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1. When and where was Zora Neale Hurston born? Where did she move as a young girl? January , 1891,
notasulga AL. she moved to Eatonville, florida when she was a toddler.
http://zoranealehurston.com/about/index.html
2. Given your knowledge of the time and place, what kind of world did Hurston grow up in?
She grew up in a nice stable community her dad was a preacher and mom worked in the church also.
http://zoranealehurston.com/about/index.html
3. What was the extent of Hurstons education? Considering her gender and color, does this surprise you?
Explain.
She never finished high school, by the age of 26 she wanted to finish and so she actually graduated in 1928 at
benard college.
http://zoranealehurston.com/about/index.html
4. When, and by whom, was Eatonville founded? Captain Josiah eaton, captain lewis lawernce, and unkown
officer, following the civil war.
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/hurston/hurston.htm
11. Use Google to look up when (and how) Zora Neale Hurston died.
so when she died on Jan. 28, 1960--at age 69, after suffering a stroke--her neighbors in Fort Pierce, Florida,
had to take up a collection for her February 7 funeral.
12. Look up a definition of vernacular language. Explain in your own words what the term means and how it
might be applied to the novel we are about to read, which takes place in the Deep South.
Blues and jazz really had a effect on the people in the deep south.
13. Us the following link to explore Hurstons use of Florida as a setting for African American folk life (scroll to
the bottom of page 2 of the document you find there, and read the short article called Scholarly Criticism on
the Use of Florida):
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00076693/00001
14. Why was Hurston criticized by other African American writers at the end of her literary career?
Because she didnt support the civil war problems she focused on her writing and she always said they didnt
need white people.
15. According to Hurston, what role should cultural forms play in the writing of African Americans?
Play a positive role.
Using the same document, scroll down to page 5 to the article Hurston and Hughes: Competing
Public Intellectualism.
16. Explain how Mule Bone was supposed to be an example of real Negro art theatre.
He set out a folk, comedy, and social critique in his literature.
17. According to the article, why was it problematic?
Problem of image when the rural vernacular is used is compounded by who is watching the play.
18. How have African-Americans historically dealt with oppression and self-identity in this country? Offer some
reasons why.
They expressed their feelings through whatever they felt would put there point across. For example Langston
Hughes and Hurtson both were good writers because they put their minds to it.