There you go, Twilight fans! Don't say I never did anything for you. As you can see from Hurston's bio picture, this is a woman with style! Anyone who can pull off a hat with a feather is impressive in my book. But, now, speaking of Hurston's book, what do you notice about her writing style? As you may have noticed, there is a topic involving comparing Hurston's style to O'Brien's's style. This is a rather broad topic, so I'll try to help narrow it down a bit.
When addressing the style of each author, you may choose to analyze the diction, or word choice, of each. (Is the word choice formal or informal? Does the author write in a way that is imagistic and poetic or rather terse and straightforward?)
Other ideas to consider: Does the author use dialect? Long or short sentences? Lots of dialogue or not so much? Is there anything else that stands out about the author's style? What sort of atmosphere, tone, or mood is each writer able to create? How are the writers similar and different in these areas? Also, what impact or effect does the author's style have on the novel? Does the style help the readers to understand the time period or culture? Does the style tend to alienate readers or draw them in to the story? Does the narrator seem to have a particular bias or philosophy that spills onto the page?
*These are questions to think about for the essay topic. For this post, feel free to stick to Hurston's style and we'll save O'Brien for later. (Unless you've already read both novels...in which case I now appoint you Most Impressive Person of June. Anyone?)
What's unique about Hurston's style of writing in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is that she uses a great amount of dialect when her characters are speaking, and they'll converse for paragraphs at a time without being interrupted. Yet, when they are, the voice of the narrator is highly intelligent, using figurative language and metaphors to get his or her point across. An example of this is when the story flashes from "'...nothin' Ah been through ain't too much if you just take a stand on high ground lak Ah dreamed.'" (16) to "Mind-pictures brought feelings, and feelings dragged out dramas from the hollows of her heart." (16). When Nanny, Janie's grandmother, is speaking to her, Hurston filled the statements with thick, southern dialect. Almost so thick as to not be understandable. Then, the narrator comes in with intellectual imagery and symbolism. The change in Hurston's style of writing is so dramatic that I felt as though I was switching between two entirely different novels. Literary whip-lash. Writing like this actually aides the novel, though, I believe. If the book was too extreme in either fashion of writing, either too dull or too clever, very seldom would people want to read it. Books without figurative language and imagery sound as if the author is daft, whereas books with too much feel as though the author is trying too hard to impress his or her readers. Yes, Hurston's style of writing is unique. But, in being unique, it offers the novel an advantage. Interest appeal.
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ReplyDeleteHurston does use dialect, but she uses it in a way so readers can understand the time period the book takes place in and so they can understand what the people talking are like. I've noticed that there is lots of dialogue without narration in between. The interesting thing is that the whole book is not written in southern dialect like the dialogue is, but the narration is in very good English. At first I couldn't understand the dialogue, but rereading what they were saying a couple times helped. I just needed to get used to reading words that were spelled in weirder ways.
ReplyDeleteThe book is so brutal and hard to get a grasp on because of the Hurston's amazing command she has over the dialect she uses. It's kind of like the book anthem how Rand uses they and we instead of I because equality only knows those words it's so hard for you to read it because it confuses you because you're so used to seeing I in the instances she uses they. The dialect is amazing though and after reading the book for a while I can see the characters actually speaking in that fashion and I can hear them as well.
ReplyDeleteIn Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston’s style, including her use of dialect, brings out the historical context of the novel. Without it, I believe the novel wouldn’t carry the same impact. If the dialogue was written grammatically correct I would have forgotten that the characters didn’t have a proper education and I would have constantly questioned every action they took. However, while the dialect helps to understand the historical setting of the novel it does alienate the reader. As I read there was a constant internal struggle within my brain of do I read the dialogue the way it’s written or do I consciously change “Ah” to “I” and “yuh” to “you”. The dialect definitely made the novel more of a struggle to read.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston has a very unique and different style in her writing. She writes in a very strong dialect which is harder to understand when you just start reading the book. Using words like "a" instead of "uh" and "with" rather than "wid" would drastically change the book and not have as much of an impact on the reader. Hurston spells out the sounds the word makes when the speaker pronounces the word rather than spelling out the grammatically correct word. As I attempted to match the words written to it's correct spelling there was constant conflict whether or not I was matching them up correctly. Hurston was trying to have a more historical southern atmosphere where we are used to reading and picturing a more modern midwestern dialect. It took me a little longer to read the novel just because it took a my brain longer to comprehend.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston uses southern dialect throughout the novel “The Eyes Were Watching God”. Hurston did a good job with the dialect, helping the readers really feel like they are part of the story. This style is very unique and I have never seen anything like it. It was hard for me to catch onto the book because of the strong dialect. I had finally caught on and I enjoyed it. I think that this style made the book more interesting and understand the south in the early 1900s better. It helped me paint a picture in my mind and get a better grasp. Although I had trouble sounding out words at some points, the strong southern dialect became natural to me and the story became smoother. It really gave me a good idea of how the south was back then.
