Criticism for Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston's most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was a story that was praised or looked down upon.  The novel was reviewed by people in the black community and shot down by many of them.  Richard Wright was especially harsh during his review and thought the book was a bad reflection on the black community.  He stated in his review that  ". . . The sensory sweep of her novel carries no theme, no message, no thought. In the main, her novel is not addressed to the Negro, but to a white audience whose chauvinistic tastes she knows how to satisfy. She exploits that phase of Negro life which is "quaint," the phase which evokes a piteous smile on the lips of the "superior" race." ("Between Laughter and Tears," 1937) His review sent Zora Neale Hurston into seclusion and gave her writings a bad name.  

I think that Zora Neale Hurston's writing style introduces people to the black dialect and culture.  Their Eyes Were Watching God gave people insight to the tough times black women went through because they are treated the most unfairly.  Her story so far has been a journey through a young woman life who is trying to find her true self while finding love.  Their Eyes Were Watching God is full imagery, symbolism, and African American oral tradition.  Zora Neale Hurston did not receive the credit she deserved during her lifetime.  After the harsh criticism, and she stopped writing and died poor.  Her story is read by people.  Hurston's book gives readers an insight on how hard a black woman's life was, just like Janie's.  Zora Neale Hurston is a well-respected author who should have been given more respect for her writings despite the tough criticism from other popular authors of the time.

Zora Neale Hurston 

Sources: 
"Hurston, Zora Neale." U*X*L Biographies. Detroit: U*X*L, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
"Hurston Home Page." n. pag. Web. 14 Apr 2011. <http://people.virginia.edu/~sfr/enam312/znhhp.html>.      

Facts About Zora Neale Hurston

• Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1891 and died in 1960. 
• After her death, Hurston's writings inspired several African American authors.
• She was attended Howard University, Barnard University, and Columbia University.
• Zora wrote fictional stories and many readers enjoyed her metaphorical language and interest in black culture.
• In 1937, Hurston released her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which required her to do a lot of research and explore the past of a woman who went through three marriages.
• She also wrote a series of short stories, plays, and journal articles.
• Her books contain a use of the African American dialect and aspects of the culture and it made many of the people in the black community upset.
• Not many acknowledged Zora's death and her writings were lost.
• In the 1970s, Alice Walker and other writers re-discovered her writings.
• Two volumes of her work were republished in 1995.

Sources:

"Zora Neale Hurston." Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston

Into the Harlem Renaissance

• The Harlem Renaissance, or the New Negro movement, was an African American cultural movement between the 1920s and 1930s.Many new job opportunities were open in the northern part of the United States because of World War I.  African Americans moved form the south to the north.
• This was known as the "Great Movement" because of the migration of African Americans to the north.
• Many of the educated and "socially conscious" African Americans move to Harlem, New York.
• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed by W. E. B. Du Bois to gain rights for black people.
• African American literature and arts started to develop at the turn of the century. A lot of singers and songwriters became every popular.
• Three works of literature were published and that ignited the start of the Harlem Renaissance.
• After that, more African Americans were being recognized for their contributions to society, especially in the arts.
• The Great Depression and other factors started the gradual downfall of the Harlem Renaissance.
• Active members of the black community left New York and some of the associations changed their interests and stopped promoting the Renaissance. 
• The famous writings influenced popular American writers later.

Langston Hughes

• Langston Hughes hit the height of his career during the 1920s, during the Harlem Renaissance 
• He was a famous poet, columnist, novelist, and playwright. 
• Hughes was born to mixed race parents in Joplin, Missouri and continued to grow up in tiny Midwestern towns. 
• In 1921 his famous poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" was published in The Crisis, an official magazine for the NAACP.
• Hughes died at the age of 65 after problems due to surgery.

Paul Laurence Dunbar         

Image: http://tinyurl.com/3pr7pzp

• Paul Laurence Dunbar was the son of two former slaves who escaped from a plantation in Kentucky.
• He started writing poems at the age of 6 and his works were first published by the Wright Brothers who knew Dunbar in high school.
• His first collection of poems, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1983 and his second book was Majors and Minors was released in 1985.
• During his career, Dunbar published a dozen poetry books, four short story books, five novels, and a play.
• His most famous work was written in African American dialect. It was published in 1986 called Lyrics of a Lowly Life.

Jean Toomer 

• Jean Toomer was born on December 26, 1894 in Washing D.C to mixed race parents.
• After he was finished with college, Jean Toomer went off and published a few short stories and continued to write during World War I.
• In 1921 he traveled down to Georgia to serve as a principal for a new industrial school for black children.
• After he returned to New York, his most well known novel, Cane, was released. 
• Small amounts of his fiction and essays were featured in Quakers Publications for an amount of time.

Sources: 

Microsoft Student with Encarta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Laurence_Dunbar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes (Picture was found on Wikipedia page)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Toomer (Picture was found on Wikipedia page)