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.