Readings for 2/26/09

Readings for 2/26/09: Interesting piece about Langston Hughes it was supposed to be his biography but there was never any talk about whether or not he ever got married. I heard rumors that he was gay but don't know the validity of that assessment. Langston Hughes helped define the spirit of an age. Hughes has two other relatives that have made a mark on history his grandmother's first husband died at Harpers Ferry in a slave revolt, his maternal grandfather was prominent in Kansas politics during Reconstruction, and his brother was one of the famous Black Americans from the 19th century as a congressman from Virginia and the founding dean of the Law School of Howard University. He lived a life traveling and experiencing different cultures. In Mexico and abroad in Europe. The Negro Speaks of Rivers is a poem about the black man's soul that has grown across the ages from the time in Africa building huts to the time on the Nile building a pyramid. How it heard the Mississippi River sing when a young Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans and decided that one day he would end slavery. The poem Harlem speaks of a dream that is postponed and how does it spoil because of it being postponed or does it explode like a stick of dynamite. This dream they are referring to is the civil rights of the black man. Theme for English B speaks of how a colored student in an all white class is writing a page and wonders if his page will be colored that he writes because of his race. He likes the same things that white people do (Bach) but ponders this question. Also speaks of how the white instructor does not want to be a part of the African American student and the student does not want to be a part of the white instructor either but it is something they can't control because they are both American.

Readings for 2/24/09

The readings for February 24th were very ordinary after reading Their Eyes Were Watching GOD. A Black Man Talks of Reaping is a poem about a man that is a former slave that seems bitter because of the work he has performed through the years of his life but yet does not have any spoils from it. He is especially bitter because his children is feeding off of the fruits of his labor. Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem is a lighter poem that is describing Alain Locke's "New Negro" that has shed his subservience and bent posture for that of walking upright, proud, angry at the past inflictions to his race, and bound and determined to carve for himself a niche in this new world. Plum Bun is about a fair skinned child that becomes a woman that is ashamed of her black heritage and decides to call herself white in the world so she can enjoy the same privileges that they do. A lesson is learned and she realizes that she should not deny her heritage. People like Angela from Plum Bun saddens me because they exist even today. They are not proud of where they come from, they try to assimilate white people and desperately wish they were one of them when they come from this marvelous race of African Americans. I could never deny my race. I am ashamed at some of the things that we are doing today but that is the same with all races. All races have some members that are not making the most of their lives that only want to prey on the weak.

Their Eyes Were Watching GOD

Upon hearing that a movie was made about Their Eyes Were Watching GOD which was written by Zora Neale Hurston the first thought I had was which actress could portray Janie if she was as beautiful as the novel described her to be. I was anxious to see. When I saw Halle Berry (at the peak of her beauty) I knew they made the right choice. She did a wonderful job portraying Janie. She brought to life Janie's stunning beauty, her connection with nature, her gentle spirit, and her charisma that drawed men towards her. After reading the novel I didn't think that highly of Janie but after seeing the movie I felt better about her.

The metaphors in this movie that were more obvious were the one with nature (flower blloming)that symbolized Janie's development from a girl to becoming a woman. Another one was where she and Tea Cake were dancing and the lady placed some food in her hand and a red substance that looked like blood was sliding down her hand. To me this symbolized the tragedy that befell Tea Cake.

There were several differences between the movie and the novel: Logan Killicks spoiling Janie in the novel whereas she was working in the movie, Tea Cake never abused her in the movie but he did in the novel, Tea Cake gambling Janie's money away and not recovering it in the movie versus him having a "party" and recovering it in the novel, the trial was described in the novel whereas there was not even a brief mention of it in the movie. Also in the movie, there was no mention or appearance by Mrs. Turner and her light skinned brother that she was trying to get Janie to meet.There were other differences but they are too numerous too mention. The reasons for these differences is because of time considerations. This movie could have easily been a mini-series.

I believe that the message that Zora Neale Hurston wanted to share with her audience is that you should live your life to the fullest without regrets instead of playing it safe like her grandmother wanted her to by marrying the very old Logan Killicks in a loveless marriage or by marrying Joe Starks because he could take care of her. What she is telling us is that we should marry for love and live our life to the fullest.

Response to Tiffany White's Blog#4 African Identity:
Hello Tiffany, this is Tory. I agree with some of your comments in your blog but one I am unsure of is the comment about Marcus Garvey's plan to move us back to Africa as being crazy. You have to take your self back to that period and think about what our people where going through at that time and think of how hopeless their situation must have seem and how they were just looking for any alternative to the hell they were going through. I can see it from his perspective and do understand it as outlandish as it might have seem. But when you are desperate you will try anything to take you out of your grim situation.

