Journal #8- Their Eyes Were Watching God

#1: I think the book is titled Their Eyes Were Watching God to show a very major and important theme in the novel about power. You see, in many cases there is always authority over people within the book. How people try to overcome and control others. But when the storm is approaching over the muck, their eyes were watching God because they have no control over their life anymore. This changes the way I see the book because it helps me as a reader recognize the central thematic element of power and how prevalent it is within the novel.
#2: An alternate title I'd give to the book would be The Eyes Overlooking All. This is because the book references God many times and is looking over the people, and that the people feel like they can have a taste of this power as well. This could also help show the perspective of God versus just the perspective of how the oppressed feel.
#3: My pastiche is titled "Time Was Running Out ". This is because the message about Time is prevalent in my piece and how it runs out during our lives, along with themes of power. Time in my pastiche works more like death in TEWWG. I feel this is the strongest because the end is about having time running out and my Janie-like character being the master of her own destiny- she realizes this at the end, and she comes to that revelation by understanding the time is running out for her.

Journal #7- Their Eyes Were Watching God Quotes

1. "Janie had robbed him of his illusion of irresistible maleness that all men cherish, which was terrible. The thing that Saul's daughter had done to David." (pg 79). This allusion shows how Joe felt a loss of power when Janie talks back in front of her. Later on, we discover that Joe beats her when she isn't perfect. This quotation here can show how badly Joe took the hit to his manhood, therefore falsely justifying the abuse of Janie. This links into the thematic element of power Hurston demonstrates in the book.
2. ""Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then." (pg 84) The way Hurston uses parallel structure to portray Death shows also how powerful death is over the people of this time period. How powerless people are against something beyond their control.
3. The mention of Booker T. on page 142 shows Hurston's use of historical setting to show the effect of one man's decisions on an entire race of people. Because he is talked of in a 'submissive' manner, it shows how African Americans of the time felt even more powerless within their lives.

Journal #6- Their Eyes Were Watching God Pastiche Writing Process

I have now written the 3rd draft of my pastiche. The first one was just the main story, but then the 2nd draft was a complete re-write. At first, I just had the main character Jenna have three guys in her life that represented Logan, Jody and Tea Cake. However, then I decided that it was too similar to the story. I changed Janie's Grandma's wish to be married into Jenna's parents' wish for her to become a lawyer, then she becomes and attorney and wants a new career, so she becomes the local weather girl in Boston. Then finally, instead of marrying another man, she runs off with a lesbian friend (but they aren't a couple, although their friendship is just as scandalous) off to Greenwich Village in Manhattan. In my original draft, she was just going to run off with a man, but that's too blah and wasn't really as out there, and I really wanted to parallel with Hurston in the fact that the idea of running away w/ a Tea Cake character is suppose to be outrageous and unconventional.

One thing I still struggle with is dialect. My 3rd draft was mainly about dialect, and making sure that certain words and sounds were spelled the same way.

I am still struggling with dialect rules and length. The dialect rules take up over half a page and I am thinking of possibly joining the lawyer and weather girl aspect into one career, henceforth making it shorter, which is kind of what I need right now.

Journal #5 Their Eyes Were Watching God

Mini Pastiche, written as a new scene in The Handmaid's Tale 

It was then Offred thought of Life. Life, the simple trickster with outstanding omnipresence who resided in all who were worthy. Itself a fallacy for some, being contained in the beating heart of all, even when on of the all did not have a heart for it to be contained in. Why should Life be contained to which only had a heart, and what can truly stop her? She is overseeing all in who she in contained in. She waits patiently as she is watching for a sign to dive into a being and make it become her, and swiftly move out and be foul at the same time. She had been here all the time there was a time and a time to be told. Any moment now she would see a revelation of Life. She was sad for Janine though. Poor Janine! She should not have to give this life than have it stripped away from her. She tried to send in Ofglen to comfort her, but Janine said No. The Aunts were used to the Holy births, but they weren't used to a case like hers, if only they knew. Janine would be alright as soon as the Driver who did this was put to justice. She wasn't going to fail. At least that's what she thought. But Ofglen knew differently, so Offred knew differently. And if she hadn't, it would have been apparent by the gathering of all at the ritualistic Salvagings. People would soon look at her with a new face as no longer being the bearer of life, but the bearer of the Unbaby. They just had to sit around long enough until they could enter the gates of the dome. Anticipation, the savage sign of want, was now in the eyes of all at the Birth. 

