1).

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper

Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.

When the washer finished its cycle, Teigan transferred the sodden clothes

from the washing machine into the dryer to be dried. Discussion Groups/Literature Circles

53Khan & McIntosh

1. Word (part of speech): definition2. Context sentence3. Citation of source4. Individual sentence using the word

Note: Please underline the

word each time you use

it!


Literature CirclesDiscussion Director: Your job is to develop a list of questions (at least 8) that your group might want to discuss about today’s reading. Your task is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share reactions—so ask OPEN-ENDED questions (i.e. questions that don’t have answers in the text, questions that begin with Why, How, What, When, Who?)! Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read. You will start the discussion and make sure the discussion stays on track.

Passage Master:Your job is to locate a few (at least 8) special sections of the reading the group should look back on. The idea is to help people notice the most interesting, funny, puzzling, or important sections of the text. You decide which passages or paragraphs are worth reviewing and then jot plans for how they should be shared with the group. You can read passages aloud yourself, ask someone else to read them, or have people read them silently and then discuss.

Location in Text Reasons for Picking Plan for Reading

1. Page_________ __________________ __________________

Paragraph_____

Illustrator: Your job is to draw some kind of picture related to the reading. It can be a sketch, cartoon, diagram, flow chart, or stick figure scene. You can draw pictures of things discussed specifically in the readings, or something that conveys any idea or feeling you got from the reading. Any kind of 3- dimensional object, drawing or graphic is okay. Write a one-paragraph explanation that explores why the picture illustrates something significant from the text.

Presentation Plan: When the Discussion Director invites your participation, you may show your picture(s) without comment to the others in the group. One at a time, they get to speculate what your picture(s) means, to connect the drawing to their own ideas about the reading. After everyone has had a say, you get the last word: tell them what your picture(s) means, where it came from, or what it represents to you.

Connector: Your job is to find connections between the material being read and the real-world classroom. These connections can be positive or negative. If you believe that the way you were taught was superior to the styles advocated in the reading, then explain what the differences are and why your teachers' style(s) are superior. If you plan to teach very differently from the way the texts advocate, then explain how and why you will teach this way. If you agree with the methodology promoted in the reading, then discuss how it differed from or was similar to the ways you were taught and why this new methodology is superior. If you plan to use the approaches outlined in the texts, explain which ideas you will use and why you will use them. Your response may be a mixture of agreement and disagreement with the texts concerning your education and your teaching. No matter how you respond, Discuss what you like and dislike about

54Khan & McIntosh


the readings and why you feel this way. Be sure to discuss any questions you have about the material and philosophies presented.

Wrestle with the texts—wring out of them what interests/ challenges you in order to create your own teaching philosophy and your own teaching style!

Researcher:Your responsibility is find one or two elements in the text that could be broadened if more information were know about it (them). Once you find that element or two, research the topic(s) and present that additional information to your group.

55Khan & McIntosh


"The Flowers" by Alice Walker

Reading and Writing about Short Fiction. Ed. Edward Proffitt. NY: Harcourt, 1988. 404-05.

It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from hen house to pigpen to smokehouse that the days had never been as beautiful as these. The air held a keenness that made her nose twitch. The harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash, made each day a golden surprise that caused excited little tremors to run up her jaws.

Myop carried a short, knobby stick. She struck out at random at chickens she liked, and worked out the beat of a song on the fence around the pigpen. She felt light and good in the warm sun. She was ten, and nothing existed for her but her song, the stick clutched in her dark brown hand, and the tat-de-ta-ta-ta of accompaniment,

Turning her back on the rusty boards of her family's sharecropper cabin, Myop walked along the fence till it ran into the stream made by the spring. Around the spring, where the family got drinking water, silver ferns and wildflowers grew. Along the shallow banks pigs rooted. Myop watched the tiny white bubbles disrupt the thin black scale of soil and the water that silently rose and slid away down the stream.

She had explored the woods behind the house many times. Often, in late autumn, her mother took her to gather nuts among the fallen leaves. Today she made her own path, bouncing this way and that way, vaguely keeping an eye out for snakes. She found, in addition to various common but pretty ferns and leaves, an armful of strange blue flowers with velvety ridges and a sweet suds bush full of the brown, fragrant buds.

By twelve o'clock, her arms laden with sprigs of her findings, she was a mile or more from home. She had often been as far before, but the strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts. It seemed gloomy in the little cove in which she found herself. The air was damp, the silence close and deep.

Myop began to circle back to the house, back to the peacefulness of the morning. It was then she stepped smack into his eyes. Her heel became lodged in the broken ridge between brow and nose, and she reached down quickly, unafraid, to free herself. It was only when she saw his naked grin that she gave a little yelp of surprise.

He had been a tall man. From feet to neck covered a long space. His head lay beside him. When she pushed back the leaves and layers of earth and debris Myop saw that he'd had large white teeth, all of them cracked or broken, long fingers, and very big bones. All his clothes had rotted away except some threads of blue denim from his overalls. The buckles of the overall had turned green.

Myop gazed around the spot with interest. Very near where she'd stepped into the head was a wild pink rose. As she picked it to add to her bundle she noticed a raised mound, a ring, around the rose's root. It was the rotted remains of a noose, a bit of shredding plowline, now blending benignly into the soil. Around an overhanging limb of a great spreading oak clung another piece. Frayed, rotted, bleached, and frazzled--barely there--but spinning restlessly in the breeze. Myop laid down her flowers.

And the summer was over.

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Responding to “The Flowers” by Alice WalkerBorrowed from M. Goodsite. Kennesaw State University. ENGL 3391. Spring 2011

After reading the story “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, consider your response to the following question in preparation to discuss the story with the class. There are no right or wrong answers, but you must be able to support your ideas with evidence from the story or a concrete reason if that is more appropriate.

Question Your Response Evidence from the Story or Concrete Reason

What is your first reaction after reading this story?

What fears or concerns do you have for Myop?

What decisions of Myop’s do you believe were particularly good or bad?

What do you think happened to the man Myoyp found?

What do you think this story is about?

Does this story remind you of any other literary work?

What questions do you have about this story?

57Khan & McIntosh

Documents

Turn On the Power: The Stories of Janie and Botewwgunitplan.wikispaces.com/file/view/FINAL+UP.docx · Web viewTurn on the Power: The Stories of Janie and Bo ... students are often