...Their Eyes Were Watching God tells a story about a young woman going through life and finding her voice, the movie made by Oprah Winfrey flips the story and its characters making the main character and everyone in the story different. Oprah does a wonderful job at completely destroying the morals of the time period, and the symbols shown in the book. The movie changes relationships making the main character stronger and more independent. The beautiful love story shown by Oprah became a ridiculous rendition of Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel missing key elements from the book. Oprah Winfrey completely disregards the moral fiber of the time period. In the movie some scenes got extremely graphic with the kissing and love making. These scenes...
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...When generating symbols for a novel that is completely filled with them, it is extremely difficult to choose two that are the most influential in the novel. Some different symbols in Their Eyes Were Watching God include the horizon, the pear tree, the gate, Janie’s hair, the mule, and the hurricane. In this analysis, I will be choosing the horizon and the hurricane that are the two most important symbols in the novel. Both of these symbols represent something that is more than the book itself and have a great connection with the reader’s thoughts. The horizon represents the possibility of what Janie’s life could be like in the future. The hurricane represents the power of nature and what it can cause in the character’s life. Overall, the hurricane and the horizon are two of the best symbols in Their Eyes Were Watching God over all of the other symbols. To begin with, the horizon is one of the first symbols that the readers are introduced to in the novel. Zora Neale Hurston...
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...For some readers, Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God falls short of challenging the outdated societal views of the 1930s in any meaningful way. However, for many other people, it has clear value as a piece of literature that explores sexism and racism through symbolism and the characters’ actions. Hurston utilizes language in her novel as a symbol of the power, or lack of power, that certain groups of people held in society during the 1930s. In some sections of the book, this symbolism relates to women’s lack of power. Throughout her marriage with Joe Starks in particular, Janie is controlled with verbal abuse and manipulation; Joe’s voice represents his power over her. He repeatedly tells her not to speak in public...
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...Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Their Eyes Were Watching God The novel their eyes were watching God is a story of an African-American girl called Janie Crawford. At the stage of adolescence, Janie comes across a bee pollinating a pear tree in her backyard and she becomes obsessed with finding true love. She then matures and grows emotionally through three of her marriages (Cheryl 5). Her first marriage is to, a farmer, Logan Killicks and it is arranged and carried on by Janie’s grandmother called Nanny. Logan proves to be a reliable but uninspired husband. He later gives Janie threats to kill her for being disobedient. Janie later leaves Logan for an ambitious man called Joe Starks. Upon their marriage, Janie is taken to Eatonville in Florida, which is among the first all-black city in America, by her husband Joe who is a mayor. Janie later realizes that her husband is very demeaning to women. He silences her when she speaks. He then accuses Janie of acting too younger than her age. Janie finds the situation she goes through unbearable, and she insults Joe’s manhood. When Joe was in his deathbed, Janie enters his room and speaks to him. After Joe dies, Janie stays widowed for some time, and she later meets another man, a fun-loving man whom she is twelve years older than and is called Tea Cake. Janie finds the true love she has been dreaming. They experience jealousy in their relationship but despite this, they are happy interacting with other workers while working...
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...The Great Gatsby The novel “The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set in the 1920s in New York and is divided into two main classes, Old money in East egg and new money in West egg. Between West egg and the city is the valley of ashes which is filled with poverty. The novel shows many uses of symbolism by the author to create a better understanding of the characters and overall message of the novel. One main thing symbolized in the novel is the american dream. Fitzgerald symbolizes the american dream with a green light at the other side of the Gatsby’s dock. The green light represents Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy to fulfil his purpose in life, “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light...
