Hurston and O'Brien both explore the notions of illusions and dreams vs. reality, which begs the question: what is the pupose of dreaming and imagination in life? Does the word "dreamer" have a negative or positive connotation to you? Can using one's imagination or vision make reality better? What happens when there is a huge disparity between the dream and the reality? Can one dream too much? Not enough? What are the consequences of each?
What are Janie's dreams in the novel? How closely matched to reality are they? Do Janie's dreams help or impede her life progress?
To me, the purpose of dreaming and imagination is to enhance life. When you delve into your own little paradise, for a moment you can be free of any burden you might carry in life. Who you are doesn’t matter. It can’t limit you when you make the rules and set the standards. Being called a dreamer is a compliment. If we lived in a world without dreamers where would we be? We wouldn’t have the advanced technology of today and we wouldn’t have even the simplest conveniences. It is true however, that sometimes the gap between dreams and reality is too big to close. Some people can dream so much that they forget to live and begin to alienate themselves from the rest of the world. The opposite is just as bad. Individuals with no imagination are dry. No one asks their opinion or cares to see anything from their perspective because it’s bland. We need flavor in this world to set us apart as individuals. I believe Janie understands this. She continued to dream of love her whole life, and took every chance she had in life to find it. She didn’t let her dreams interfere with living though. She stayed at Joe’s side until the day he died. He may not have been her dream, but he was her life. I believe that in Janie’s case her dreams helped her through life and made it not just bearable, but a little bit exciting.
ReplyDeleteI believe the word "dreamer" has a positive connotation. It allows people to momentarily separate themselves from real life problems in order to imagine and consider the things that they really want in life. Using ones imagination can and cannot make reality better. If a person thinks about ways to improve their lives, and the lives of others, and then acts upon these thoughts, they could potentially improve reality. But if all a person does is dream because their too passive to take action then it results in themselves slipping farther away from reality itself. If the gap between dreams and reality is too big, then the person appears to be apathetic,because although they might care about things, they're too trapped inside their own heads to act upon those feelings. But in contrast a person who doesn't dream is equally as hopeless. They choose not to strive or imagine, therefor they spend their lives just coasting through as if nothing matters.Janie dreams of finding true love. Even though she tried to find love, she was too stuck in her own thoughts to think clearly, she would run off with a man because of that desperation to make her dream a reality, without stopping to assess the situation. Although she made mistakes throughout her life, in the end she began to learn and understand what love truly meant. In the end she was able to balance dreams and realities in order to understand what she really wanted.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of dreaming and imagination, to me, is to create dreams. Through these dreams, you can strive to reach some goal that is important to you. I believe the word "dreamer" has a positive connotation because those people are thinking outside of what is only currently happening. They have the capacity to think above and beyond others. The only catch to being a "dreamer" is when this person slips away from reality and can only find happiness in their dreams. I believe that a person's imagination can make things better, but only temporarily. If said person isn't actually trying to reach their dream then they are just disappointing themselves and possibly becoming even more unhappy. Imagination is beneficial to reality if you are dreaming it and acting upon it. When there is a huge disparity between the dream and the reality, the dreamer begins to feel hopeless. They feel that they can't achieve any of their other dreams. If one dreams too much, they get lost in their dream land and the only way they can escape their troubles is to dream, which can be unhealthy. On the other hand, if one doesn't dream enough, they won't aspire to do anything big with their life. Once they begin to feel that they won't do anything important, the people around them will share this belief. Janie's dreams in the novel are to find herself, and most importantly, the love of her life. Her dreams are attempted in the beginning of the novel with Logan and Joe, but she soon realizes that her reality is not matching up with her dreams. Once she finds Tea Cake, she stumbles a bit on her life path, but in the end she finds her one true love and although they weren't always in the best situation, she did truly find love and herself along the way.
ReplyDeleteI believe dreaming is a positive connotation, and it is necessary for a person to dream in order to live a wonderful life. It means you are trying to reach something you have never achieved. Without a dream you don’t have any goals in life to look forward to. Janie’s dream is to find someone who she loves, and who will truly love her. She wanted to be equal with her partner and accepted for who and what she was. In the society she lives in, it is tough. Men don’t treat women equally. They look down on them and expect them to do certain things while the men work. They are not equal in society. She did not find her true love until her third marriage with Tea Cake. She would not give up on finding that special someone to put into her life. He treated her with respect and they were both equal. She was happy when she fell in love because she knew that she could stop looking. Her imagination became reality by following through and achieving her dream. You don’t always find true love right away, it takes time and patience. If you don’t give up, then you will find the love of your life. Don’t give up because anything can happen.
ReplyDeleteDreams do not place negative impressions on me. In fact, the very country we call home today was established by dreamers. Imagination and dreams are the impetus to modern society, and when put together, shape the future of our world. Dreams can impact reality, but only to a certain extent. If it's too far away from reality, the individual can be stuck in a rut of futility. One can not dream too much, but if one does not dream enough, then wanted accomplishments may not follow. Janie's life dream is not only to find her perfect match, but to be an independent woman as well. These may be considered "fantasies" in Janie's time, where marriages are often predetermined and men have the majority of the power. However, Janie does not settle until she finds happiness. Her dreams drive her through life to become her potential.
ReplyDelete"Reality leaves a lot to imagination" (John Lennon). Imagination helps to build what we make to be reality. Dreams have an incredible impact on us and life itself; how can we push our own reality to the limit without dreaming to make it happen? On the other hand, one would probably say "you can never dream too much; the sky is the limit". Well, I agree, but you should not let dreaming itself become your reality, or else you would not have much to live for. Nevertheless, the word "dreamer" has more of a positive connotation on me. I believe being a dreamer gives one motivation to make it their reality. Another name for dreamers are "inventors" who live in this world to find and create new ways of living, and that's just what Janie is doing; finding a better way to live. Janie dreams of fulfillment, love, and finding a place for herself in this world. To put her dreams to work, she undertakes a spiritual journey, and tries to transform her dreams into a reality. She had a rough start, married Logan, which there was much disagreement in that relationship. She left him and married Jody, and was happy for being titled as the "Mayor's wife". As she grows older, she learns how to care for herself, and her friends; through Jody's controlling and neglecting attitude, Janie developed an obedient and submissive lifestyle. However, her strong-will helped her advance into a more tolerant state, and that's what pushed her to keep seeking out her dreams of fulfillment. When in her relationship with Tea Cake, she experienced true love and accomplishment in her life. She did not have to change for anyone, for she did not want to change, and that is why Tea Cake respected her as much as he did. She felt secure in her independence, and her dreams had come true. However, her reality begins to fall apart as she is losing Tea Cake. She is left alone yet realizes she is content. She experiences a deep connection with the world around her and even feels that the spirit of Tea Cake is with her. Thus, even though she is alone, she does not feel alone. Her dreams are what keeps pushing her forward, and she is not dissatisfied with her reality. Her journey is complete, and despite she may not have lived it the way she wanted, she grew and experienced true enlightenment. So through it all, she did live out to fulfill her dreams, which came to be her reality. "Dream, and give yourself permission to envision a 'You' that you choose to be" (Joy Page).
ReplyDelete“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” (Robert Kennedy). Dreams are the innermost longing and desires of the soul. They drive us to work hard, fight what we believe for, a possibly die trying to fulfill. People going out and following their dreams changes their life, which changes how people view them. Thus, those who follow their dreams, alter reality. The title of a “dreamer” may come off bad to some people at first, but honestly, that’s not true. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream for civil rights and African American equality. He changed reality by changing the view of people, making them see that there is no difference between a black and white man. I would define him as a “dreamer” that followed his dream, which ultimately came true. One can only dream too big if they don’t have the will to carry out and make their dream apart of reality. Though dreaming too much could mean a life of hardship, living without a goal makes living life boring and worthless. Janie dreams of finding true love and a place where she can be herself. Though it doesn’t last forever, Tea Cake gives her this. Though her decisions were questionable to others, they made her happy. This ultimately, is everyone’s life goal; to be happy.
ReplyDeleteI believe dreaming is a positive connotation in life because it may help you set goals and motivate you to do things that without them wouldn't be imaginable even in your wildest dreams. In other words, dreaming can give you hope for a better future in your life and something to look forward to. However, when dreams are totally unrealistic it is best to just leave it as a dream and part of your imagination instead of wasting time trying to make them a reality. In the novel Janie has a dream of finding love and living this wonderful life full of adventures and the possibility of anything happening. Once Janie follows her heart and dreams to find the love the first time with Logan she soon realizes that particular relationship is the exact opposite of what she wants. The second time with Joe proves to be very hard on her after some time of marriage because when they meet he promises Janie freedom and up until the day he dies he treats her like his property. The third relationship she jumps into with Tea Cake comes to show that Janie hasn't lost her dream of staying happily in love. Tea Cake does possess all the qualities Janie looks for in a relationship which gives her the belief that after all these years she has finally come to live out her ultimate dream of being happy.
ReplyDeleteThe words dreaming and imagination have a positive connotation to me. You need to have dreams and imagination in life. Without dreams, there is not goal to reach; nothing to strive for. Dreams give us the opportunity to create things to better ourselves and the community. To go with that, you also need imagination. If you didn’t' have imagination, there would be a much harder time coming up with ways to reach your goals and your dreams. It makes it easier to find newer, quicker, and simpler ways to do things. Also, imagination enables us to come up with creative goals and dreams to strive for. Both of these ideas can be used to better the community along with yourself. If generations before us didn't dream of technology, we wouldn't be here right now, doing the things we are. Not just in technology, but even in the discoveries of new and foreign places. When there is a huge gap between reality and dreams, it can cause problems. People can start blocking out the real world and real world issues and just have their mind set in their fantasy land. This can cause people to ostracize themselves and disconnect from reality and people in it. No one can dream too much. Dreams are what grow ideas and new ways in our day to day life. I do think though, that one can dream too little. They become boring and dull by doing this.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the novel, Janie dreams of finding love. She searched the entire time to find it and didn't miss a chance to find it. Every time she marries, she thinks she found love. Though, as the marriage goes on, she finds that it wasn't true love. Though, she still lives life to the fullest she can. She soon realizes that the first two marriages with Logan and Jody aren't matching up to her dreams of love. Though, in the end she finds Tea Cake and finds love. Her dreams help her life, because it teaches her to dream, but to also focus on what is truly happening in her life.
“Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts” (Albert Einstein) Dreams are the things that drive us to work hard and obtain the things we want most in life. Martin Luther king Junior, who I believe to be one of the most influential dreamers, changes the world by voicing his dreams and acting upon them through powerful speeches. Dreaming allows people to slip away from the hardships of reality and be in a place where they can let their imagination run free. Without dreams and imagination there would be no goals to reach making one's life boring and dull. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie's dreams are project through her undying needs to find true love and a place where she can be herself. With Tea Cup in her life she is able to feel completely happy.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the word ‘dreamer’ has a positive connotation, but sometimes in society dreamers are looked upon as foolish and immature because of their high expectations of life. I believe that without dreams we would not truly know what we want from our lives, when we dream (not necessarily in our sleep) we find a word unchecked by political correctness or by the modern code of conduct, we are able to think up for ourselves, our perfect world. With this notion of our perfect world or life we now have something to strive towards. Janie’s dream is to be in control of her own life, to not have her grandmother or husbands telling her what to do or how to act. This dream of Janie’s allows her to not settle for a relationship that she doesn’t 100% enjoy, and she shouldn’t have to. Although Janie’s dream leads her to a better life, I do believe that there is such thing as dreaming too much, this can happen when one spends too much time living in fantasy and not applying their dreams to reality. It can also happen when the difference between dreams and reality is too great, at this point a person might find themselves disappointed and giving up on their lives because it can in no way compete with the life that they have dreamed up. Janie’s persistence to hold onto her dream helped her through her life because she was able to seek her happiness by changing her surroundings and life until they fit her desires.
ReplyDeleteThe word "dreamer" can have both a positive and negative connotation. The word "dreamer" can imply that a person imagines the impossible and chases after false goals. Dreamer can also mean that a person has hope. A person can dream of goals that are able to be accomplished. The word dreamer can be used either way and can be a negative or positive connotation. In the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Janie dreams for a perfect husband. At first Janie chases the wrong dream and goes after Joe because he flatters her with his wealth and compliments. When she notices that she is unhappy she begins to dream of being independent. Her dreams do come true when she marries Teacake who treated her as an equal. Janie's first dreams held her back because what she dreamed for was what eventually made her unhappy.
ReplyDeleteDreaming and imagination are in our lives to help us set goals we want to fulfill one day. To me, the word “dreamer” has a positive connotation. It proves that the person has objectives they are striving to achieve. Without dreamers the world would not be as industrialized as we are today. These dreamers’ imaginations being made a reality are what has made and given us what we have. However, when dreams become too extreme and unrealistic, it is better not turn them into reality and leave them in your imagination. Janie’s dream throughout the novel is to find love and live a perfect life with her husband. When she first marries Logan, she believes that because they are married they will eventually fall in love, but this never happens. When Joe comes around, I think she teeters between love and infatuation. At first, he does everything for her and they are happy together so Janie believes her dream is in the works of becoming real. As the years go by, he starts to treat her like his toy and boss her around which is not the kind of love Janie dreamed of. Despite this, she stays with him until the day he dies. When Tea Cake comes into the picture months later, Janie realizes what true love is. He never stops trying for her and there is never a dull moment between them. Janie’s marriage with Tea Cake is her dream of true love finally becoming a reality. Her dreams helped her life progress by teaching her exactly what she didn’t want in her first marriages, and leading her to her dream come true in the last one.
ReplyDeleteThe word dreamer has a positive connotation to me especially if that person can put their dreams to action. Putting dreams into action is a big way that dreams and imagination can make reality better, but it can also be as simple as a children using their imaginations to enhance the games they are playing. Though in the case of a big inequality between a dream and reality it can cause a person to become disappointed with themselves. I believe it is possible to dream too much and that it is what causes the gap between reality and the dream. On the other hand, if one doesn't dream enough they will have no goals to reach and begin to feel purposeless. Janie's one big dream in this novel is to find love. I would say that Janie's life progress impedes her dreams. Her grandmother wants her to be married as quickly as possible so that she is taken care of, so that is what Janie does. Her lack of love towards Logan pulls her towards Joe. Now she is married to the mayor, taken care of, and wealthy but still no love. Only when she finds Tea Cake do her dreams match her reality.
ReplyDeleteDreams help push us to reach our goals. Dreams are the big picture. The dreams we have are the things we want most in life. Once you know what you want to do with your life, you learn to take the steps and put in the effort to get there. I think dreaming has a very positive connotation. To me, it means that you have a great outlook on life and you have confidence that you can do anything you want in life, as long as you make the effort. I remember as a kid, my brother and I used to be bored around the house. So, we'd lay out couch cushions and pretend the floor was lava and the cushions were rocks. We used our imagination to help keep us entertained when we were bored! Imagination can help you get through a bad day, as well as dreams can. Janie had dreams of one day meeting the perfect man that would love her and would respect her. She pushed everything out of her life that questioned that dream. Therefore, she achieved her dream. On page 24, the narrator says, "She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman." I think Janie's first dream was to be with the same man forever with no separation. She sorted out everything she wanted in a man, and eventually she got what she wanted. Janie got what she wanted because she worked hard for it. She went through pain and judgement. You will go through the same things in life to achieve your dreams if you want them bad enough. I think this novel taught a great lesson about going after what you want and not caring what others have to say about it.
