A New Life

At this point in the novel, Janie and Joe are about to get married and Janie is expressing her feelings for Joe. Janie has high hopes that her and Joe's relationship will go better than her previous one with Logan. Janie and Joe's wedding is unplanned and had such short notice, since the two only met a few days prior. Janie has just gained so much freedom by leaving Logan, and now she is losing some, hopefully not all, her freedom by marrying Joe, creating an interesting juxtaposition in the text. " It is the morning of Janie's wedding and it seems as if "the morning air was like a new dress",the air was so different than other days and this dress was  one that she knew she wanted and was finally getting. Janie's previous life with Logan was always about doing the best for others and not to do anything for yourself. When Janie left Joe, "she untied it (the apron) and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on," which shows how Janie has let Logan go and is now putting on the new dress that belongs to Joe. The speaker of this passage is not Janie, it is rather the narrator. This gives the reader  a better chance to see what is going on inside Janie's mind, while still seeking her outside, personal side of things. Overall, the tone of this passage is happy and excited, as for Janie is looking forward to this next step in her life, as is Joe. Janie is excited that she will have, "flower dust and springtime sprinkled on everything," which shows her childlike excitement, because her "bloom" will finally blossom.

-Anna Eckhoff (Red passage)

Reading Under A Microscope (PINK) Cooper and Dilip

           In this passage, we see Janie coming outside to see the road and have some inner thoughts. Imagery is shown through of the natural descriptions shown and used by the author such as, "Glossy leaves and bursting buds" or, "She searched as much of the world as she could". A tone in this passage reveals itself. A certain tone of detachment and neediness is shown by Janie looking up and down the road in desperation. The passage reads, "she searched as much of the world as she could from the top of the stairs to the bottom." This specific sentence begins to introduce a concept of detachment and isolation. The sense that these stairs have become the entire world in Janie's perspective is belittling to her confidence and worldly views in this passage. It is clearly evident that this shrinking in perspective directly relates to her life in general. Her family was belittled by the slavery in her Nanny's early years. Her childhood was belittled by inappropriately sexual men. Also, she suffered or a very long time in a harsh one-sided relationship with her dominating husband Jody. This passage is truly rife with figurative language and use of literary concepts.