Their Eyes Were Watching God Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources

Their Eyes Were Watching God, study questions
From faculty at the University of Iowa. There are 54 questions that serve as a study guide; many of these refer to a specific page in the text. There are also a dozen or so "conclusion" questions that prompt students to reflect on the work as a whole.

Questions and Themes: Their Eyes Were Watching God
From Ohio State University's Feminist Pedagogy Resources and Tools. Contains brief overviews of metaphors such as Pear Tree, Mules, Janie's hair, and the novel's title. Also provides a series of questions and themes for discussion.

Kingswood College Library: Their Eyes Were Watching God
This web / library guide is especially useful if your students plan to

research Hurston and Their Eyes Were Watching God. It contains titles and Dewey decimal numbers for biographical and critical print materials as well as background readings. The site also provides a brief bio of Hurston, character sketches, themes to consider, comments by Kingswood faculty, and links to related web sites.

Zora Neale Hurston
This is an extensive site about the author last updated March, 2004. Includes notes, excerpts, links, and a discussion board. Listed below are essays you can find at the site;
Kevin Arnold: Comparison of Hurston's Their Eyes were Watching God to Homer's Odyssey (essay)
Jonathan Carey: Biblical Allusions in Their Eyes Were Watching God (essay) 
Jaqueline Ostrowicki: Their Eyes Were Watching God (essay)
Florencia Soto Niño-Martínez: Their Eyes Were Watching God (essay)
Prof. Joyce Compton Brown: Zora Neale Hurston's Questers: the Withered Gourd, the Ripened Pear (essay)
New York Times Book Review, January 5, 2003: Looking for Zora Neale Hurston (article)
New York Times, August 15, 2002: Party for Zora Neale Hurston, Obscure No More


Orion online provides a three-part audio excerpt of Their Eyes Were Watching God, read by the author herself. Streaming Quicktime audio.

Zora Neale Hurston's Glossary of Harlem Slang

Zora Neal Hurston Festival
The annual festival kicked off last weekend In Eatonville, Florida with a tribute to Dr. Maya Angelou.

Send e-mail to Zora Neale Hurston's niece, Lucy Ann Hurston.
Lucy is an ethnographer and public speaker and is dedicated to promoting and educating others on her aunt's contributions. Might be interesting to have your students email her questions.
LHurston@aol.com

Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 9: Harlem Renaissance -An Introduction." PAL: Perspectives on American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide
Provides a concise overview of various topics: Important Features | Personalities | An Assessment | A Chronology of Important Events | Novels of the Harlem Renaissance | Research and Study Topics. External links include: A View of Harlem: Map | Schomburg Exhibition, Harlem 1900-1940 | E-Text: March 1925 Survey Graphic : Harlem Number.

TLWT-Home |Sign up for Newsletter| Contact