ReplyDeleteI think that dreaming is a positive connotation because if you don’t dream then you might not have goals you would someday want to achieve. I believe that in order to live a wonderful and fulfilled life you have to dream, even if it’s a bad or good dream it will have an impact on your life and make you stronger. In Hurston’s book, the main character Janie’s dream is to marry the man she loves and he will love her the same way. She wants to be equal with her partner, to be treated right, and to be accepted as she is and not be treated differently. In Janie’s other marriages she was always told what to do by her partner and expected to do whatever they told her to do. Men and women are not equal in society either. Men are higher in the chain in society than women so that means men will get higher jobs that women are not allowed to have. In the end though, Janie finds her true love and her dream becomes a reality. She marries a man named Tea Cake and they both truly love each other for who they are and they treat each other fairly and equally.
ReplyDeleteThe word "dreamer" has a positive connotation to me because if you are a dreamer, it means that you have big goals for yourself and you feel that you can accomplish those goals. This implies that you are thinking positively about your future. I do not think you can use your imagination to make reality better because you will realize that reality is what is always going to be there. There is no way to change it using your imagination. The only way you can change it is if you actually go out and do something to change what you don't like about your life. I believe that one can dream too much because then it will create a huge disparity between your dreams and reality. If you dream too much, there will be no time to actually make those dreams come true. I believe you need to have dreams, but make sure you save the time you need to actually make them come true. In the novel, Janie’s dreams are to be in her definition of love and be her definition of happy. I say her definition because she has a completely different perception of love and happiness than anyone else in the novel. I believe her dreams are not close to reality during her first two marriages. With Logan, she was not in love and not happy at all. Her grandmother planned the marriage so she could see Janie get married before she died. Janie thought that being married to Logan for some time would make her love him, but it did not. Because of her unhappiness, she ran away with Joe and got married to him. Janie thought that living with Joe, the mayor, in a big house would make her happy, but she soon realized that working in a store all day and being married to Joe did not make her happy at all. Janie’s dreams became closer to reality during her third marriage with Tea Cake. Janie ran off with him after Joe’s death. With Tea Cake, she was happy and in love. She did not have to live in a big house, be married to the mayor, or anything to be happy with Tea Cake. I believe Janie’s dreams helps her life process because she goes through three marriages before she is finally happy and finds what she is looking for.
ReplyDeleteDreams and imagination are important to all people in society. “Dreamer” to me holds a positive connotation. Dreamers want to change things or live life differently, or it could be a child having random fantasies but still enjoying them nonetheless. Using one’s own imagination can make reality better because you are doing what you want; making the changes you want to see. Although dreams are amusing, one can dream too much, and lose track of what’s real or want to dream more than live in reality. They become standoffish and slip away from real life, but if one doesn’t dream enough, they will become unimaginative and stay in the same situation in life. Janie’s dream is to find true love, and be equal with her partner. She wants to share a happy life with someone. She dreamt of love and marriage and thought they would come together, but her first marriage to Logan Killicks made her realize they do not. She was happy with Joe Starks but soon she was treated as an object, not his wife. Janie stayed with Joe till his death and although she loved him it wasn’t the same love from her dreams. Janie finally found this love with Tea Cake and even after he was gone she found her dreams did come true
ReplyDeleteDreams are a way to escape from reality. They give you something to look forward to and strive towards. Sometimes dreams are the only thing that keeps a person going. For me, "dreamer" has a positive connotation. When I hear "dreamer," it brings to my mind someone who knows what they want, and isn't afraid to go after it. It's someone who isn't held down by the chains of reality, rather, they can hope that things will change for the better. I believe that dreaming can make reality seem a little better, because you can hope that things will get better someday, you just have to keep pushing forward. When there is a huge disparity between reality and dreams, though, it can present problems. It can make a person depressed or unhappy with their life, and not able to appreciate the things they do have. Another problem arises when a person dreams too much. By dreaming too much, you make it difficult for yourself to live in reality, and it can seem like nothing in your life is good enough. But on the other hand, by not dreaming enough, you give yourself no refuge to escape the harsh truths of reality, which can make life seem like a burden. In Hurston's novel, Janie dreams of finding love and being happy, which is something most people dream about. In the beginning of Janie's life, it seems that her dream is out of reach. She is married to men that make her miserable, and there is no love to be found in the marriages. Then she meets Tea Cake, and suddenly her dreams become reality. She has found the love of her life, and he makes her happier than she has ever been. She would rather live in a shack on the muck with Tea Cake than she would in a big house with Joe Starks. I feel that Janie's dreams help her life progress. If she didn't dream of love, she never would have ran away with Mr. Starks. And even though that marriage was never full of love, she never would have found the true love of her life (Tea Cake) without it. By not being afraid to follow her dreams, they ultimately led her to happiness.
ReplyDeleteDreams are pointless when people do not attempt to fulfill them. I believe that the word "dreamer" can have both a positive and negative meaning. If someone is a dreamer and they actually try to achieve their dreams and work towards their goals, it can be a very good thing. On the other hand, people can often get caught up in their dreams and reality leaves them behind. This happens to Janie in the novel. Janie wants so badly to fulfill her dream of falling in love with a perfect man who cherishes her and loves her dearly. Janie is so anxious to find her other half that she rushes into a marriage when her grandmother tells her it is the right thing to do, and eventually she marries another man. In both marriages, reality hits Janie hard when she realizes that neither of the men she married are good to her. Janie doesn't give up though like some people would. She finally marries Tea Cake and her dreams are accomplished because Tea Cake is everything she could have wanted. In the long run, Janie's dreams helped her to get through the tough parts of life and find a worthy husband, but if she had taken more time to think things through a bit she could have prevented two awful marriages in her quest to achieve her dreams.
