American Literature

The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

Women

African Americans

This collection uses primary sources to explore Zora Neale Hurston&#39;s Their Eyes Were Watching God.

“Art and Such,” a 1938 essay by Hurston criticizing the belief that African American art should be political.

A 2013 article by Dan Olson about Zora Neale Hurston and the use of African American vernacular in her writing. 

An article by Shirley Cathcart offering background information on Hurston’s representation of the folk in literature.

Photographs from *Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro*, 1926, which capture African American folk culture in the South. 

A 1936 list of common superstitions in African American folklore in South Carolina. 

An excerpt from a 1911 report on the successes and challenges of African American communities after Reconstruction. 

Extracts from an address to Tuskegee students by Booker T. Washington in 1900 which offers Washington’s philosophy of education. 

Excerpts from a 1903 report on the Robert Hungerford Industrial School in Eatonville, which prepared children for an agricultural society.

A photograph of the Robert Hungerford Industrial School, 1925.

A 1907 photograph of the home of J. E. Clark, postmaster in Eatonville, FL, Hurston’s hometown and the city in which the novel is set. 

A 1907 photograph of the home of S. M. Moseley, mayor of Eatonville, FL, Hurston’s hometown and the city in which the novel is set.

A 1907 photograph of J.E. Clark's pineapple farm in Eatonville, FL, Hurston’s hometown and the city in which the novel is set.

A 1907 photograph of the city Council and jail in Eatonville, FL, Hurston’s hometown and the city in which the novel is set.

A photograph of the Everglades in Florida, where the protagonist Janie lives with her husband Teacake.

Questions

1. Based on the documents included in this set, why did Zora Neale Hurston’s *Their Eyes Were Watching God* receive negative reviews from African American writers of her generation?
2. In W. E. B. Du Bois’s essay “Criteria of Negro Art” (1926), Du Bois asserts, “Thus all art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists. I stand in utter shamelessness and say that whatever art I have for writing has been used always for propaganda for gaining the right of black folk to love and enjoy.” What is Zora Neale Hurston’s view on the concept of black art as propaganda based on her essay “[Art and Such](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/their-eyes-were-watching-god-by-zora-neale-hurston/sources/539)”? What would Du Bois’s opinion be of the “political work” of *Their Eyes Were Watching God*? 
3. The New Negro Movement was an attempt to remake the image of African Americans. Many scholars of the era believed that one way to do so was to omit the folk from artistic representations of blacks in America because folk culture did not assimilate into mainstream society. How do the items in this source set complicate early- to mid-twentieth-century views of the folk? What compelled Hurston to tell the story of the folk although folk culture was seen as insignificant? 
4. Identify three characters from the novel who are traditional representations of the folk. How do Hurston’s representations of them challenge traditional beliefs about the folk?

Activity

Historical Background Small Group Assignment: 

One of the reasons why Their Eyes Were Watching God is an important American text is because it depicts a flourishing African American community in the South. Students reading Hurston’s work should be familiar with the development of African American communities after Reconstruction, and the philosophies and ideologies that shaped the education and training of African Americans of that era. This activity will give students an opportunity to engage with texts that contributed to the conversation on racial uplift and African American education. 

Students should be broken into groups. Each group should consider either “[What the negro has done for himself](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/their-eyes-were-watching-god-by-zora-neale-hurston/sources/544)” by Lewis Baxter Moore or “[Education not exclusive](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/their-eyes-were-watching-god-by-zora-neale-hurston/sources/545)” by Booker T. Washington. Each group should identify three to four key points from the reading, then move into the discussion and analysis questions for their specific text. 

For the first: How does Eatonville represent the tenets of “racial uplift” (both the fictional Eatonville of the novel, and the historical Eatonville represented in the photographs in this source set)? What are the affordances and limitations of the ideas presented in Moore’s text? Who is Moore’s audience, and what rhetorical strategies does he use to appeal to this audience?

For the second: How does Booker T. Washington’s philosophy align with the work of the Robert Hungerford Industrial School as shown in its report? What are the affordances and limitations of the ideas presented in Washington’s text? How do you think Hurston would respond to Washington’s philosophy? Consider her view of the folk, her critique of many African American scholars, and her academic background and career choice.

Each group should write up its findings and present them briefly to the larger class.

Teaching Guide: Exploring *Their Eyes Were Watching God*

Resources

1. [Historical and Literary Context](http://www.neabigread.org/books/theireyes/readers-guide/historical-context/), Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Big Read, National Endowment for the Arts. 
2. [Zora Neale Hurston: Documents and Media](https://www.floridamemory.com/onlineclassroom/zora_hurston/documents/), The Florida Memory Project. 
3. [Zora Neale Hurston Plays at the Library of Congress](http://www.loc.gov/collection/zora-neale-hurston-plays/about-this-collection/), the Library of Congress. 

Overview

Zora Neale Hurston’s *Their Eyes Were Watching God* (1937) is the coming-of-age story of Janie Crawford, an African American woman growing up in Eatonville, Florida—one of the first incorporated African American towns in the United States. Hurston wrote the novel during a critical moment for African American writers. The “New Negro Movement” and the Harlem Renaissance presented African American artists with the opportunity to use their art as a way to authentically represent the African American experience. However, scholars such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright often debated about the actual authenticity of these representations as well as the role of the black artist. Many African American artists, including Richard Wright, found Hurston’s novel to be problematic. Her emphasis on black folk culture and her representations of African American men were often criticized as being counterproductive to the image of the “New Negro.” Despite the criticism *Their Eyes Were Watching God* received, Hurston’s powerful prose and honest depictions of the African American experience have inspired many contemporary readers, and the novel has become an integral part of the American literary canon. 

English

*Their Eyes Were Watching God* by Zora Neale Hurston

their-eyes-were-watching-god-zora-neale-hurston_09_e85fba49ba311f69212c040b9fcde9c8.jpg

Courtesy of University of Virginia Library.

Davis, Jackson, “Robert Hungerford Industrial School,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/e85fba49ba311f69212c040b9fcde9c8.

A photograph of the Robert Hungerford Industrial School, 1925.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 9 of 14 in the Primary Source Set Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston