Before I comment on the Hurston novel I wanted to comment about Hughes and the activity we did in class on Wednesday. I thought the website that we were shown in class was very interesting and the idea of reading poetry and making it fit into your life and what is going on makes it that much more interesting to read. I enjoyed the activity in class we did where we had to find a Hughes poem that had meaning to us. I enjoyed listening to what everyone else said. Overall I really enjoyed reading Hughes work. It was straight forward and easy to understand, yet it had very strong messages. I think everyone could pick at least one of his poems to relate to their life, if not more.
I'm having mixed feelings so far about Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Maybe it's just because it's early in the book that I'm not sure what I really think yet. I felt like at time it was a little challenging to read because a lot of the book is written in the southern dialog. I found myself having to go back and re-read sentences to understand what was going on. I felt like at times a character would be thrown in and I'd have no idea where they came from and again would have to go back and re-read sections of the novel. I thought it was interesting in Chapter 2 when Janie was telling the story about her grandmother and the picture of her when she was younger. She said that she saw a picture and didn't recognize herself in the picture because she was black and this was the first time that she ever thought of herself any different then the children she played with while growing up. I don't know why, but throughout all of the reading this part stuck out the most in my head. I guess it's just because I found it interesting.
I'm not so sure what I think about Janie as a character. I feel like she gets herself involved with these men before she even knows them and then it seems like she is a weak character. You don't see her standing up for herself to much. But I guess at the same time she does stick up for her self when she leaves her first husband (Logan Killicks). I feel as if Janie gets pushed around a lot, almost as if she has no backbone.
I'm still trying to decide what I think of this novel, but so far it's ok. I need to keep reading it to see what happens before I can decide what I think of it.
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I enjoyed reading Hughes's poems as well! I felt alot of them had really strong and inspirational messages. As I read the ones that were assigned, saw the ones that were pointed out in class, and others that I scanned over, there were many that I could relate to myself. It was interesting seeing how much a poem could relate to someone.
I'm a little confused with Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I think I get completely thrown off by the dialogue but it also is a great piece to it. It somewhat makes you feel like you're there and it's different reading something like this rather than just a regular narrative. I've had to re-read so many times, I completely agree there! After commenting about the first part, I think I mixed up a few characters (like Janie's grandmother...and her friend at the very beginning).
I agree with you when you make the statement about Janie not really getting to know the guys before she is with them. It's weird to see the different ends of the spectrum! She chooses someone who makes her the housewife or whatever and then now she's being put up on a pedastal by Joe and she doesn't like that either. I feel she's very independent...and can't deal with either that she has been with so far.
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