This is suppose to be a dramatization of a birth in The Handmaid's Tale. Janine is about to give birth to a child declared an 'Unbaby' as the other Handmaids and Wives wait for the child to come. Life and Anticipation are the two abstract ideas. Life is a 'trickster' because the baby will soon be declared an Unbaby because of complications of birth. Life makes its move into a new child, only with the unknown messenger giving the right signal, then goes in and out to play a trick on the Republic of Gilead. This can relate to Death in the selected passage because it is what is about to come, but cause a great change in the society the characters live in. Then, Anticipation is spoken of as if it is the way we know we as humans want something at the core of our savage being. The Anticipation can be linked back here into the Wives' want for children (a selfish want in their case) and the Rumor in Their Eyes Were Watching God consumes the townspeople in the same way. 

Journal #4- Their Eyes Were Watching God

For this journal entry, I have picked the 1st paragraph on chapter 7, pg 76. I feel that this is a good passage to analyze Hurston's use of language manipulation.

In terms of syntax, I see that Hurston talks about the physical beating of Janie and the emotional beating of Janie. The first sentence talks about the physical aspect, then the second talks about the emotional side, and from there there is a chunk about the physical and a chunk about the emotional side. Hurston is probably saying with this that the physical beating leaves these emotional scars that Janie can't get rid of, and what's worse is that she is feeling less loved because of this. This beaten down tone can also be shown in the word choice of Hurston. There is clearly a central tone of being beaten down when she directly compares Janie to a rut in the road. "Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept down by the wheels." (pg 76) Hurston depicts, a clear representation of how Jody keeps her down by trying to control her. This can also be a reference to the physical abuse of Janie on page 72, where he beats her whenever she steps out of line. A sound device used is the phrase "But most she lived between her hat and her heels." (pg 76) The harsh 'H' sound used here can show how harshly treated Janie was, and even more so this is show through the previous word choice, says that Janie keeps to herself. 

Journal #3- Their Eyes Were Watching God

Hurston's Style:

1. "Dat woman don't want you. You gut tuh learn dat all de women in de world ain't been brought upon no teppentine still, and no saw-mill camp. There's some women dat jus' ain't for you tuh broach. You can't git her wid no fish sandwich" (pg 39)

In the section, the way the Cker talks about Janie is as if she is an object, talking about how to 'git' her, versus treating her as an equal. This leads to a prevalent feminist theme in the novel. Also, it helps show how men are allowed to speak of women during this time period. Not only this, but since Janie is perceived to be beautiful, it is as if the author is portraying that men in this time had to make grand gestures to beautiful women, but the 'normal' women didn't have to receive this kind of treatment, just a fish sandwich.

2. Janie full of that oldest human longing- self revelation (pg 7)

The sentence blatantly shows that Janie has a story to tell about what she has discovered about herself, and cleverly foreshadows the events ahead- basically that her life story is about to take place. It also helps tie into the themes of feminism within the text, showing Janie having these longings as all people do, showing women as not only people but equals.

3. "Ah wuz wid dem white chillun so much til Ah didn't know Ah wuzn't white til Ah was round six years old" (pg 8)

This can be a hint of a greater theme of power- because Janie was treated as a white child, she thought she was  one. Then, when she discovered she was black, she became a second-class citizen in her society- another example of oppression and having someone have power over yourself.

4. "Pheoby hurried on off with a covered bowl in her hands." (pg 4)

The phrase 'on off' is very interesting in terms of style, because the sentence could either use on or off separately, together or not at all and still have the same concept, even though on and off are technically opposities.

5. "Only dis one time, Nanny. Ah don't love him at all. Whut made me do it is- oh, Ah don't know"
"Thank yuh, Massa Jesus" (pg 15)

Even though Janie is agreeing to get married, if you look at her words carefully, it is apparent that she is basically saying 'Ok, I'll do this one time  for you Nanny.' Then, Janie's grandmother responds with a praise to Christ. However, saying I'll do this act this one time is almost a way of foreshadowing the future marriages of Janie and is almost mocking Christianity with Nanny's praising of God with this 'one time' agreement from Janie.

