Exploring Dialect in Literature: Insights from Hurston's Work

Name Class Related Media Exploration Why write in dialect? PART 1: Black Life in the 20s & 30s Directions: Watch “As blacks fled Jim Crow, tensions rose in north” Then, answer questions 1-2. 1. Based on Timuel D. Black's descriptions and the photographs in the video, what was it like living in the Jim Crow South as a Black person? 2. According to Black, what was the goal of the newly re-formed Ku Klux Klan (KKK)? PART 2: Hurston the Anthropologist Directions: Play the media referenced below and answer the questions that follow. Video: “What is Anthropology?” 3. What is the goal of anthropology? Unit 2: Their Eyes Were Watching God 0 Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

4. Compare cultural anthropology and linguistic anthropology. 5. Why do anthropologists think the study of language is important? Audio: Excerpt from Mules and Men 6. Based on information from the previous video, what benefits do you think Hurston gains by viewing her past experiences through “the spy-glass of Anthropology”? 7. Their Eyes Were Watching God is set in Florida. Based on this excerpt, why might Hurston have chosen Florida as the setting? Turn & Talk How might Hurston’s study of anthropology have helped her write fiction? Unit 2: Their Eyes Were Watching God 1 Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

PART 3: Language in Their Eyes Were Watching God Directions: Watch the video clips and answer the corresponding questions. Then, read the short excerpt and answer the questions that follow. Video: “Accent Expert Gives a Tour of U.S. Accents - (Part One) | WIRED” Clip 1 8. According to Holliday, what circumstances influenced the formation of African American English (AAE)? 9. Describe three sound changes in African American English that Holliday discusses in the video. 10. As a linguist , Holliday discusses the construction and sounds of AAE. What else might a linguistic anthropologist discuss about African American English? Video: “Accent Expert Gives a Tour of U.S. Accents - (Part One) | WIRED” Clip 2 11. Many words in Their Eyes Were Watching God are written phonetically , which means they are spelled the way they sound. Below are two phonetic spellings of the word rice . Which is an example of how “full price smoothing” sounds? a. Ris b. Rahs Unit 2: Their Eyes Were Watching God 2 Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

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Excerpt: from Their Eyes Were Watching God (page 8) Directions: Read the short excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God two times: once silently and once aloud. Then answer the questions. 12. How does reading the paragraph aloud affect your understanding of it? 13. Identify the features of AAE and the Piney Woods Belt accent represented in the paragraph. Create a key or legend that provides examples and their Standard English spelling. PART 4: Hurston and Dialect Directions: Play the media referenced below and answer the questions that follow. Audio: “African American dialect the heart of Penumbra’s ‘Spunk’” 14. According to Bellamy, how is African American dialect a “tool for an oppressed culture”? 15. Choose two phrases from the audio clip that are not translated for the listener. Write the phrase and then discuss how the words serve as “code” for a deeper meaning. Unit 2: Their Eyes Were Watching God 3 Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

16. What is Sarah Bellamy’s response to those who were critical to Hurston’s use of dialect? PART 5: Independent Reflection Directions: Respond to the prompt below by writing or typing in the box. PROMPT: Based on the video and audio clips, what is the significance of using authentic Black dialect in a novel in 1937? PART 5: Whole Class Discussion Directions: Share your answer to the question from Part 5 with the class. Then, keep the conversation going by discussing the following optional questions. ● What phonetic spellings do you use or see used today? ● What are some features of the dialect of English that you speak? How would you spell words to indicate these features? ● What mood did the dialect examples from “Spunk” build based on “African American dialect the heart of Penumbra’s ‘Spunk’”? ● What suggestions do you have for someone who may struggle with reading the dialect in Hurston’s novel? What is one way you can get “unstuck” if you aren’t understanding the dialect? Unit 2: Their Eyes Were Watching God 4 Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Why write in dialect 2

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