Journal #11

Journal #11: Talk about how your going to go about tabbing the stranger in detail.

When I’m tabbing the stranger, I probably will not be using a color coordinated system. I feel like having to remember which tab goes to what on top of actually having to think about tabbing at all ON TOP of reading the story would distract me too much from what is actually happening in the book.

So having said that, I’ll just read, if I see something that stands out like a motif, a symbol, any literary technique that I feel would help me on a future essay ill tab it, and write a brief note to myself about where I was going with the tab. Ill probably be looking at Meursault’s emotionlessness(is that a word?) and how he does things without thinking and most of the time without regret. It’s nice that I’ve already read the book once so I’ll know what’s coming.

And if I run out of room on the sticky, I’ll just write all over the book and then give it to someone when I’m done…sort of like a half-blood prince. Just keepin’ it real.

Edit: After todays class, alot of the things that i was planning on looking out for were eliminated. Until i find some new stuff to look out for, ill just continue to look for the less obvious things that not everyone noticed such as having dialogue embedded in the passage.

Journal #10

Journal #10: Identify a theme within Their Eyes Were Watching God (if you know it still has some weaknesses, make a list of questions or concerns you have about your theme below it - it doesn't have to be perfect yet). Be sure your theme is something that you can commit to writing your own vignette around. Make a list of quotes that inform that theme. Be sure to record the page number and take note of any techniques and or elements present within the quote.

Theme: Individuals who try to advance themselves through a capitalistic system end up isolating those around them.

I just used the theme that we came up with the first time we met up in groups of 4. It’s still kind of vague, “isolating” could be replaced with hurt maybe? “advance themselves” is pretty vague as well.

Quotes:

1.) In the few days to live before she went to Logan Killicks and his often-mentioned sixty acres, Janie asked inside of herself and out. (21)

2.) “Aw you know ah’m gwine chop de wood fuh yuh. Even if you is stingy as you can be wid me. Yo’ Grandma and me myself done spoilt yuh now, and Ah reckon Ah have tuh keep on wid. (26)

3.) “Whut you need two mules fuh? Lessen you aims to swap off dis one.” “Naw, Ah needs two mules dis yeah. Taters is goin’ tuh be taters in de fall. Bringin’ big prices. Ah aims tuh run two plos, and dis man Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout is got uh mule all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle ‘im. (27)

4.) “He meant to git dere whilst de town wuz yet a baby. He meant to buy in big. It had always been his wish and desire to be a big voice and he had to live nearly thirty years to find a chance. (28)

5.) “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’ Ah never married her for nothing’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.” (43)

6.) “Take for instance that new house of his. It had two stories with porches, with banisters and such things. The rest of the town looked like servants’ quarters surrounding the “big house.” (47)

7.) “Whut make her keep her head tied up lak some ole ‘oman round de store? Nobody couldn’t git me tuh tie no rag on mah head if Ah had hair lak dat.” (49)

8.) “Well, honey, how yuh lak bein’ Mrs/ Mayor?” “it’s all right Ah recon, but don’t yuh think it keeps us in uh kinda strain?” “Strain? You mean de cookin’ and waitin’ on folks?” “Naw, Jody, it jus’ looks lak it keeps us in some way we ain’t natural wid one ‘nother. You’se always off talkin’ and fixin’ things, and Ah feels lak Ah’m jus’ markin’ time. Hope it soon gits over.”

Journal #9

Journal #9: Write a pastiche of Hurston by duplicating a theme that she uses and three stylistic elements. Use these elements with your own characters, setting, and conflict. After you finish your pastiche clarify what theme and techniques you used and how they were used in a way that mirrors Hurston's own use of them.

            “Whoosh!” an arrow wizzed by Ching’s head as he ran to the center of the courtyard.

“I got to get da revenge on Chong fo killing my dad and brudha!” he thought to himself as he beheaded guard after guard.

As he went on his rampage, Ching’s thoughts flashed back to that afternoon.

“But what can I do masta? Dey kill Dad and brudha! Exclaimed Ching

“You must do what yo inna ninja tell you to do.” Master Fou said.

Ching’s thoughts came back to the ensuing battle just in time for an arrow to pierce his left arm.