ReplyDelete"you may say that i'm a dreamer but i'm not the only one, i hope some day you will join us and the world will live as one." (john Lennon) i think that dreams are some of the most important part of peoples lives, if you don't have dreams where is the motivation? your parents? a man with out dreams is like a man with out a soul. empty and vacant. Jane has dreams that are stifled by her first two husbands but then her third, tea cake, helps her to find out what her dreams actually are. i think that one only dreams too much when he cannot follow his dreams because he has too many. and one dreams too little when they have no motivation to do anything with their lives. my mom always told me that the dreamless boring people become businessmen. And no one wants to be a businessman you just are one. Her dreams do nothing to impede her progress through life because we are always progressing always moving forward even it its not getting better in society's eyes. she sees that she doesn't want to wait for death to come and get her she wants to live and meet it half way.
ReplyDeleteThe Purpose dreaming and imagining is to help take your mind off of what is happening in reality. Dreaming could be used as wish fulfillment meaning, If you are hungry when you fall asleep you may dream that you are at your favorite restaurant eating your favorite food. By dreaming that you are eating, your wishes seem to have come true. Although it can be a good thing, wish fulfillment can give a false sense of reality. People become to attached to their dream/imaginary life that they loose their grasp of reality. In my mind dreaming definitely has a positive connotation because it is always something you wish for or future plans. Little girls always dream of what their future husband will be like or what kind of house they might live in. In Janie's case, she dreams of finding love. She funds herself in a false sense of reality because she thinks she can learn to love Logan, for example, but deep down she knows she does not love him. This is the downside to dreaming.
ReplyDeleteTo me, being a dreamer has a positive connotation. Most people strive to make their dreams reality, and work hard for what they want. Dreamers think outside of the box and expand their mind. By using imagination I can make reality better. It gets hard sitting in school for seven hours so sometimes it takes imagining being a beach with waves crashing on my feet to get me through the day. Even so, there can definitely be a dangerous gap between someone’s dreams and reality. Some people tend to live in a world where they think their dreams are reality. For instance, I was watching a show where a guy dreamed of having a relationship with a girl, and he ended up having a “relationship” with fifteen inflatable animals…That’s a dangerous type of dreaming in my opinion. I don’t think anyone can dream too much as long as they understand what is attainable realistically and what is not. I also think people have a tendency to not dream enough. Dreams allow people to set goals and have expectations for themselves. Dreaming allows a person to be an individual and without it, they just become ordinary. Janie’s main dream throughout the novel is to find love. She felt a spark of something when she had her first kiss as a teen, but after her marriage to Logan she wasn’t sure if she would find that spark again. After two failed marriages, Janie discovered that her dream was closely matched to reality. She found Tea Cake who was the love of her life. He was the man she couldn’t live without.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTo me people dream so that they can escape reality. When people dream they see all their wants and desires in their life and everything is perfect. Being a dreamer has a positive connotation. Seeing what we want by dreaming helps put dreams into actions. This can make reality better because sometimes just knowing that we can dream something helps us know that we can achieve it. When their is a great disparity between dreams and reality people can loose sight of what their intentions in life are. If we don't know what we want in life we cant strive to improve ourselves. Dreaming is a good thing until we forget to come back to reality. If people don't dream they don't know what they want in life. Some people who dream to much, on the other hand, might not be able to take reality as seriously as needed. There are positives and negatives to dreaming but if it is controlled being able to dream is a wonderful thing. In the novel Janie dreams of finding love. Although she fails twice her dreams of loving someone keep her searching and soon enough she found Tea Cake. This situation proves that dreaming isn't a bad thing and it can help to make goals reality.
ReplyDeleteBeing a dreamer gives more zest to life, and is very much a positive thing. Imagination can turn a situation completely around and give it new meaning. People can choose to imagine things in a good or bad light, and dreams can make a mark on reality by how the person chooses to see the dream. It shapes how people think and act. They can drive someone to reach a goal in life. Too much dreaming is possible though. If a person dreams so much that they do not have time to make their dream a reality then they are stuck. The people that use their imagination and hard work to reach their dreams can better themselves and the people around them. An example of that would be inventors. They create something to better humanity by thinking of new ideas and then working towards it. In Hurston’s novel, Janie dreams of finding someone who she can be truly happy with. She wants someone that she can be herself around, and someone who loves and respects her. Her dreams did not help her in the beginning of the book because she did not take into account what was happening in reality. Not until Janie was with Tea Cake did she balance her dreams and reality to make her life better.
ReplyDeleteA dreamer in my eyes is a positive connotation. Most Successful people through the course of history were dreamers. Dreamers have revolutionized this country and world, without them we would not be as advanced as we are today. People's imagination and visions always make reality better because thats how ideas start. When there is a disparity between reality and dreams people can lose the fire they had to make that dream reality and eventually become hopeless. One can dream too much and become too dependent on dreams that there reality is not good. One can also dream too little and settle in life when if they would dream they could achieve so much more. Janie's dream is to find the love of her life while finding herself. Janie knows that Logan is not what she has dreamed of so she goes to Joe who seems to fulfill her dreams, for a while. When Joe dies Janie realizes he was not what she wanted, but when she met Tea Cake she knew that he was the man of her dreams. Janie's dreams did help her life because if she never left with Joe she would have never met Tea Cake.