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...of the world’s most prized artists; Claude Monet and Edgar Degas. Though they were both men of the same race and products of similar backgrounds, Monet and Degas developed contrasting artistic styles. While it is unlikely that they ever publicly reviewed each other’s work, the prospect of Edgar Degas, a devout realist, commenting on Claude Monet’s works of impressionism likely evokes phrases such as ‘stylistic misunderstanding’ and ‘representational disdain.’ Both Claude Monet and Edgar Degas actively sought to achieve some level of worldly representation through their works. They achieved this representation through vastly different methods and fundamentally different brushstrokes. As brushstrokes are to the canvas of the painter, diction is to the pages of an author’s work. The stark and frequently unadulterated realism that Richard Wright, one of the major novelists to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance, is known for, is often contrasted to his contemporary and rival, Zora Neale Hurston’s, more socially appealing racial and human sensuality. Much like Monet and Degas, who aimed to achieve some level of inspiration through their art, Hurston and Wright both actively sought to expand the minds of their audience through socially provoking writing. While no record of contemporary criticism is in existence between Monet and Degas, the same cannot be said for Hurston and Wright. Both authors were passionate about their own methods and styles and rarely shied away from an opportunity...
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...“Their eyes were watching god” is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston. Zora Neale Hurston is a well-known novelist and folklorist. She has published the most books than any other woman. Today she is seen as one of the most important writers in the America’s history. “Their eyes were watching god” is a story about a girl named janie crawford and her quest in searching for love. Throughout her journey of trying to accomplish her dream the book walks us through how she slowly matures and enter her womanhood. In the novel “Their eyes were watching god” Hurston uses similes, metaphors, and symbols to display the moral that marriage and intimacy doesn’t bring love. Hurston uses similes as one of the ways to show that love doesn’t come by marriage or intimacy....
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...The book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, has many literary terms within the story. No story, book, essay, or short story can be written without literary terms. This book uses irony, tone, symbolism, and theme. Each one is explained differently and put in so that the readers could have different perspectives. This allows readers to understand a certain book better. Theme, tone, irony, and symbolism all have different meanings to the each reader. Theme is a central meaning or dominant idea in a literary work. It provides a unifying point around which the plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbols, and other elements of work. Zora Neale Hurston writes the theme in many different ways. The one that stands out to me...
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...The use of Symbolism in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, who at one time lived next to the main character, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a rich entrepreneur who lives alone in a mansion on West egg. Gatsby is in love with the beautiful Daisy Buchanan who lives across the bay in East Egg with her husband Tom Buchanan. Gatsby had fallen in love with Daisy five years prior to the start of the novel. In his efforts to win over the love of his life Gatsby uses his lavish home to throw elaborate parties in hopes that one day Daisy will attend. One of the key elements in The Great Gatsby is the use of symbolism throughout the novel. The use of symbols can add a level of depth to a novel, as well as help the reader...
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...The Light In The Eyes Will wishing on a star make hopes become reality? How can wishing on something so small bring something with such great meaning? When is wishing on a star different than wishing on a rock? What has to happen in order to make an object have meaning? What makes a star more important than a rock, or a green light at the end of a dock? In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the green light and the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are symbolically different for everyone in the novel. The green light that appears at the end of Daisy Buchanan's dock represents Gatsby’s hopes and wishes. "He stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way..."(Fitzgerald 20). Gatsby is seen reaching out towards the green light,...
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...The Great Gatsby, a story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is one based on the American Dream or should I say the “demise” of the American Dream. This so called dream in the 20’s was portrayed by wickedness and greed. Week three of our lecture we were asked to discuss what the American Dream meant to us and my response was one based off freedom, discovery, and hard work. Immigrants, salves, lower class citizens, etc. were accustomed to earning their money through manual labor, not through family inheritance as seen by most of the characters from The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses this story and the characteristics and actions of these characters to say that the “American Dream” was based on a lie in the 1920’s. The carefree satisfaction of the Jazz Age, also seen as the Materialistic Era, led to the extortion of the American Dream. The Declaration of Independence states that “all man are created equal and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” F. Scott Fitzgerald created this story to reveal that people in the 20’s were in a pursuit of selfish delight, and the equality of people was based on their financial assets. The line that states all mean are created equal is broken in the scene where Tom is bashing Gatsby for how he became wealthy. He calls Gatsby a crook, and in this in turn leads to retaliation from Gatsby and a fight almost breaking out. Two mean that hold such high class and dignity, yelling and...
