SS-TEWWG+RQ

Directions: Answer the following questions using complete sentences and complete thoughts. Answer each question fully, writing for depth, not length. (To anser the questions online, go [|here.])

[|Chapter 1:]

1. According to the book, what has the woman come back from doing? 2. Why did all the people see her come? 3. What are the porch sitters compared to? Are the human or aren’t they? Explain. 4. What do they remember about the woman? 5. What do the men notice about Janie as she walks down the street, and what do the women notice about her? 6. What does Pheoby bring for Janie? 7. What is Janie doing as Pheoby walks in? 8. According to Sam Watson, why do the residents of Eatonville want to rise on Judgment Day? 9. Does Janie intend to tell the residents of Eatonville what happened? If so, how? 10. The author makes a big deal about Janie’s black "rope" of hair. Metaphorically, what is it supposed to stand for? How could it also stand for race? 11. In the last line of the first chapter, Hurston uses a metaphor. What is it?

[|Chapter 2]

1. Why is it hard for Janie to start her story? 2. Why was Janie called Alphabet? 3. Why had Janie been spending so much time underneath the pear tree? 4. Who is the “glorious being” that Janie sees coming up the road? 5. Why is Nanny scared for Janie? 6. Why does Nanny want Janie to marry Logan Killicks? 7. What happened to Nanny’s lover? 8. Why did Nanny run away from the plantation in Savannah? 9. Who was Janie’s father? 10. Why does Nanny call herself a “cracked plate”? 11. Janie sees her life as a tree in leaf. How is that different from the image of life as a river?


 * [|Chapter 3:]

2. Who arranges Janie’s wedding ceremony? 3. When Janie asks Nanny for “information” why does Nanny laugh? 4. What does Janie want Nanny to do? 5. What does Nanny mean when she says “bein’ a fool don’t kill nobody. It just makes you sweat”? 6. What doesn’t Janie like about Logan’s appearance? 7. What does Nanny do after Janie leaves her? 8. What is “a bloom time, a green time, and an orange time?” 9. What does she tell the seeds, and why? [|Chapter 4:] 1. How does Logan treat Janie differently in the months that follow Nanny’s death? 2. What does Janie do when Logan threatens not to chop any wood for her? 3. Why does Logan want an extra mule? 4. Describe Joe as Janie first sees him. 5. As Joe walked down the road, “he acted like Mr. Washburn or somebody like that to Janie.” What does this imply? 6. Why does Joe want Janie to shake her head? 7. What does Janie mean when she says to Logan, “you don’t take nothin’ to count but sow-belly and cornbread”? 8. Why does Logan ask... [|Chaper 5:] 1. What does Joe buy for Janie as they are traveling to Eatonville? 2. Describe the town as it is when Joe and Janie first arrive. 3. When Joe leaves town for the first time, who stays behind, and why? 4. How does Lee Coker respond to Amos Hicks and his criticism of Janie? 5. How does Hicks respond to Joe’s announcement that he is going to get a post office for Eatonville? 6. Why is Tony Taylor upset at Lige Moss during the party celebrating the store’s grand opening? 7. How does Joe decide to celebrate the arrival of the street lamp?
 * 1. What does Janie ask herself as the marriage approaches?

[|Chapter 6] 1. Sam tells Matt that his mule is in trouble by the lake. What has supposedly happened with the mule? 2. What does Joe do before he buys the mule? 3. How much does Matt get for the mule? 4. What is Sam and Lige’s argument about? 5. What position does each man hold in this argument, and what proof do they offer? 6. Why are Jim and Dave arguing in the store? 7. How does Joe ruin the argument for Janie? 8. According to Joe, what is the difference between him and Janie? 9. Why does Joe pretend to read the paper when Mrs. Robbins walks...

__Chapter 7:__ 1. What did Janie get from Joe? 2. Explain the following sentence. “She sat and watched the shadow of herself going about tending store and prostrating itself before Jody, while all the time she herself sat under a shady tree with the wind blowing through her hair and her clothes.” 3. Why does Joe tell Janie to stop playing croquet? 4. How does Joe look older? 5. What mistake does Janie make in the store? 6. Why do people stop laughing at Joe’s insult of Janie’s body? 7. According to Janie, what has Joe “mixed up”? 8. How does...

__Chapter 8:__ 1. Where does Joe sleep after the fight from the preceding chapter? 2. Explain the following sentence: “Well, if she must eat out of a long-handled spoon, she must.” 3. Since Joe is refusing to see Janie, who is cooking and cleaning for him? 4. What does Pheoby advise Janie to do about the rumor that she is poisoning her husband? 5. What does Pheoby know about the medicine man who started the rumor about Janie? 6. What medical problem does Joe have? 7. Describe the character of Death. 8. Joe claims that Janie never had sympathy for...