ReplyDeleteDreaming and imagination spark goals toward the future. If you have no dreams, you wouldn’t know what to work toward. I believe that dreaming is a positive act in life, it stimulates the mind to act in certain scenarios to figure out the best way to go about doing something. In certain cases imagination can make things better, such as having to do something that is boring, or coming up with something creative to do. If a person dreams too much, they may look too far into the future, and their judgment of the present may be clouded. If a person doesn’t dream enough, they won’t be as happy, and won’t have anything to work towards.
ReplyDeleteJanie’s dream in the novel is to be herself, and to not have her husband’s always telling her what to do or how to act. Her dream didn’t closely match reality until towards the end of the novel when she was with Tea Cake, and after he passed on. Janie’s dreams helped her toward the end of the novel when she was able to make her own decisions while Tea Cake was sick and after he had passed on.
I think that being a dreamer is a positive way to live life. Being a dreamer helps a person strive towards their goals, if you can dream of being the best you can be, it helps you work as hard as possible to reach that goal. Having an imagination makes a person more creative and helps them solve problems. There also could be a negative connotation to dreaming, sometimes if a person imagines too far into the future, their head can get lost in the clouds and they won't be able to focus on the present. Janie strives to be herself all throughout the novel, dreaming of being able to control her own life. Janie's dreams succeeded towards the end of the novel when she was able to live her own life while Tea Cake was ill.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of dreaming and imagination to me is to have fun and to set goals for yourself. It's a positive thing because it motivates people to strive for what they want. Although I believe dreaming is a positive thing, I think you can dream too much. A person may have such big dreams that they become blind to reality and can't even think realistically about how they'll achieve their goals. Janie's dream in the novel is to find love. Ever since she was little it was her goal to find love that blossomed naturally. Everyone tells her that her dream is unrealistic but she finally found it when she met Tea Cake. Dreaming made her life progress because she finally found exactly what she wanted in terms of love.
ReplyDeleteBeing a dreamer can be a good and bad things. Dreaming for me is a place where I can escape reality and live in my own fantasy. Dreaming can make reality easier to deal with because you know you can escape to a serene setting just for you.Being a dreamer can be bad because so people only live in their dreams and don’t come back to reality to live life. Dreaming is necessary because it can help you move on with reality to make dreams come true. Janie's dreams started when she was young she always wanted to have a marriage filled of true love. When she married Logan her dream of true love where held back because she didn't love him but married him for her Nanny. When Joe Starks came into her live he promised to give her a life different from what she already had which was a dream she had at the time but that dream never came true because he didn't treat her like a person but an object. Janie long time dream of being in love where complete when she meet Tea Cake. He let her be herself which was what she always wanted was to be herself. Janie dreams did make her go on with her life. As she meet Logan and Joe some of her smaller dreams were meet but when she meet Tea Cake her ultimate dream was meet of having a person who she truly loved and truly loved her. Janie dreams helped her move along with live to fulfill her childhood dream.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the word “dreamer” has a positive connotation to me because it helps me strive to get to that goal of something I want. It allows people to step away from the troubles of life for just a moment, and to ponder about what they want in their life. Those people who dream are thinking outside of what is really happening. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that all people could be equal and just towards each other. He was thinking outside of what was really happening in his time at that moment. He is a prime example of someone who goes out and gets their dream in the real world. He was a dream chaser. I believe that people who dream tend to be more successful in life because they have a motivation to get something, unlike people who don’t know what they want. Also, I believe that dreamers are more innovative thinkers because if you don’t dream how are you going to know what you want in life. All innovators have a dream. Also, using ones imagination can make reality better because you want something in life. On the other hand people can dream too much. When there is a disparity between the dream and reality that is what makes the dream great, and motivates you to try even harder to achieve that dream. Adversity is a motivator, and an athlete’s best friend. When you don’t dream enough you are not motivating yourself to do good in life. Everything in moderation is good so dreaming too much is bad, and dreaming to less is not good either. Janie’s dreams in the novel are love and achieving the love, but she did not let that interfere with her life. She took every chance she got with love but it just didn’t work out. Her dreams are closely matched to the novel, but not the exact love she wanted. I believe that Janie’s dreams helped her through life but weren’t so overtaking that they impeded her life progress
ReplyDeleteI believe the purpose of dreaming and imagination in life is so that the human soul has something to believe in, to hold onto, and to strive for. Without dreams where would the people in this world be? Dreamers are our entrepreneurs, inventors, presidents, people who never give up and never fail to surprise people. “ Ah Velt smertz”, I once heard someone say this and I asked them what it meant, it means when you compare your actual life, with a fictional life, you imagine. Imagination is something that stands by itself within you; it’s something that nobody can take from you. It’s the strongest character within a man. All of these are reasons why I believe the word dreamer has a positive connotation. I believe using ones imagination can make reality better. I believe sometimes it’s what saves people. Although with all that being said, when there is a huge disparity between a dream and reality it can be devastating and life changing. There are people everyday who have their dreams crushed, people who are told they can never do it eventually begin to believe that. Even though one dream can crush someone, I do not believe any dream is “too much”. There is no such thing as too much wanting, too much needing to achieve. I also do not believe there is such thing as “not enough” dreaming. You cannot control someone’s internal mind, internal way of thinking. Who are you to tell someone that their dreams aren’t enough? And who are you to tell them that they are too much? In the novel Janie dreams of a perfect husband and a house of her own. She dreams to be treated well by a man who loves her and is not ashamed of her. Her dreams are not really close to being matched to reality, but that’s why they’re called dreams. I believe Janie’s dreams help her life progress.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of dreaming and imagination is to create goals to be the best person you can be. To me, the word dreamer has an utmost positive connotation. Dreamers are daring. They have the courage to imagine all that they are capable of, and the level-headedness to think that nothing is beyond them. I believe that using your imagination and vision can most definitely make your reality better. The happiness of your reality is based on mind set. Dreams add hope, drive, and meaning to your life while you’re longing for something that could one day be. When the gap between dream and reality increases, your first instinct is to give up. However, a true dreamer would only use the odds to pursue their dreams even more. I do not believe in the ability to dream too much, but if the dreamer is doing nothing to carry them out, they become worthless. On the other hand, dreaming too little can cause you to settle with a life that is not up to your full potential, and for me, an average life is not in the least bit appealing. In the novel, Janie’s dream is to find love. She works to find it with the marriages of Logan and Joe and when they are not all she imagined them to be, she continues to pursue her quest. Janie does not give up on her dreams until she finally finds Tea Cake, and even though they have trials and tribulations, she has in fact has found love.