“AHHHHHH” screamed Ching. But he kept on running

“It’s okay. It’s just a fresh wound, I stronga then dis.” Thought Ching.

He finally made to the great oak door that separated him from his cousin, Chong.

With a burst he slammed the door open “I find you da finally!” he yelled.

Chong sat on the great throne that Ching’s father used to occupy. “You da fool, yo dad and brudha only want da money and riches, they don’t care fo yo family, its dey fault dat everybody die!”

“But…no dey neva do dat!” Ching fell to his knees in disbelief..his dad and brother had actually died because of greed? They left his whole family to die because of money?

Theme: Individuals that try to advance in society by taking advantage of the capitalistic will end up hurting those around them.

I matched this theme with the one that Hurston uses with the 3 husbands in Their Eyes. In this passage, Ching’s father and brother chose money over family and ultimately ended up hurting/killing them them.

The techniques I used were apostrophe, flashback, mentor, verbal irony, and dialect. The dialect that I used was similar to the way that Hurston used it because throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, dialect is used very effectively to give a cultural aspect to the story and help the reader understand what kind of background each character had. In my story, I used Master Fou as a mentor to the protagonist, Ching. This is comparable to Hezekiah in Hurstons novel because Hezekiah often gives advice to Janie about Tea Cake much in the same way that Master Fou does with Ching. I also used apostrophe to help give some information about what kind of person Ching is. Hurston uses this strategy as well with Janie.

Journal #8

Journal #8: Find quotations for three different stylistic attributes of Hurston's writing. Explain the context of the passage (where does it occur in the book, what is happening, who is involved). Identify and describe the literary technique used in the the passage, and explain how you think it affects the text and how you read it.

Quotation #1: “Mis’ Janie,” Hezekiah began sullenly next dat, “you oughtn’t ‘low dat Tea Cake tuh be walkin’ tuh de house wid yuh. Ah’ll go wid yuh mahself after dis, if you’se skeered (102).”

This is one of many passages between Janie and Hezekiah. After one of Janie and Tea Cakes “dates” Hezekiah suggests that Janie not get too close to Tea Cake and that he would walk her home himself. Hurston uses the literary technique known as confidant to show the brother/sister relationship between Hezekiah and Janie. Mentor could also be another technique used by Hurston because Hezekiah often advises Janie on certain matters. This affects the way I read because now I think of Hezekiah as more than just a servant to the Starks and more as a 3-dimensional character.

Quotation #2: “Her next thought brought her crashing down. He’s just saying anything for the time being, feeling he’s got me so I’ll believe him. The next thought buried her under tons of cold futility. He’s trading on being younger than me. Getting ready to laugh at me for an old fool. But oh, what wouldn’t I give to be twelve years younger so I could b’lieve him! (105).

In this passage, Janie is having an internal conflict in which she debates Tea Cakes true intentions. She is unsure of whether he is just playing her or if he is serious. Her thoughts are a literary technique used by Hurston known as Apostrophe. Janie’s thoughts help the reader better understand what she is thinking, and help us understand in a way that Hurston would not be able to convey if she were to have Janie say it out loud. It also allows the reader a deeper or more intimate view of Janie’s thought process.

Quotation #3: “Well, all right, Tea Cake, Ah wants tuh go wid you real bad, but, -oh, Tea Cake, don’t make no false pretense wid me!” “Janie, Ah hope God may kill me, if Ah’m lyin’. Nobdoy else on earth kin hold uh candle tuh you, baby. You got de keys to de kingdom.” (109)

In this passage Tea Cake and Janie are about to go to a picnic that Tea Cake has been working extremely hard to make happen. At the end of the passage Tea Cake tells Janie that she has the keys to the kingdom. Hurston could be using a form of diction. By using kingdom it makes it seem like she has the keys to his world and that he is completely fallen for her. This deeper meaning in the word makes it easier for the reader to understand what is being said by just using a single word.

Journal #7

Journal #7: create a pastiche, matching Hurston' style and themes as closely as possible. After you complete your pastiche, write a statement explaining some of the decisions you made in order to match Hurston's writing and objectives.

