Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
Janie Crawford’s return home to Eatonville, an all-black community, is where this story begins. While neighbors gossip about her past, her finances, and her missing husband, Janie is on a quest for love and independence. This novel is part of the Harlem Renaissance, though not well-loved by its standard bearers, like Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, and Alain Locke.
Major thematic elements: love, independence, humanity vs. nature, race, gender roles, judgement
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IB Literature and IB Language and Literature Connections
Place of publication: United States
Language: English
Era: 20th century
Genre: Fiction
Author: Female
Readers, writers and texts | Time and space | Intertextuality: Connecting texts
Identity | Culture | Creativity | Communication
Perspective | Transformation | Representation
Full text, basic summaries, and overviews
Their Eyes Were Watching God | Full Text
The full text isn’t great in PDF form, but looks better if you print it two pages per sheet. We also found these extracts, from the beginning of chapter 1, and the beginning of chapter 14.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God | YouTube | Laizura | Audiobook
Produced by Harper Audio and performed by Ruby Dee, this is an excellent audiobook. Also worth listening to: “Alice Walker reads from ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God” via The Green Space at WNYC & WQXR on YouTube (end of chapter 19).
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Study Guide | Spark Notes
This study guide includes summary and analysis of the full text and individual chapters, character lists, literary devices in the novel, important quotes explained (organized by theme, chapter, character and symbol), quiz quizzes and more.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Study Guide | Course Hero
This study guide includes plot and chapter summaries, an infographic, characters, overview of important symbols, themes, and motifs, and discussion questions organized by chapter. This study guide is also available via YouTube.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God: Crash Course Literature 301 | YouTube | 11:23
”In which John Green reads Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” and talks to you about it. You’ll learn about Zora Neale Hurston’s life, and we’ll also look at how the interpretations of the book have changed over time.”
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Their Eyes Were Watching God [Full Movie] | YouTube | FBA | 1:46:53
This 2005 film of Their Eyes Were Watching God stars Halle Berry, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Michael Ealy, Terrence Howard, and Lorraine Toussaint.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God | Wikipedia
Wikipedia’s article includes plot synopsis, detailed discussion of themes, inspirations and influences, reception, critical analysis, and more.
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About the author
About Zora Neale Hurston | ZoraNealeHurston.com
This biography is from the official website of Zora Neale Hurston. It includes a timeline that covers 1981 to 1975.
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“How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston (1928) | Wheelersburg.net
This essay runs just over three pages and would give students meaningful insight to how Hurston thought about her identity.
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Zora Neale Hurston: Crash Course Black American History #30 | YouTube | 10:03
”The Harlem Renaissance produced many remarkable artists, writers, and thinkers. Today we’ll talk about one of the most interesting minds of the time, Zora Neale Hurston.” This video is packed with interesting information, but does move at a slow pace. It may be useful to pair it with a read-along worksheet or give it to students to watch via EdPuzzle.
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Alice Walker talks about self perception and love in Zora Neale Hurston’s work | YouTube | The Green Space at WNYC & WQXR | 3:48
Alice Walker discusses why Hurston’s work still resonates and why her contemporaries missed the point of her writing.
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Alice Walker Shines Light on Zora Neale Hurston | PBS | 2:29
”Zora Neale Hurston’s embrace of black culture and language was an inspiration to Alice Walker. ‘I realized that unless I came out with everything I had supporting her, there was every chance that she would slip back into obscurity,’ Walker says of [Zeale Hurston].
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Zora Neale Hurston | Wikipedia
This extensive biography of Zora Neale Hurston includes her biography, broken into 8 subsections; her literary career; political views; criticism, and more.
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Articles, essays, and videos about Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Harlem Renaissance | Various Sources
Understanding the Harlem Renaissance will help students understand the context and reception of Hurston’s work. We’ve included videos, articles, and a lesson plan to get you started.
I, Too, Sing America: The Harlem Renaissance at 100 | YouTube | Columbus Museum | 5:28
The Harlem Renaissance’s cultural explosion, in photographs | YouTube | PBS Newshour | 4:23
The Harlem Renaissance: Crash Course Theatre #41 | YouTube | 12:10
Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance: Crash Course Literature 215 | YouTube | 11:31
Harlem Renaissance | History.com | Article
Harlem Renaissance | Uncovering America: National Gallery of Art | Article & Artwork w/activities
A New African American Identity: The Harlem Renaissance | National Museum of African American History & Culture | Article
The Legacy of the Harlem Renaissance | The Phillips Collection | Lesson Plan
Black English and AAVE
Like understanding the Harlem Renaissance, an understanding of Black English, African-American Vernacular English, and how they evolved (and continue to evolve) gives students more footing for understanding the language Hurston uses in her novel.