ReplyDeleteDreaming can have a positive connotation, when people dream they set goals for them self and they strive to achieve those goals. I think dreaming can make reality better, you can dream your life to be better and it would make you push yourself to achieve your dream. I also think dreaming can have a negative connotation. When people dream of things that are to advanced in the future they can get lost of what is happening in the present reality of their life. In the novel Janie dreams of finding love which is why she left Logan for Joe and then she finally found her true love Tea Cake.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of dreaming and imagining things is to strive for something and push yourself to be the best you can be. I think being a called a "dreamer" can have a positive connotation or a negative connotation. It can be positive because being a "dreamer" gives you initiative to set goals and attempt to reach those goals. It can have a bad connotation because many people think of "dreamers" as wonders and are kind of out in "la la land". Reality can become better by imagining things that you desire and trying to strive for those things. When there is a huge disparity between dreams and reality people tend to lose sight of what is important and lose theirselves in their dreams. I don't think dreaming too much is a problem unless you begin to think those dreams are reality. Not dreaming enough can also be okay as long as you still have goals that you plan to fulfill. Janie dreams that she will find a guy that loves her for who she is and she can love him back. Her dreams are pretty realistic, all she wants is love. I believe her dreams help her progress. They push her to find the right guy. She never settles for less than she desires and that's what brings her a happy life with Tea Cake.
ReplyDeleteI think that dreams tell us what we want out of life, and having dreams helps us set goals to accomplish them. An example of a realistic dream for a smart, young person is to go to collage, get a job as a doctor, and find someone to spend the rest of their lives happily with. To me an unrealistic goal for that person is to backpack around the world, become a billionaire, and marry a supermodel, and although these things aren't impossible they're very improbable. And so to be a dreamer is not a bad thing but to overextend the dream to a point of unattainability could only hurt the dreamer when they realize that their dream could never happen. Janie is the exception to the rule, she finds someone that makes her completely happy even though she was an African American woman living in a time that didn't respect her race or gender. Janie's dream of happiness and love pulled her out of Nanny's realistic dream for her, and then again when she runs away with Tea Cake. Both of her husbands gave her love and protection, which is more than some other African American woman got back then but her vision of the future kept her searching for something better which she eventually found. In the case of Janie I think that her dreams helped her out in the end, but Janie is the exception to the rule and other woman like her are the rule and I think for them to leave and take the chances Janie did would be detrimental to their happiness.
ReplyDeleteThe point of dreaming is to give people a escape from everyday stresses and problems and gives them a chance to set goals for themselves. When poeple have a chance to sit down and think of their future and how they can acheive these goals by bettering themselves that is a good thing and being a "dreamer" can be looked at in a good connotation. I do not beleive one can dream to much or to little. People have their own expectaions in life and some may be higher then others. There for depending on the person one can not dream to much or to little.
ReplyDeleteWell said Tyler
DeleteWhen i think about my future and where i want to be in life, i can only imagine it because it all started with a dream. To me, the basis of motivation and positive thinking thrives on your own personal dreams. Dreams are always meant to be something positive and something to look forward to. How is a person supposed to be happy without setting some kind of goal or desire? Life would be completely boring and useless if you didn't want to do anything exciting or aim for some kind of goal you want to accomplish. Even if someone's situation is a complete disaster, they can always make it better by dreaming about their future, what they want to accomplish, and how they want to live out the rest of their life. Dreaming should always be encourages and i personally think you can't dream enough. I know i'm constantly setting goals for myself and thinking about what is going to happen and how i can make my future as bright as possible with acquiring new and useful knowledge everyday. Janie's dream is the same dream that every human being possesses, to fall in love and be happy. As everyone thinks, those are pretty easy dreams but in reality they can be quite hard in accomplishing. Janie's whole life quest revolves around her dreams. In her first marriage she doesn't find love or happiness with Logan so she jumps into the exciting life of Joe Starks who at first fulfills her dreams but in the end her dreams die right along with her husband. When Jody dies Janie realizes that she never possessed love or true happiness with Jody, she was just the mayor's wife, nothing more than an asset. When she meets Tea Cake, she instantaneously becomes happy because she's never felt more independent and her dreams have never felt more fulfilled until then. Janie centered her whole life on accomplishing her dreams, and in the end she did realize that her life was fulfilling and enjoyable because she was able to accomplish what she had always wanted.