ReplyDeleteHurston's style in Their Eyes Were Watching God is...different than the typical books that I read. The characters all speak with a very strong southern drawl. It was quite confusing at first and I was beginning to be frustrated, but I eventually caught on and it was much easier to read the novel. The word choice is extremely informal, but it's really neat to see how southern folks talked during this time period. There is quite a lot of dialogue, which I personally prefer over long narration. It makes me feel like I am actually standing there listening to the conversation. I also noticed that Hurston flips back and forth quickly between this southern dialect and highly intelligent and wordy narration. To me, it showed that the author was literate for living in this time. The style helped me to understand southern culture because I didn't realize that every person in the south once talked like this. I was surprised. It gives off the very casual atmosphere that allows me to join right into the novel. I really enjoyed Hurston's style.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston uses a rather unique type of dialect in her writing. In the beginning of the book, I couldn't quite get into it because of the dialect. It was hard to interpret, and I really had to concentrate to figure out what was going on. The word choice is very informal. I feel like I gained knowledge on southern culture from this novel. Once I adjusted to the dialect, I really enjoyed the book. Hearing the way things were back then and how they spoke was interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston uses a southern dialect throughout her novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God." An example of this southern dialect is when she uses words like "lak" instead of "like" and "keer" instead of "care." The dialect makes the book particularly difficult to read after first starting the novel, but it adds to the story. It shows what time frame the book was set in, and it makes me feel immersed in the story. The dialect really kept me interested throughout the novel, and made me really think about what was happening.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurtson takes a very interesting approach to writing Their Eyes Were Watching God . The obvious difference in her writing is the choice of southern-accent dialect. This gives the reader some idea to the location within the novel, but in my opinion also does something else. It is a common stereotype that people from the south are less-accepting of minorities, such as women and African Americans. The long narration of uninterrupted dialect provides this, especially when Jody is telling Janie to be quiet or when they have their spats. The dialect allows her to set the stage for her real point; Blacks and women are as equal as white men. Her feminist tendencies don’t just leak into the book; she took a bucket-full of feminism and spilled it on almost every page of the novel. Janie often represents this, one example being when she talks back to Jody when he claims men need to think for women. “Ah knows uh few things, and womenfolks thinks sometimes too!”(p. 71). She clearly defies him, which is against the common thought of the time period (the novel was published in 1900; women couldn’t vote until 1919). Also mixed in with her feminism is a solid belief of total-equality for all skin colors, whether that would be black or white. This includes the beginning of the novel, when Janie gets laughed at for not knowing she was “colored” and made fun of for living in a white person’s backyard. Hurtson is a writer with a purpose and a strong belief, which greatly influences her style of writing.
ReplyDeleteWhile I began reading "Their Eyes Were Watching God", it drove me crazy. The southern dialect really threw an added struggle in comprehending the novel. However, as I continued to read I discovered it actually helped me comprehend because I would find myself re-reading the conversations several times. I found it beneficial for me personally. The southern dialect also put a time stamp on the novel, I could really picture myself in the conversation with these people. This novel is probably one of the most informal books that I have ever read. I loved it! I liked how you could feel at ease and just enjoy the novel and not have to worry so much about the deeper meaning. I thought Zora Neale Hurtston did an amazing job of balancing the novel with the informal and formal. The dialect was very informal while the narration was quite formal. I enjoyed it. It was an awesome way to approach this novel.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurtson's style is defined by her us of a southern dialect, but not limited to that alone. She uses an informal writing style, and dialogue to create a slow southern feeling. Her dialect is written as the words sound, so words like "I" are written as "Ah". This helps set the reader's mind into the late 18oo's, which is when the book is set. Hurtson utilizes dialogue to set the tone of the book, from what I've read so far it appears to be sassy. Something else I've noticed is that in some situations in the book, Hurtson stops useing direct language and changes into deeper, metiphorical writing. This usually happens when Janie is having a revelation. I believe this is to show how inteligent Janie really is.