“And so Ed’s thoughts turned to Greed. Greed, that unstoppable monster that consumes even the best of us. The one that lurks on the outside, waiting for the moment when ambition strikes. What need does Greed have for a home, when it’s home is wherever there is human desire? It sits in the deepest, darkest crevices of our minds. Sits patiently, waiting for the moment that it can turn our innocent goals and yearnings into avaricious desire. Its been sitting there since the minute we were born. He had already been taken by his addiction to success. Poor Alphonse, fighting an unending battle all by his lonesome. His friends suggested that he stop, take a break, step back and look at what he had accomplished but he refused. All his friends, forever complacent, knew only about standing still, and nothing about his struggle to always gain.  He’d never be okay as long as there was something left to acquire, to take and make his own. That’s what he thought. But his friends knew that every story must come to an end, every race must have a finish line. And even if he didn’t know, he would find out in time, for his friends had gathered with concern. No one had the nerve to ask what was going on in his mind. They just sat and waited. Ambition, that drug that keeps on giving."

I chose greed for my pastiche, for no particular reason. Other than using her sentence structure i also kept the whole passage vague, I don't specify what Al is trying to achieve or gain, i simply state that he wants something, and even when he gets it there will always be more, hence the topic of this passage: Greed.

Journal #6

Journal #6: Read closely Janie's description of Death in chapter 8. Make a list of the stylistic choices Hurston makes in the passage that begins "Death, that strange bird with the huge square toes..." and ends with "Rumor, that wingless bird..." Along with listing the decisions Hurston makes in this passage, identify the effect of each of each of these decisions. You can do this in list form: technique/stylistic choice, effect, technique, effect, etc

Decision #1: Janie thinks about Death as something that actually manifests itself as a thing or in this case a bird with big square toes.

Effect #1: This ties back to what her Grandmother believed, that Death was a real being that could decide who lived and who died.

D#2: Janie describes Death as someone on a high platform watching people from up high, like a god.

E#2: In the town, Jody was often thought of as almost a god, maybe Hurston is making Death as someone who is even higher than Jody and is judging him for his suppression and aristocratic ways.

D#3 “She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now.”

E#3: The feather that may end up lying on Janie’s yard is saying that she thinks she may be paid a visit from Death soon as well.

D#4: The beginning of the passage has a sort of righteous mood.

E#4: The mood makes it seem like Jody is being judge for his previous actions by Death.

D#5: Towards the end of the passage, the mood turns to sadness and remorse.

E#5: The feeling of sadness and remorse is Janie feeling bad for belittling Jody in front of the townspeople despite him belittling her the whole time.

D#6: Janie sends Sam in to visit Jody instead of visiting him herself.

E#6: This shows Janie’s conflicting emotions about Jody. Shes angry at him for suppressing her throughout their marriage, but she also feels bad about him dying.

D#7: The people waiting outside of the Stark house gather under the trees.

E#7: Hurston uses the motif of the tree representing life, and Death being a real being in this sentence. I think the people sit under the tree so that they will be protected from death.

D#8: The fact that the townspeople had the nerve to approach the Stark house.

E#8: Jody’s power and suppression is further cemented by the fact that the townspeople are no longer afraid or in awe of him now that he is in his weakened state.

D#9: At the end of the passage Hurston uses the wingless bird to represent Death and how it was shadowing the town.

E#9: Hurston could’ve used this to get the reader to believe it was foreshadowing more deaths to come.

D#9: The medical doctors could only work with the “Godly sick”.

E#9: Hurston may be trying to say that these “doctors” are actually phonies that can only work with patients under some superstitious or fake disease.

D#10: In the passage, a “two-headed man’ is mentioned to have something to do with Jody’s health.

E#10: What or who is the two-headed man?

Journal #5

Journal #5: Post your thesis statement. Be sure it addresses what stylistic choice Hurston made, what the effect of that choice is, and why she would create that effect.

Thesis: Hurston starts her novel with the ending in order to make the reader want to know how that ending came to be. She did this to better engage the reader in the book and keep them engaged throughout the story.