ReplyDeleteI believe the purpose of dreaming in life is to give us hope and inspiration. Being a dreamer has a positive connotation to me because it makes reality better and allows us to look forward to the future. People still sometimes dream about things they cannot accomplish, and lose lots of money trying to accomplish certain things. While, people who do not dream enough will not want to better themselves. Janie's dreams of having a husband she loves to spend time with. This happens when Tea Cake comes in to her life and she enjoys every moment with him. This helped her life because she took a risk on Tea Cake believing that they would enjoy each other.
ReplyDeleteAlmost everything you do starts outside of reality. You have to think about what your about to do, going to do, at any point in the future. Seeing things in your head by imagining them or dreaming are not very different. Personally before I do something, I like to run it through my head and see the results of my actions before they happen. If I know someone I can play their reaction in my mind. A thought isn't real until you put it to action. Not 100% the same as a dream but very similar. You see yourself doing something you haven't done yet in both, something you want to do or become. Dreaming in all forms drives us to get to where we want to be. Some people don't believe that it takes hard work after dreaming about something to reach that goal, but after putting in the work it's the most rewarding thing a person can feel. "Dreamer" is definitely a positive connotation because nightmare or a good dream your still able to be somewhere else in your mind to where it almost seems real. Without being able to leave all your stresses behind what can help you find what you want to be or do. Janie's biggest dream was to find true love. She had not felt in in two marriages until she met Tea Cake. She didn't give up on her dream and finally found the thing she wanted most.
ReplyDeleteDreaming in an outlet from stress. It allows one to temporarily escape from reality to discover what they ultimately want in life. It gives one a purpose; a reason to live. Once a person knows what they want, they should next establish a series of goals to make his or her dream a reality. In this situation, dreaming definitely takes on a positive connotation. However, like most things, too much dreaming can be toxic. A person can become too caught up in their dreams and permanently detach themselves from reality, essentially merely existing rather than living. They will never achieve anything in life if they never put forth the effort to make their dream a reality, which is a pitiful way to live. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie's dream is to find happiness in love, which she eventually accomplishes when she meets Tea Cake. Beforehand, she took every opportunity she had to find true love, which resulted in disappointment. She never stopped though, and it eventually led her to her life with Tea Cake.
ReplyDeleteWithout dreams the world would not be what it is today. If people did not follow their dreams then what would there be to live for. Chasing your dreams can lead you to happiness and can even impact the world. Dreaming gives off a positive connotation when thought of this way. There is times when people get too caught up in their dreams and allow it to ruin their life. If one forgets to live and do what it takes to achieve their dream then it will remain a dream and never become a reality. Janie dreams of falling in love and follows this dream until she accomplishes it. Although she doesn't find love with Logan or Joe, Janie continues to look and search for a man that she will love. When she falls in love with Tea Cake her dream finally comes true. He is the perfect man for her. If Janie didn't follow her dream of falling in love she would have never met him.
ReplyDeleteI believe that dreaming is a good thing. Dreaming lets you escape reality and lets you express yourself. If you couldn't dream it would be very difficult to face reality day after day. Everybody dream whether you're a little kid or an elderly person. In the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Janie dreams that she'll one day be in love with Logan but she knows that she isn't. She dreams of this perfect man util teacake comes along and she finds him. That's when Janie's dream becomes a reality for her.
ReplyDeleteI believe the purpose of a dream is to set a goal in life for your future. If we as people didn't dream, what would we aspire and work towards becoming in the future? As such, I also believe dreamer has a positive connotation, as it brings to mind someone who strives toward their goals. In using one's imagination, reality can seem better, however; the difference is to not allow yourself to be shrouded by your imagination and hide from the truth. I also believe one can dream too much (as listed above) and too little, by not believing they can accomplish their goals. The consequence for imagining too much was said earlier, however; for dreaming too little, you won't accomplish what you always wanted to and instead will be stuck where you are in life. In the case of Janie, she dreams of finding true love. This dream is realistic as it is what many people dream of. As such, I believe this dream helps her progress in life, due to her being able to meet her true love, Tea Cake. If she didn't dream of finding that true love, Janie and Tea Cake would have never meet and allowed Janie to find her true love.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJanie's main dream throughout the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" was to live by her own rules and not be defined by the hopes and dreams of those surrounding her. If you think about it, Janie really isn't asking that much, she just wants to live her life, not her grandmother's life. Janie's dream is a pretty close match to reality for the time period that his novel takes place, because during the early 1900's, many parents often set their children's lives in stone before they were even old enough to contribute a say. As the novel progresses, Janie's dream quickly evolves and eventually leads her onto shaky ground as she herself is unsure of what she really wants, which eventually leads to some pretty sudden decisions, some of which are good, and some of which aren't.
ReplyDelete