Theme in Their Eyes Were Watching GOD

The theme that Zora Neale Hurston is trying to show in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching GOD is one of finding love and living your life. The journey that Janie went through with two loveless marriages and finding love in a person that she normally would not be associated with. She The message that I believe the author of this novel is trying to convey is that you have to live your life and not just go through life playing it safe. Live and sometimes take chances in order to have your happiness. This book teaches us that the role of women during this time period is one of inequality to men in society. During this period they are the "punching bag" or buffer that they use to take their fustrations out on. They are their servants, sexual victims, slaves, and housekeepers. During this period women's role was menial and not one of respect and equality with men as it is today. This period is one generation removed from that of being raped by their white masters and not being considered a real person but one of property. A women's status during this period is one upgrade from where they were but still one of degredation and subservience to men.

The Zora Neale Hurston novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God is an interesting piece. To me this novel reminds me of The Color Purple, a novel that I read last semester. These novels have some of the same motifs like loveless marriages, the bisexual nature of the main character, sacrificing of a life for a loved one, the growth and rebirth of a woman that has been through some experiences, and a relationship between a younger man and an older woman. Also this novel describes the rich culture of the African American race. I was prepared not to like this novel but it is alright so far. This novel's main character, Janie, is interesting in that she deals with alot of hardship and physical abuse from her first husband (like Mister in The Color Purple)and leaves him for another husband that dies and eventually winds up with Tea Cake who also physically abuses her but does love her. Janie Crawford is a women that has been through some things but is not discouraged and in her own way empowers herself form her life experiences and like Celie has her eyes on GOD which is the right thing to do. You can see alot of Zora Neale Hurston's influence on Alice Walker in the Color Purple with Janie being in a loveless marriage to an abusive spouse. You would think that these types of novels would have gotten old and stale but with every new storyteller there is something different placed in the story to make it fresher. The dialect of this generation brings back alot of memories from people in my hometown of Savannah, Ga and how they spoke, told stories, the night clubs, the simpler life that they led where the only entertainment for them was the spoken word that remained the only entertainment even after the technological boom. After finishing the novel, I learned to appreciate this novel and see how much an influence Zora Neale Hurston's writings had on future generation female authors. I didn't think I would like this novel but I have learned to appreciate it and the implications that it had on education. The way it ended with Janine coming full circle is a way all of us should live our life without regret, to the fullest, enjoying and experiencing new things, and seeing the world. Enjoy your life!

The readings for this day are Introduction: The Vernacular Tradition, Characteristics of Negro Expression, You May Go But This Will Bring You Back, and Dust Tracks On a Road. I loved You May Go But This Will Bring You Back by Zora Neale Hurston. The title of this peice left me scratching my head and pondering if it meant what I thought it meant which was about her man that left but after thinking twice missed what he had at home. What he had at home was a real woman, a pretty woman, a phenomenal black woman, a very sensual and beautiful woman. An excerpt I read from the autobiography, Dust Tracks On a Road, I didn't particularly like because it was written in first person and it was long and drawn out. I'm not a big fan of Zora Neale Hurston, some of her work is interesting but it does not move me. Introduction: The Vernacular Tradition is introducing readers to the oral tradition of black expression like church songs, blues, ballads, sermons, stories, and hip hop songs. The vernacular tradition is a very large part of our culture and helps to develops us as African Americans. The vernacular tradition started in Africa with the art of story telling and the songs that were sang before our forceful removal and migration to America on slave ships. This was very rich and powerful. Characteristics of Negro Expression describes our characteristics of expression like drama, will to adorn or to enhance the English language, the angularity that we use in our dancing, the assymetry that we use in our negro paintings, our dancing, the negro folklore that we tell in stories, our vibrant culture heroes that are in our stories, imitation which is our love of mimicry for art purposes, absence of the concept of privacy which is funny because it simply means that we can't keep a secret which is a broad stereotype that I believe is false because not all of us tell secrets (I call it "diarrea of the mouth"), the jook which is the first night clubs that were created in the past for African American pleasure where they can go after the world has just beaten them down, and last but not least our rich dialect that is passed down from generation to generation. Around our professional colleagues we talk proper but once we leave that office or school and go back to our hometown our street talk and dialect that we use comes out automatically without failure. As soon as I go back home to Georgia I find myself using some of the "slang" terminology I grew up using.