Journal #4

Journal #4: Identify three patterns that appear in these chapters (but may extend through the entire book) and record the examples for each (include page number)

Pattern #1: “Blooming” is constantly used throughout the book to represent the growth and development of Janie and of her moving forward to bigger and better things in life.

Example #1:  “Oh to be a pear tree-any tree in bloom!” (pg. 11)

Example #2: “That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf buds to snowy virginity of bloom. (pg. 10)

Pattern #2: Jody, or Joe Starks constantly uses his newfound power throughout chapters 5 and 6 as if he were a white man, or even a god.

Example #1: “Take for instance that new house of his. It had two stories with porches, with banisters and such things. The rest of the town looked like servants’ quarters surrounding the “big house”. (pg. 47)

Example #2: “And then he spit in that gold-looking vase that anybody else would have been glad to put on their front-room table. (pg. 47)

Pattern #3: There are many examples where Janie is suppressed by Jody and confined to her “womanly role” and only allowed to do what Jody allows her to.

Example #1:  “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. Shes uh woman and her place is in de home.” (pg. 43)

Example #2: “Strain? You mean de cookin’ and waitin’ on folks?” (pg. 46)

Journal #3

Journal #3: Step 1-research a prominent figure from the Harlem Renaissance and write a short summary of who they are.

Duke Ellington – Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was a composer, pianist and leader of big bands known as “Harlem Stride Style” bands. He was born in 1899 and was one of the more influential Jazz musicians during the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote over 1,000 compositions and played for over 50 years. After his death his son, Mercer Ellington, continued his legacy and continued to lead his band until his son died as well. Duke Ellington is considered to be one of the greatest composers of his time.

Step 2-make a list of rules for a dialect of your creation (at least 3 for each category: pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary).

Dialect Rules – Chingalingese

Pronunciation:

·         All ‘l’s and “ll’s are pronounced with an “r” sound.

Ex. “Hello” becomes “Heyro”

·         All “da”s are pronounced like “duh”

Ex. “He do da dancing” becomes “He do DUH dancing”

·         All “th” sounds are replaced with “d” sounds

Ex.  “they” becomes “dey”

Grammar:

·         Prepositions are not used, or words that connect nouns together.

Ex.  “I very talented” should actually be “I am very talented”

·         “da” is placed in sentences where it is not usually necessary in English.

Ex. “I do da track.” Should actually be “I do track”

·         Chingalingese people never use adverbs.

Ex. “He run so quick”

Vocabulary:

·         “Ninja” is used to address fellow Chingalingese people as well as oneself or acquaintances.

Ex.  “What up ninja?”

·         “mang” is used instead of “man”

Ex. “Why you like da dog so much mang?”

·         “dog” is actually a term that means “rice”

Ex.  “Oh my gawt, I so hungry I need to eat da dog”

Step 3-pick a setting and create a dialogue between your historical figure and your imaginative figure using at least seven exchanges and correctly punctuated speaker tags.

Setting: Chingalingese person named “Ching” and Duke Ellington on their way to KFC.

It was a breezy winter afternoon in Atlanta when Duke Ellington and a very hungry chingalingese person walked by. “Hey Ching, you wanna go get some grub?” said Duke. “Yea I want da fry chicken so bad, you dink dey got da dog too? asked Ching

“uh…I don’t think KFC sells dog Ching, its called Kentucky Fried Chicken, not Kentucky Fried Dog.” said Duke.

“Shut da front door ninja!” exclaimed Ching “What da ninja got to do to get da dog?”

As Ching and Duke walked down the street, Duke began to ponder what he had just heard. “Hey Ching, why do you eat your fried chicken with dog?” asked Duke.

Ching replied “Because da dog so tasty, it melt in da mouth like candy mang.”

“Dog doesn’t melt in your mouth Ching, its chewy.”

“You don’t understand ninja! I need da dog or I when I do da track I go so slow like da fat man on Chinese New Year!”

“I suppose a fat man on Chinese New Year isn’t very fast, but I still don’t understand what dog has to do with any of it.” The two men continued to walk until they hit a fork between Panda Express and KFC.

“So, explain to me again how dogs make you run faster?” asked Duke.

“I already tell you mang, da dog so white and fluffy, it feel good in da mouth.” said Ching.

