Length: 3-4 pages
Include: bibliography, quotes, proper format, proper grammar, etc.
You may write on one of the follow topics relating to Their Eyes Were Watching God or the poetry we have read. I urge you to invest some time and energy into the creation of a thesis statement that is both complex enough to support an entire paper and creative enough to maintain your own interest (not to mention mine) in the project. One way to determine if your thesis is sufficiently layered: Once you think you have a thesis claim, figure out how many points you need to make in order to prove that claim. The more “steps” you need to prove your thesis, the more textured your idea is. In effect, a good paper will make a series of interconnected points that all build toward the same single idea. Also: for this paper, I would urge you to focus your attention on a single passage or a single image or a single scene in the text. Instead of trying to find passages to support a thesis that you generate in the abstract, find a passage that you find compelling in the text and develop a thesis based on that passage. While this may seem more difficult, it will force you to stay close to the text in your interpretation. Close reading and interpretation of particular words and phrases are the keys to good essay writing.
Thinking about issues of femininity and womanhood, explore any of the poems we have read this quarter. How are women represented? Do they have control or power over their situations? If they do, is it at the expense of their femininity? Would you label these texts as “feminist” texts or “anti-feminist” texts? Or maybe the label simply doesn’t apply at all? How does your perspective on the poem change the way in which you interpret the significant movements of the novel? Be careful, though: remember that a good compare/contrast also puts forth an interpretation; it has a point.
Explore the representation of cities or urban spaces in either Their Eyes Were Watching God or the poetry we have read this quarter. What do urban spaces seem to represent to the author, and how are they used in the text? What kinds of contrasts are created between urban space and, for example, suburban space? Industry and nature? Populous areas and desolate areas? Think about how other considerations might be attached to the metaphor of urbanity: class, gender, race, sexuality, age, family.
What role does God play in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God? In a novel that is wrapped up in various notions of race and gender and power, where does religion come into the picture? How is it used by various characters? What, ultimately, do you think Hurston is saying about religion in relation to the cultures she writes about?
Consider the function of nature in either Hurston the poetry we have read. What does nature represent to the characters? Is it a comfort or a threat? Does it function different for different types of characters? Go beyond the things we said about nature in class—and try to look at nature from a different perspective entirely. Are there different kinds of nature? If so, what do these different types represent