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...Silence To Survive What would you do if you were taken from your home and were forced to work for people that could kill you at any second? One wrong move and you could be motionless, lying on the cold, hard ground. Would you stay silent? In Night, Elie Wiesel uses symbolism, irony, and imagery to illustrate how silence takes over when fear sets in. When Elie gets to the concentration camp there is an immediate change in his personality. The fear of the camp sets into Elie and he starts to lose his voice. Right away Elie’s father asks to use the bathroom and the officer slapped him. “What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal’s flesh.”(p.39). Elie says that yesterday he would have stood up for his father. This quote is symbolizing just how much the fear of the concentration camp had changed Elie in just a short amount a time. His voice was dissipating along with his courage. By the end of the book Elie has lost his voice completely. When...
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...Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is heavily embellished with themes and motifs that contribute to it being an eccentric piece of work. The novel prompts insightful questions over whether or not love and independence can coincide and brings up themes of sexuality and power. One thought provoking aspect of Hurston’s writing is her frequent application of nature to the novel’s symbols and motifs. A great deal of the symbolism in the book is portrayed through nature; such as, the pear tree, the hurricane, and the horizon, which are all aspects of nature that Hurston utilizes. Along with nature, Hurston uses physical attributes as well. The roles of the pear tree and Janie’s hair aid Hurston in creating the significant themes...
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...Symbolism, theme, and other literary elements within literature Michelle Deckard ENG125 Instructor Heather Neilson 08/18/2014 Symbolism, theme, and other literary elements within literature Literary works are a way of escaping or comparing to day to day life. Many works can grab you with extensive word usage, language, emotion, and even setting. Symbolism which is used in most literary works such as, The Worn path, by Eudora Welty and Good country people by Flannery O’Connor which also have similar themes. Theme consistent in both works is similar due to the religious nature portrayed in, The Worn path and Good country people. Though each are similar each portray a different aspect of faith, from redemption to triumph. Perception of literary elements based on the characters within each work, are portrayed differently the overall themes are similar. Symbolism can be described as one thing meaning more than its literal meaning. (Clugston, 2014) For instance, Welty’s, The Worn path, is seen instantly like: “Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far, she said, in the voice of argument old people keep to use with themselves. Something always take a hold of me on this hill-pleads I should stay.” (Saunders, 1992) The worn path itself is symbolic of the journey of life that has been traveled many times over. Even the character, Phoenix Jackson, her name alone is a symbol. Phoenix is representative of a mystical bird that rises in the air...
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...“Cathedral”, Carver showed how Bub, as a sighted person, was struggling with stereotypical blindness and Robert, as a blind person, was able to see with his heart and mind. The elements used to convey this message were characterization, plot, symbolism, and metaphor. The first element that Carver used was characterization. The three characters of “Cathedral” are Robert, Bub and his wife. Carver used dialogue in the story to show each character’s personality traits. Robert is a blind man who doesn't allow his disability to affect his quality of life. He can do all the things that a non-handicapped person can do such as eating, and smoking, as well as watching television. Additionally, Robert is able to have meaningful relationships with people by connecting with them on an emotional level. For example, he was in love with his deceased wife and he has a strong friendship with Bub's wife. The tone that Carver displayed for Robert was genuine affection. Speaking to Bub one night, Robert stated, “I’ll stay up until you’re ready to turn in. We haven’t had a chance to talk. Know what I mean? I feel like me and her monopolized the evening” (Carver). He made an effort to make a personal connection with Bub and wanted to be his friend. Some other traits that Robert had were open-minded, caring, easygoing, and willing to try new things. On the other hand, Bub, the narrator, was self-centered, insensitive, and ignorant. He had superficial views about blind people. An example of this...
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