“That’s kinda nasty man, er ninja.” said Duke.

“Don’t call me da ninja, you dink you da chingalingese people?” said Ching.

“Nah man, I am definitely not chingalingese.” stated Duke.

“I no want da fry chicken no mo, I go to da Panda Express, dey give me da dog there.” said Ching

Journal #2

"In the air of the room were flies tumbling and singing, marrying and giving in marriage. When she reached the narrow hallway she was reminded that her grandmother was home with a sick headache. She was lying across the bed asleep so Janie tipped on out of the front door. Oh to be a peartree-any tree in bloom! with kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her? Nothing on the place nor in her grandma's house answered her. She searched as much of the world as she could from the top of the front steps and then went down to the front gate and leaned over to gaze up and down the road. Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made. (pg. 11)

Decisions that Hurston made:

1.) The words "marry" and "marriage" are used to set a them for the rest of the paragraph about love and Janies desires.
2.) Symbol: Hurston constantly uses the tree as a symbol of life not just in this paragraph, but throughout the book.
3.) Motif: "Blooming" could refer to maturing in ones life and going out into the real world.
4.) Janie's desire to become a peartree or anytree "in bloom" could be refering to her wanting to grow up and become an adult.
5.) Janie compares herself to a tree when she states that she has "glossy leaves" and "bursting buds". She is  using these comparisons to show that she is already beginning to grow as a person.
6.) Janie's desire to "struggle with life" shows that although she feels she is ready to go into the real world and have her own struggles and life, she can't.
7.)Symbol: Hurston uses the kissing bees as a symbol of 2 lovers.
8.) The 2 bees are tumbling and singing. "Tumbling" and "Singing" make the bees seem like they are in their own world and that they are content with the way their lives are.
9.) Janie asks "where were the singing bees for her?" and says that the bees will sing to the beginning of the world. I think this is her expressing her desire to fall in love, and that when she does it will mean the beginning of a new life or "world".
10.) Hurston uses an entire to sentence to state that Janie is sixteen. This could be used to emphasize that Janie is of age and mature enough to pursue a love life.
11.) When Janie 'searches the entire world", she only looks from the front steps to the road. This is saying that her entire world consists of only this small space, therefore further emphasizing that she is not free.
12.) The "narrow" hallway could be compared to her life, and how little she has experienced.
13.) When Janie reaches the narrow hallway, she remembers that her grandmother is sick. An association between the narrow hallway and her grandmother is made. Her grandmother could be the anchor that is tying her down and not allowing her to grow and blossom.
14.) The moment that Janie "tips" out of the front door is when she begins to dream about what she wants in life, this could be because the front gate is the closest that she can physically get to the outside world, and this closeness to what she wants promotes her daydreams and thoughts.
15.) Foreshadowing: At the end of the paragraph when she leans on the gate and waits for the "world to be made", this could be foreshadowing her kiss with Johnny Taylor.

Journal #1

Journal #1 (Reflective): If you could tell your life story to one person, to whom would it be? Where would you begin (moment that changed your world view)?

If I could tell my life story to one person it would be my 4 year old cousin, Brandon. Although he wouldn’t be able to understand anything, I’d hope he still somehow understands the gist of what I was saying. Or I could write him a letter and wait for him to age a year or five.

 I would start my story at the end of my freshmen year because that is when I started to really reflect on what I wanted in life, how I would get to that point and what I needed to change. I would tell him that if at all possible, he should plan ahead as soon as he can and that being the school jock or popular guy is not the most important thing in the world. If he wants to be good at a sport, he should start early and stick with it. If he wants to fulfill the asian stereotype and be a class-topping nerd, then he should start taking classes that challenge him, maybe even take a few summer courses. I would tell him that moms actually DO know best and although they may not want him to have a girlfriend until college or let him go to a party or dance, they only have his best interests at heart. I’d want him to know that life is going to suck sometimes, and that he will face rejection and failure and that no matter how bad things seem, the worst thing he can do is stop moving forward. I feel like him taking any of this seriously is a long shot, but I know that if he somehow takes advantage of my hindsight and heeds even half of this, then it will save him a lot of hardships and pain in the early stages of his life.