ReplyDeleteIn Zora Neal Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” she uses a strong southern dialect which sets her apart from other classic literature. Her informal choice in writing helps set the tone of the novel and allows you to perceive life of a young African American woman. Life of an African American was hard during the late 1800’s due to the fact that they were seen as a minority and did not have the opportunities that the other races did. Throughout the novel she voices her opinions on equality between men and women and the equality between races through her character Janie. Janie is seen as a woman and nothing more but as the novel continues she begins to voice her opinions. Hurston gets her point across through direct language in the southern dialect which is followed by a long in-depth more metaphorical speech which backs up her point.
ReplyDeleteI have never read a novel with dialog as rich as Hurston's. It was definitely difficult to read some of the conversations. I found myself going back and reading them a few times to figure out what was going on. Her southern dialect really helps give you a feel for the time period the story was written. It really helps you feel as though you are connected with the story.
ReplyDeleteIn Zora Neal Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, she used a very strong southern dialect to capture the time period that the novel took place in, to breath life into the characters, and to help capture and portray the fact that Janie and the other characters were less educated.It also creates a better image and experience for the readers, and helps them grasp the setting of the time period. Though the was the novel was written is very beneficial to many readers, I personally dislike it. I find it hard to focus and understand what is going on.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston uses very strong southern dialect throughout the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. Hurston did a very good job with the dialect because it really made me feel like I was part of the story. I have never read a book with such strong southern dialect so it was hard for me to read at first but once I kept on reading I caught on and it became a smoother read for me. Throughout the book Hurston uses a lot of dialogue. I like a lot more dialogue then narration in novels because it makes me feel like I am there listening to the conversation. What I thought was unique was how Hurston switched quickly back and forth between narration and dialogue. Even though this book was hard to understand at the beginning I really liked Hurston’s style.
ReplyDeleteI was so annoyed with the dialect in this book. Although irritating and sometimes making it harder to continue in the book, it did help paint the picture in my head. So much that after I stopped reading it, I thought in a southern accent for awhile. The massive amounts of talking that went on helped me understand the characters a lot more than if the narrator tried to explain the person's characteristics. Even though I got a little frustrated with the way they talked, it did help add the meaning to the book and allow more understanding. I must admit, it takes some panache to write an entire novel like that. I would hate typing so many apostrophes. You go Zora.
ReplyDeleteHurston’s use of dialect was hard to understand at times but I salute her for her use of dialect because it put me in the informal atmosphere that she was portraying. The dialect showed the southern and uneducated nature of the characters. Hurston writes very curtly and some times that made it more difficult to understand on top of the strong use of dialect. She used a lot of dialogue but I was not fond on how Hurston did not add things such as “Janie explained” or “Joe said” before or after her dialogue. I did not like this because it forced me to go back to the beginning of the conversation just so I could understand who was speaking. But other than that, I feel like the informal grammar in the novel does bring readers into the story.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Hurston used a very strong southern dialect. At first it was very difficult for me to understand but as I kept reading I began to understand the novel more. She used a lot of dialogue in the novel and she also switch back and fourth from narration. I personally like the narration better because it was difficult for me to understand what was going on during the dialogue with the southern accent. Even thought it was difficult for me to read I like Hurstons style.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main thing that stuck out to me was the way the dialect was used throughout the book. I have read many books, some with crazy dialect such as ‘Romeo and Juliet” and ‘A midsummer nights dream’ but none like this one. The story consisted of a southern dialect, which totally threw me off. As I began to read the story I hated it, constantly had me re-reading pages and trying to talk in a different accent in order to comprehend it. As I progressed through the book it started making sense on why it was used like it was and how the dialect improved the book so much. The dialect added so much to the book, such as putting your mind into the time zone, and also remembering where it took place. The dialect Hurston used in this novel was much exaggerated, but fit the novel perfectly. Another big thing on Hurstons’ writing was how much dialogue was used throughout the book. It added a feeling of you actually witnessing the story firsthand instead of being told the story, which I found very interesting throughout the book. All in all Hurston is a very unique writer.
