Name: ____________________________
Date: ________________________
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston
Listen to the story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston. Answer the following questions on a separate
sheet of paper. You should write complete answers (well-written) with evidence from the text.
After you finish the questions, create a graphic for the story. The medium is your choice, but try to
include a symbol or an image from the story as you understand it.
Questions
1. Discuss the meaning of the title from the perspective of the biblical account of Adam and Eve
and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden? Does this frame of reference help readers to
understand key patterns in the story?
2. How does the African American spiritual music help us to understand Delia?
3. Discuss the major conflicts in the story.
4. Discuss patterns of imagery in “Sweat,” paying particular attention to the different levels of
meaning associated with “black” and “white.”
5. Discuss the symbolic meanings of Sykes’s whip and the snake.
6. Discuss the standards of morality and behavior in the community represented in “Sweat.” What
qualities do men in the story admire about other men—and women? What qualities do women
admire about other women—and men? What are the ideal relationships between men and
women? How are community ideals enforced or regulated?
7. Why is Sykes so abusive towards Delia?
8. Why does Delia not warn Sykes that the rattlesnake is in the bedroom? How do readers
reconcile her behavior with the image of her as a good Christian?
Taken from scribblingwomen.org
Prepared for AP Literature and Composition
Wade Hampton High School
Catged women Unit
Janet Atkins (jatkins@greenville.k12.sc.us)
Name: ____________________________
Date: ________________________
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston
Listen to the story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston. Answer the following questions on a separate
sheet of paper. You should write complete answers (well-written) with evidence from the text.
After you finish the questions, create a graphic for the story. The medium is your choice, but try to
include a symbol or an image from the story as you understand it.
Questions
1. Discuss the meaning of the title from the perspective of the biblical account of Adam and Eve
and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden? Does this frame of reference help readers to
understand key patterns in the story?
2. How does the African American spiritual music help us to understand Delia?
3. Discuss the major conflicts in the story.
4. Discuss patterns of imagery in “Sweat,” paying particular attention to the different levels of
meaning associated with “black” and “white.”
5. Discuss the symbolic meanings of Sykes’s whip and the snake.
6. Discuss the standards of morality and behavior in the community represented in “Sweat.” What
qualities do men in the story admire about other men—and women? What qualities do women
admire about other women—and men? What are the ideal relationships between men and
women? How are community ideals enforced or regulated?
7. Why is Sykes so abusive towards Delia?
8. Why does Delia not warn Sykes that the rattlesnake is in the bedroom? How do readers
reconcile her behavior with the image of her as a good Christian?
Taken from scribblingwomen.org
Prepared for AP Literature and Composition
Wade Hampton High School
Catged women Unit
Janet Atkins (jatkins@greenville.k12.sc.us)