Journal #2- Their Eyes Were Watching God

Sarah Palin's Rules of Dialect:
1. Most common phrase; "Dontchaknow"
2. 2nd most common phrase "You betcha!"
3. 'air' sounds turn into 'ear'- aka american turns into 'amearican'
4. sound with an oo as in 'you' change into yah, except for in you betcha and dontchaknow where other forms of you are used
5. ing sounds become in' trying = tryin'
6. start nearly every sentence with 'oh' as in 'oh well dontchaknow'
7. sometimes the a on the word american will be dropped
8. our becomes are

French girl's Rules of Dialect:
1. 'th' sounds become 'z' sounds aka the becomes zee or other becomes ozer
2. pronounce 'is' as 'es' or 'est' in french- sounds like the e in egg and the s in is
3. drop the ending consonants- such as important becomes importan
4. 'for' becomes the french word 'pour'
5. As with rule 2, sometimes the french girl will put in little words of her own language, such as 'moi' 'toi'

Sarah Palin in a Boutique in France

Sarah: Bonjur, m'appelle is Sarah!

French Clerk: Zarah es your nem?

Sarah:P Oui oui. J'adore l'american!

French Clerk: O-key.....

Sarah: Oh well dontchaknow, 45 of those fancy Europeein'-dollers for just a little t-shirt? Oh well dontchaknow those darn socialists taking away your money in the government oh dontchaknow

French Clerk: I actually like zhee tax zyztem 'ear, pour I keen ge' zhee healthkear pour none of my money

Sarah: You betcha you youngin' folks like 'em until us heerd-workin' 'Merican foulks have to bust your bums outta the debt oh well dontchaknow!

French Clerk: So Mizz Zarah, may I asque a question?

Sarah: Oh well dontchaknow I does know the answer is naw, I don't regret doin' the show for TLC. I mean, obviously the True American Patriots will come and support me and my roguing spirit in twen-ty-six-teen. 

French Clerk: Oh, well I waz going to asque why you insiss on giving mee ah lecture about zhee taxing when you are in zhee America et I am here in France?

Sarah: Oh well dontchaknow all yah Europeein' foulks be suckin' up all of my country's economy and then we can't prosper as Amearicans and be all patriotical and for ourselves, oh well dontchaknow

French Clerk: Well zhen Zarah, zhen why does zhee Americans insiss on putting zhee militarie dans le countries zhat do not want zhem zhere? Does zhat not only drain your l'economy of zhee money even more?

Sarah: Oh well dontchaknow that's only for the good of the other peoples of the world- plus we want to show that America is tough and strong and rogue as ever!

French Clerk: Zhen aren't you being an imperialiss nation?

Sarah: Imperialisses? Oh well no you betcha not! That's only for those communists and freedom haters like the socialists that run are country

French Clerk: And where did you learn about zhese socialiss?

Sarah: Oh well dontchaknow, from my advisors and conservative blogposts about America

French Clerk: Zarah... pleaze leaves

Sarah: Oh fine! I don't belong here anyways. The only peoples who does this fancy Europeein' sight seeing is them liberals who dont give a cent to the 'Mericans they support!

French Clerk: I am calling zhee police Zarah

Sarah: Oh well dontyouknow and you betcha you are awll doomed for not lovin' the 'merican rogue spirit! I will just be goin' back to the greatest place Alaska, and start a new perfume line... it's the only real option that I does have left

French Clerk: And we wills not be selling zhat 'ear.... au revoir Zarah!

Fin

Journal #1- Their Eyes Were Watching God

I perceive Janie from the text as being somewhat soft-spoken and overly misjudged. She is said to be incredibly beautiful, that of someone much younger (pg 2) and the narrator states ' Seeing the woman made them remember the envy they had stored up from other times.' (pg 2). There is obviously an unspoken jealousy against Janie for her beauty; it's almost as if she herself is so kind but the other women think she is being rude by showing off her beauty, but she is actually just being who she is. This apparent non-scurrilous manner is shown in the way she talks and confides within Phoeby as well. The first words that come out of her mouth are about how she wanted to wash her feet from walking so far (pg 4). However, this is not the only side to Janie. She also has a fierce side that understands how others judge her, and they she feels frustrated by this back talk against her. (pg 6)
The narrator I feel is the poet in Hurston, and sometimes goes off of tangents that are indirectly related to the plot. First off, the novel starts off with this idea of what how a man acts in relation to his dreams and how a woman goes for her dreams. Thus, I take the stance that the narrator has somewhat of a feminist viewpoint because it is almost as if the narrator is portraying men as either going in for something, or completely failing, whereas women know what they want and go get it.

