Unit 1 Essay

Now that youve finished reading Their Eyes Were Watching God, and you have analyzed the novel from various literary perspectives, you will write an essay digging deeper into the perspective that interests you most.

Directions

Write an essay in response to one of the prompt questions below. You are encouraged to build on assignments you started earlier in the unit.

• Option 1: Write a literary analysis of folklore/folkloric elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God. When analyzing folkloric elements of the novel, be sure to address the oral traditions Hurston draws upon in the novel.
• Option 2: Use the description of recurring character types in African American womens writingthe suspended woman, the assimilated woman, and the emergent womanto analyze the female characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Which of these types appear in the text, and how do they relate to the meaning of the novel as a whole? That is, how do these types function in the text to convey some sort of moral or lesson or theme?
• Option 3: Connect the issues Janie faced in the novel to current issues faced by women and/or African American people today. Be sure to draw heavily upon the novel as well as your own sociological research for this essay.

Requirements

• Use Their Eyes Were Watching God and at least one literary critique as sources within your essay. You are welcome to use an article included previously in this unit, OR to find an article about TEWWG in the literary database .
• Your final draft should be approximately 4-5 pages, at least 1200 words, not including works cited
• Include an introduction, 3+ body paragraphs, a conclusion, and a works cited page
• Include with one entry for the novel and an entry for any additional outside sources referenced in your essay

Format

• Format your paper in MLA (12 point font, consistent web-friendly font throughout, a works cited page, no extra space between paragraphs or at top or bottom of page, etc). Here’s a link to a sample MLA formatted essay (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_paper.html) available on the Purdue owl website
• Include
• PDF .doc .docx and GoogleDoc files are accepted. No other file formats. You won’t receive credit for submitting an essay until you resubmit your paper using one of the first three file formats.

Grading

See assignment grading rubric

**Note that you will not get credit for this assignment if it is flagged as AI generated or AI refined since this breaks the course’s AI policy. All rough draft and final draft words should be written by you and proofread by you, not AI.