ReplyDeleteIn “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Hurston uses very strong Southern dialect, but it fit perfectly with the storyline. I did not find it hard to read because I have read books before that have similar dialect. The way the novel was written helped me to understand the culture of African Americans in the south during the 1930’s much better. Without the style she used to write the book, the reader would not be able to fully understand the way they talked, how poor of an education everyone had, and the conditions and ways that they lived. The novel had a lot of dialogue and used narration to fill the parts in between to tell what else was going on at that point in time. Overall, the style Hurston wrote in helped me to create a picture of everything in my head and the book would not have been the same without it.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston uses a kind of dialect in her novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God",that shows the Historical time period of the novel. The Southern dialect of the novel shows that the time period is the 1930's. She uses the words "dat" instead of "that", "ah" instead of "I" and "aid" instead of "with". The author uses a huge amount of dialect when the characters are talking, but doesn't use a great amount of dialect when it comes to the narrator. The dialect helped me understand the time period the novel took place in. It really helped me paint a picture in my head of what was going on in throughout the novel. Without that same dialect, it would be harder to understand what is going on throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteIn her novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", I noticed author Zora Neale Hurston uses a tremendous amount of dialect in the conversations between characters which reflects the area and time period the story takes place (Southern United States in the 1930s era). The narrator in the novel has little to none of this same dialect. At first the dialect was hard to get used to and made reading a little slower, but once I got used to that southern style I really enjoyed the rustic feeling and atmosphere of the novel and it allowed me to grasp and appreciate the ways of life in the old days of the southern U.S., More so than if the story was written in our modern Michigan dialect.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Hurston uses strong southern dialect throughout the entire story. She spells out the words exactly how they would sound at the time. For instance the word “I” is spelled “ah.” The spelling changes were difficult to understand at first, but as the novel progressed, reading became easier. The use of this distinct dialect allows Hurston to give the novel an authentic feeling and express southern culture in the 1930’s. Overall, the dialect draws the reader in and makes them feel like a part of the story.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I started reading "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston, the strong southern dialect was a pain to read. I read every individual word the way it was spelled, and it took forever. As the novel progressed, I read it with ease. I enjoyed her use of dialogue because it helped me understand the 1930's, Southern United States time frame. I also enjoyed the fact that dialogue was used to tell most of the story because I felt like I was seeing what was happening as opposed to being told what was happening.
ReplyDeleteIn Hurston's novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Hurston uses a strong southern dialect to fit with the time period of this story. If Hurston wouldn't have used the strong dialect, I wouldn't have been able to understand the culture as well as I did with the dialect. It was hard to get use to at first but because everything was spelled exactly how it sounded it got easier to read. Overall I enjoyed the rich southern dialect she used because it helped me feel more apart of the story and understand life back then.
ReplyDeleteIn "Their Eyes Were Watching God", by Zora Neale Hurston, the type of dialect and narration used is what gives this novel character. Instead of a traditional writing style or an oblong style strictly, Hurston is able to incorporate both. While dialect is spoken in past, southern accents, the narration is written in the way our language is spoken today which also makes this book ahead of its time. With incorporating both of these writing styles in her novel, Hurston is able to properly portray life back then not for African-Americans alone but also women. Even with the unusual dialect for avid readers, it is because of said dialect that makes "Their Eyes Were Watching God" a compelling book that has character of its own while narration is used to help elaborate and move the storyline along.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s different about Zora Neal Hurston’s book is her use of dialect and just how much she uses it. It plays a big role in the story as she also uses the dialect to give the reader an idea of what things were like at the time and maybe give somewhat of a visualization of things. She creates a vivid southern culture just through the use of words. I’ve also noticed she’s even gone through pages without breaking a conversation. Another interesting thing is how the dialogue is written like how people spoke at the time but everything else is in formal english.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel "Their eyes we're watching God", Zora Neal Hurston uses thick, southern dialect in most of the dialogue. I find myself struggling to understand what the characters are trying to say on some occasions because of the excessive use of dialect. I do admire her ability to be able to go from southern dialect right back to very well written english. Hurston has a very unique writing style because the word choice is so informal, but I think it helps to portray the time period in which the story takes place. Hurston does a very good job of bringing the story alive and making you feel like you are in the south in the 1930s.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston has a unique style of writing. She uses a southern dialect when the characters are talking so it helps the reader understand the time period more, and the characters and how they were uneducated southern folks. She uses lots of dialogue that helps the reader know what the other characters are thinking so they have more than just the main characters point of view. She uses shorter sentences with informal writing for the characters speaking, and more formal English in the narration. Her style of writing allows the reader to get into the book and really understand what’s going on.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston is a great author and is very well at using a southern style dialect. So good at it that it almost took a second reading just to get it. It really gave me a better view on how to 1930's worked compared to today's time! She has the narrator with little to none southern dialect, while all mojor characters are given their "character" by that southern accent. In the end, I feel better about understanding the south.
ReplyDelete-Riley Heuker(My last name isn't showing up, sorry)
The writing style that she uses is effective in getting her point across. Hurston uses the southern dialect to allow the reader to engage themselves in the novel. She chose to go back and forth between proper and grammatically correct passages from the narrator and the dialogue that the character’s use. Because Hurston chose to do this I believe she made the frustrating dialect easier to digest. She is still giving the reader of taste of the time and culture, but still making sure that the story line isn’t lost. Even though I don’t care for this writing style, I still think it deserves respect because of its uniqueness.