Post 4 Response

Passages:
1. "The pen between my fingers is sensuous, alive almost, I can feel its power, the power of the words it contains. Pen Is Envy, Aunt Lydia would say, quoting another Center motto, warning us away from such subjects." The Handmaid's Tale pg 186
2. (When talking about Salamano and his dog) "They look as if they belong to the same species, and yet they hate each other. [...] You can see them in the rue de Lyon, the dog pulling the man along until old Salamano stumbles. Then he beats the dog and swears at it" The Stranger pg 27
3. "Ah'm just as stiff as you is stout." Their Eyes Were Watching God pg 26
4. In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse is a ________ to Mildred
5. The __________ behind the boys' actions at their heightened state of savagery comes from a sense of having no rules with the absence of authority on the island.

Word Bank:
A. Foil
B. Motivation
C. Characterization
D. Allusion
E. Diction

Post 3 Response- Protagonist

Even though this may seem a bit of a 3rd grader lit term, I think there is something key to how authors use protagonists in novels. With Mersault, Janie and Offred, we as readers see that a story revolves around one person's life/ POV, or how a story changes in relation to one person. This is found a lot within literature and I personally believe causes problems with ego centrism in writing. As ego centrism is found within the western philosophy of individualism, this can limit writers from expanding their mindset because they feel they are stuck within this mind set that they have to write for audiences that will only like novels written from this viewpoint. This also limits how readers perceive books because much of the time we are not open to new kinds of stories. From when we are young, we are taught protagonist, antagonist, plot, rising action, climax, falling action, conflict, conflict resolution- this taught mindset in schools makes it so that it is harder for the western mind to break out of this mindset and to respond to stories that don't follow this pattern. The protagonist can be thought of as 'we are for this'- aka, usually within a story, the 'good' character is praised in the way the author writes about him/her/it, hence having the prefix 'pro' meaning 'in support of'. As the reader, we are suppose to sympathize or support the protagonist and detest the antagonist. Also, there is a bit of a paradox though with sympathizing with the character Mersault. As I understood the text, Mersault seems to be dealing with absurdism- aka the struggle between trying to find meaning in life and the inability to find any. The audience can sympathize with him as he is sentenced to be hanged, however he himself finds no meaning to his own life. Therefore our sympathy towards this character from Mersault's POV is probably meaningless. Crazy right?

Post 2- Foreshadowing

The reason why I picked foreshadowing is because in my personal opinion, authors can either completely hit the mark on this or completely miss it entirely. It is more obvious in books like Their Eyes Were Watching God(when Janie foreshadows the future events with TeaCake) - which to be honest annoys me and is why I prefer less obvious foreshadowing. When it's overly obvious, I as a reader feel that I tend to try to figure out the story too much, or that I feel that I can just tell what's going to happen in a story, which makes it super dull and not fun to read. My favorite example of this is in the movie 'We Bought A Zoo'- SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- In the movie, the zookeeper Kelly asks Benjamin why he'd buy a torn down zoo and spend his life savings on it. He replies with a simple 'why not?'. Then at the end of the movie when Benjamin tells Dylan and Rosie about how he and his late wife met, he tells the story of how he met her in a cafe and he basically asked her why would a woman like her want to go out with a man like him and she replies 'why not?'- this phrase is used in both situations when Benjamin is taking a risk, but the audience doesn't know about this until the very end, and most people may not understand this subtle foreshadowing without a second viewing. My favorite way to remember foreshadowing is 'to shadow before'- it may not be a visual, but it's the way I have always remembered this helpful hint as to how an author hints at us, the readers. Overall, when used properly, I find that foreshadowing is a cool technique authors can use to help tie-in parts of a story towards the end and make it easier for the reader to understand the plot of a story.

Post 1 Response

1. The book I enjoyed the most was The Stranger. Not only is it french (j'adore le francais) but I like that it not bleeding with symbolism or meaning the first time through- I can read it for the sake of reading. But when one does dive deeper and looks at what it possibly means, it is not only challenging but quite interesting with the analysis one can find within the book itself.
2. I have to choose between my two least favorites?? To be honest, I am pretty sure I detest Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Handmaid's Tale equally, but I guess I will choose Their Eyes Were Watching God for now. Not only is this novel incredibly bland and I HATE the plot, but I am pretty sure a lot of analysis on the book will come from a feminist perspective, whereas I'd honestly like to see more of an analysis on Janie's 3 husbands.
3. The Handmaid's Tale obviously has themes of feminism, but as a Christ follower myself (if I were to write a more theological than literary essay) I would prefer to write and essay about how legalistic views destroy the meaning of God's original plan for humanity.

That's about it. By the way- if anyone could help me set up the About Me section, there may just be a delicious chocolate chip cookie in your future :)