The Characteristics of Negro Expression by Zora Neale Hurston | Americainclass.org
AAVE Explained: A Dialect that Transcends Internet Culture | YouTube | BabbleUSA | 7:26
How Zora Neale Hurston used the Vernacular in her Writing (and Listen to her Sing) | Medium.com | Elle Keneko | 2018
African American Vernacular English Is Not Standard English With Mistakes | Geoffrey K. Pullum
Black English Matters | JSTOR Daily | Chi Luu | February 2020
African-American dialect the heart of Penumbra’s ‘Spunk’ | MPRNews.org | Dan Olson | 2013
Zora Neale Hurston’s Experimentation with the Narrative Voice in Her Short Stories | Universidad de Salamanca | Ana María Fraile
This essay might be about Hurston’s short stories, but there’s plenty of crossover that applies to Their Eyes Were Watching God. The essay highlights passages of Hurston’s writing and explains how voice reflects attitude of the writer, shifts in perspective, etc.
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The Subtle Use of Foreshadowing in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God | Cheri D. Molter
Molter argues that Hurston uses foreshadowing to “evoke particular emotions from the reader…add foreboding and suspense to her story” and “[emphasize] the perceptions of her main character Janie.”
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Naming and Power in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God | African American Review | Sigrid King
Because this essay is long, you might start on page 4 where the analysis of Hurston’s writing begins.
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From Mules to Muliebrity: Speech and Silence in Their Eyes Were Watching God | Julie A. Haurykiewicz
This essay examines the symbolization associated with the mule in the novel and the concept of “muliebrity: “‘the state or condition of being a woman.’”
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Can love and independence coexist? - Tanya Boucicaut | YouTube | TED-Ed | 4:52
Dig into Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” which follows Janie Crawford in her search for love and agency.
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Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God | C-Span.org | March 28, 2012 | 1:34:39
We linked clips from this even in the author section; this video is the complete event. In this video, “a panel of black women writers talked about Zora Neale Hurston and her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. They talked about the influence the book has had on African-American culture and the literary world as well as their own lives.” If you’d like to skip the introductory remarks, start at 11:00.
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Lesson plans and other teaching resources
A Teacher’s Guide to Their Eyes Were Watching God | Harper Perennial | HarperAcademic.com
16-page teachers guide with guided reading questions for each chapter, writing and discussion prompts and research topics.
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We the People Book Club: Their Eyes Were Watching God Reading Guide | The Practicing Democracy Project
This reading guide identifies three themes (discrimination, love, and experience) and highlights the parts of the text that illustrate those themes. Think/Reflect/Practice prompts follow each theme.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Unit Plan | Barbara M. Linde, MA Ed | Teacher’s Pet Publications
This unit plan includes a lot—the entire document is 141 pages long. The table of contents will help you find what you need: unit outline, pre-reading vocabulary worksheets, lessons, writing assignments, tests, and more.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God | PBS Learning
PBS has eleven activities to use with this novel, ranging from using a primary source set, to examining how language affects how we view others, to looking at characters in context and examining the context of the novel.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God: Folk Speech and Figurative Language | EDSITEment! | NEH.gov
This lesson looks at how Hurston integrated “folk life, folk speech, and figurative language into her fiction to create a distinctive ‘voice’ that captures the African American community in the 1920s and 1930s.”
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Style: Defining and Exploring an Author’s Stylistic Choices | ReadWriteThink | Traci Gardner
This lesson is designed to use with Their Eyes Were Watching God, but can be adapted for any text. The focus is on how little choices made by an author reflect their style and create meaning in the text.
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Lesson: Their Eyes Were Watching God | Lessons from Literature: Family Violence Prevention Fund
In this lesson, students “will explore themes of power, control, abuse and respect in relationships and how these impact identity and self-growth of individuals and society in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God.”
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Mrs. Spriggs’ English Website | Their Eyes Were Watching God
Several links are posted on this page, as well as an outline for the unit. Check out the top bullet point: Their Eyes Were Watching God Reading Guide for questions to use with each chapter.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God After Reading Projects | Edmonds School District | Ms. Kilpatrick’s English 10 Page
Five activities with handouts that are ready to go.
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Teaching the African Diaspora with Their Eyes Were Watching God: Students Researching Through Fieldwork and Fiction | Vanderbilt.edu
Lesson plan and PowerPoint are hyperlinked at the bottom of the page; in the toolbar at the top of the page, the dropdown menu under Lesson Plans and Curriculum has two more lessons.
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Honors American Literature Summer Reading Assignments | Joy Johnson | Concordia Prep School
This lesson has assignments for Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Nickel Boys. Each text gets an introduction, essential question, assignment, and formatting guidelines.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)
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Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"
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Mules and Men
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Approaches to Teaching Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Other Works
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You Don't Know Us Negros and Other Essays
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Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica
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Dust Tracks on a Road: A Memoir
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