ReplyDeleteIt took a while for me to get used to the southern dialect Hurston uses but after I got used to it I found it easier to try to relate with the characters, and understand them and what was going on more. I truly don't think the novel would have been as good without the dialect because it really made you feel somewhat involved in the story.
ReplyDeleteTheir Eyes Were Watching God is different from almost every other book I have read because of the amount of dialect used. It was very annoying to read at first because I was not used to it. However, after a while I picked up on what everything actually meant. Even though I found it annoying I also understand why Hurston chose to write like that. Her writing gave me a sense of the era and the setting. She also uses a lot of dialogue which I liked because it let me grasp a better sense of who all the characters were and what they were like. Without her dialect the book would not get the point across as well. I think her writing style alienates readers at first because they do not understand at first, but then she slowly draws them in with her characters personalities.
ReplyDeleteThe main writing style of Hurston is that she writes the novel exactly how the men and women of the African American society in the south spoke at that time. She writes with an informal word choice; she uses a lot of slang, and is straightforward. Huston also uses a lot of dialogue. She almost always uses dialog whenever Janie speaks to someone else. The way she writes makes it very easy for the reader to feel the mood in which the novel is taking place. By Hurston using the southern slang the reader really get an idea of the time period and the culture in the southern black community. For me the style Hurston uses really brings me into the story. I have to pay much closer attention to what is being said in the novel because the slang she uses is different than what I’m used to hearing or reading.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" the author Zora Neale Hurston uses a lot of southern dialect. Reading this dialect drove me crazy throughout the book but without it you wouldn't be able to get a good sense of the characters personality. With that being said her writing style is definitely spot on with the way African Americans in the south spoke back then. She used lots of dialogue between characters throughout the book as well as slang. Hurston's writing style is very different and it made me slow down and actually think about what I just read because I'm not used to reading southern dialect.
ReplyDeleteThis novel was easily one of the hardest novels that i have ever had to interpret. For one, the southern dialect is one of the most confusing things for me to understand. I definitely prefer when the narrator talks in the story compared to when the actual characters speak to one another. I have never been good at reading/speaking southern dialect and it especially takes me quite a while to read because half the time i don't even know what i'm reading and i end up having to reread the entire page because i keep thinking about something else and I get easily frustrated trying to figure out what the words actually mean. Hurston continues throughout this novel constantly changing the scene, or going back to different memories, or recalling a certain idea and it just completely confuses me to be honest. I prefer when a book is simple to follow and enjoyable to read when i don't have to try to figure out what the characters are saying. One thing this novel did a great job on was recreating the time period in which this novel is based on. The events during the book and the education of the characters put a clear emphasis on the year the book was taking place on probably somewhere in the 1920's. Overall, i would say that the way this book was written it definitely didn't draw me in whatsoever. The way the scenes jumped around and the southern dialect were a bit overwhelming and i don't think i would recommend this book anytime soon. On a positive note thought this book had a clear theme and was very easy to write about!
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston wrote in a southern dialect for "Their Eyes Were Watching God". She also used a very informal word choice. Zora Neale Hurston does a great job at showing you the culture of the characters through the dialect. The dialect did make the book harder to read, and I found myself rereading much more than usual.
ReplyDeleteHurston's unique dialect only seemed frustrating and hard to comprehend in the beginning. As I read along it started to seem much more than that. The dialect shows a number of things, and gave a big taste of culture that was in the south during this period of time. I believe that without the dialect we would not have been able to fully experience the events in this story, and it would of made us a little bit less involved. As I stuttered across this text I not only began to imagine what the characters looked and sounded like but also how they were brought up and their education. The dialect for me pretty much molded my view on many southern African Americans during this time. Although it was much harder to read, Hurston gave her book a uniqueness that shaped what I as a reader imagined the characters to be like. It was a very interesting writing approach that kept me more interested in the whole novel once I began to understand Hurston's reason for it.
ReplyDeleteThe dialect that hurston uses makes me look at this book from a different aspect. It really brings out the culture, but it also made the book very, very hard to understand. Also, the fact that Hurston continuously flashed back to different scenes and setting made it hard to comprehend too. On the other hand though, me not being able to understand the southern dialect made me focus more, i couldnt just breeze through the book like normal.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" the author Zora Neale Hurston uses a lot of southern dialect. It was confusing for me to read it but without it you wouldn't be able to get a grasp the characters personality. With that being said, the book really brings out the culture of the time era. She used lots of dialogue between characters throughout the book as well. Hurston's writing style is very different and it made me slow down and actually think about what I just read.
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