Selected Reading Journal Excerpt
Their Eyes Were Watching God Journal excerpt
After reading the first page of this book, I was overwhelmed with curiosity and calmness. The last paragraph described the towns people watching a woman come into town. The author, Hurston, set a laid back mood as she described the time as “was the time for sitting on proches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk.” This jumped out to me as not only a foundation for the time period, but also intrigued my likeness for the subject. In the present world, some people don’t have time to just sit. They go and go, never realizing how just the act of sitting down on a porch in the company of others can be an amazing stress reliever. A group of women showed their distaste for the woman as one stated, “What she doin’ coming back here in dem overhalls?” The men however, show their approval with her as they comment on her good looks. This notion plants the idea that this beautiful woman has come home, stirring up emotions and causing trouble. The woman, Janie, starts telling her story to her friend Phoebe. She begins with her grandmother and her “arranged marriage” with a Mr. KIllicks. This caused me to grow frustrated, almost angry at the grandmother. After all, Janie was just a child and the fact that she got a whipping for an innocent kiss and then an arranged marriage shows the different way of life that was lived and my distaste for it. Her marriage fails, as there was no love between the couple. Also, since Logan Killicks had a sizable 60 acres, it shows how unhappy Janie was and how she didn’t care about the materialistic goods. I admire her greatly for this and wish more people today could see that way. Conveniently, Joe Starks won Jain’s heart over and they ran away together. As they entered the new town, the men state their approval for Janie, specifically, Amos Hicks, who stated, “its uh good thing he married her befo’ she seen me. Ah kin be some trouble when Ah take uh notion.” Once again, Janie’s beauty captures the men but she remains faithful to her husband. Janie and Joe, begun to make their mark in the town. Joe sets up a store and is voted the mayor. All seems well, however, the author starts to hint at Joe’s controlling personality. For example, “Janie dipped up the lemonade like he told her.” and when Janie was asked to speak, Jody stated that her place was in the home. These things all foreshadowed the fact that Joe is very controlling and could cause Janie harm. This make me very frustrated because women were and are much more than given credit for and I hope Janie gets out.
After reading the first page of this book, I was overwhelmed with curiosity and calmness. The last paragraph described the towns people watching a woman come into town. The author, Hurston, set a laid back mood as she described the time as “was the time for sitting on proches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk.” This jumped out to me as not only a foundation for the time period, but also intrigued my likeness for the subject. In the present world, some people don’t have time to just sit. They go and go, never realizing how just the act of sitting down on a porch in the company of others can be an amazing stress reliever. A group of women showed their distaste for the woman as one stated, “What she doin’ coming back here in dem overhalls?” The men however, show their approval with her as they comment on her good looks. This notion plants the idea that this beautiful woman has come home, stirring up emotions and causing trouble. The woman, Janie, starts telling her story to her friend Phoebe. She begins with her grandmother and her “arranged marriage” with a Mr. KIllicks. This caused me to grow frustrated, almost angry at the grandmother. After all, Janie was just a child and the fact that she got a whipping for an innocent kiss and then an arranged marriage shows the different way of life that was lived and my distaste for it. Her marriage fails, as there was no love between the couple. Also, since Logan Killicks had a sizable 60 acres, it shows how unhappy Janie was and how she didn’t care about the materialistic goods. I admire her greatly for this and wish more people today could see that way. Conveniently, Joe Starks won Jain’s heart over and they ran away together. As they entered the new town, the men state their approval for Janie, specifically, Amos Hicks, who stated, “its uh good thing he married her befo’ she seen me. Ah kin be some trouble when Ah take uh notion.” Once again, Janie’s beauty captures the men but she remains faithful to her husband. Janie and Joe, begun to make their mark in the town. Joe sets up a store and is voted the mayor. All seems well, however, the author starts to hint at Joe’s controlling personality. For example, “Janie dipped up the lemonade like he told her.” and when Janie was asked to speak, Jody stated that her place was in the home. These things all foreshadowed the fact that Joe is very controlling and could cause Janie harm. This make me very frustrated because women were and are much more than given credit for and I hope Janie gets out.