ACTIVITY

4.8 Janie’s New LifeSUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Questioning the Text, Close Reading, Graphic Organizer, Think-Pair-Share, Discussion Groups, Rereading

Chapter 5 1. Read Chapter 5 and then write three questions for each of the

following levels of questions:

• Literal (what the text says)

• Interpretive (what the text means)

• Universal (why it matters)

Literal Interpretive Universal

What does Joe Starks say when the audience requests that Janie speak?

Based on Joe Starks’s statements about women, what can the reader infer?

How does society defi ne male and female roles?

2. Share your questions with your classmates. With your class, choose three questions that best identify the central issues of Chapter 5. Write those questions below.

320 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6

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ActiVity  4.8Janie’s New Life

Materials:•TheirEyesWereWatchingGod,

Chapters 5 and 6

Purpose:• To dramatize elements of humor

in the text

• To trace how a motif evolves and develops significance

• To analyze the effect of setting on characters

steps:1Questioning the text is an important skill that good readers practice constantly, usually without realizing it. This activity will help students develop this skill. Review the levels of questions (literal, interpretive, and universal) with students and discuss the different kinds of information that each type of question elicits.

2Guide students through a close reading of Joe Starks’s address to the citizens of Eatonville. Use this section to model crafting a series of leveled questions that analyze the text.

3You might have students use think-pair-share to write the three levels of questions. After students complete their questions, conduct a whole class sharing of the questions. Focus on the interpretive level questions, and have the class choose the three or four questions that identify the central issues of this chapter.

Differentiating instruction:

support or extend learning by asking students to select one central issue of interest to them and generate a response to literature. Give students the choice of working individually or collaboratively to craft a response. Provide mini-lessons as needed to help students refine ideas or writing structure and to prepare them for Embedded Assessment 1.

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ACTIVITY 4.8

Chapter 6As an anthropologist, Hurston collected stories, conversations, and other aspects of oral tradition that she then infused into her writing. As you read Chapter 6, watch for elements of humor such as tall tales/hyperbole, parody, and riddles.

3. In the space below, list examples for each element of humor, and describe its effect.

Example from the Chapter Effect

Tall Tales/Hyperbole

Parody

Riddles

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ActiVity  4.8 Continued

steps:4Chapter 6 is rich in humorous “crayon enlargements of life.” Divide students into groups, and assign one of these elements of humor to each group: tall tales/hyperbole, parody, and riddles. Have students listen for these elements of humor while you read aloud Chapter 6. In discussion groups, they should prepare to explain the humorous element for other students in a jigsaw. As an extension, students could do an oral presentation of a humorous piece, engage in a lying contest, or share some other manifestation of humor in the oral tradition.

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Unit 4 • An American Journey 321

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Think about the characters, setting, and confl icts in Chapters 5 and 6. Then write analytical responses to the interpretive questions below.

4. Why does Joe pamper the mule he bought from Matt Bonner? What effect does his special treatment have on the mule? Do you see any parallels in his treatment of Janie?

5. Hurston often used Eatonville, her real-life childhood home, as a setting in her work. Describe Eatonville as it is presented in TheirEyes Were Watching God. What effect is the young town having on Joe, Janie, and their marriage?

6. “She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew how not to mix them.” When have you seen evidence of the two sides of Janie in Chapters 5 and 6? What is the reason for this disparity?

Writing Prompt: Using blues music as inspiration, craft a poetic refl ection of “Janie’s Blues” on separate paper.

ACTIVITY 4.8 Janie’s New Life

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ActiVity  4.8 Continued

steps:5reread Janie’s assessment of Joe setting the mule free as well as the response Hambo shares, and then lead the class in a discussion of the effect Joe’s treatment has on the mule. Ask students to consider why Joe buys and pampers the mule. Some critics have argued that Joe’s over-feeding and special treatment lead to the mule’s death, mirroring the gradual effect of Joe’s “special treatment” on Janie. Allow students to weigh in on this view.

6Have students discuss the setting, describing Eatonville and its citizens and how this young town is affecting Joe, Janie, and their relationship to each other.

7reread the part of Chapter 6 that begins, “Times and scenes like that put Janie to thinking about the inside state of her marriage” and ending with, “That was a bow to the outside of things.” When Joe slaps Janie so hard that her ears ring, the motif of the pear tree and the bees reappears. Have students do a close reading of this paragraph (beginning with “Janie stood where he left her…”) and discuss how the motif has evolved.

8In this part of the chapter, the difference between Janie’s inner state and her outer state is emphasized. Ask students to find additional references to this disparity in Chapters 5 and 6.

9Using blues music from the Harlem Renaissance as an auditory prompt, ask students to write “Janie’s Blues” as the music plays.

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322 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 6