Essay Topics
Paper Topic #1: In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie
Crawford goes on a journey of self-discovery. What does she learn or achieve OR fail to
learn or fail to achieve on this journey? How do the stylistic devices or choices Hurston
makes help the reader better understand Janie’s journey?
Paper Topic #2: Establish a central theme of the novel. How does Hurston’s stylistic
devices or choices establish/reveal/compliment ___________________?
your chosen theme
Paper Topic #3: Hurston uses nature – the pear tree, the ocean, the horizon, the hurricane
– not only as plot device but also as metaphor. How do these metaphors help us
understand Janie’s journey? Do the metaphors indicate the success or failure of Janie’s
journey? You may analyze all, some, or one of these metaphors.
Paper Topic #4: Reread the last chapter of the novel and the first page of the novel: Pick
out specific word choices (diction), images, or metaphors that Hurston returns to at the
end. Do a close reading of the text. What is the significance of the ending – does it end on
despair, triumph, or a mixture of both?
Homework Tonight: Please choose a topic and develop a thesis statement; each thesis
should include a what, how, and why:
What? the theme you are developing in the paper
How? Hurston’s literary device(s) and/or stylistic technique(s) that you believe help to
develop the theme
Why? Level 3: Go beyond the novel and think BIG PICTURE. Why does this novel and,
in particular, your chosen topic matter? Why is it significant? What concept or idea
makes this worthy to think about? Why should the reader care? What makes this novel so
valued? (Unlike The Crucible, which is an allegory about human nature, Their Eyes Were
Watching God is situated in a distinct cultural context: a story told by a black woman
struggling for independence in the Jim Crow era. Keep that in mind as you develop your
“why” in the thesis). Also, don’t be afraid to bust out a semicolon and start a new
sentence for the “why” part of your thesis statement. This part of your thesis might
include wording like “ultimately revealing that……” or “demonstrates that …..” This
part is surely argumentative because this is what makes your thesis special and unique –
it should be debatable but based on evidence.
Paper deadlines:
Thesis due: January 15th
Paper due: January 21 on a flash drive, Printed the 24th