HW1: "Polar Breath" by Diane Glancy

A) A reoccurring symbol in "Polar Breath" by Diane Glancy is the cold. Glancy uses the cold as an interpretation of the overall mood of the poem and as a refection of what the main character feels. By saying, "Why didn't their little bodies freeze like ice-cubes? What kept them warm?" and by later going into detail about how the main character is feels like she is trapped in a deep depression, "She was tangled in the fishing line that went down into the cold, dark hole below her," the author shows that the cold represents more then just the weather or feeling of an object but rather the character's life. By asking, "What kept them warm?" the author shows that the character feels alone after her husband's death and is seeking a way out or the warmth rather than the cold she is surrounded by. The image of, "...birds flew from the wall. They banged at the windows get out," shows the turmoil the character feels and the struggle to hold onto her sanity.  The reader sees that even though she struggles, there is little hope of escaping the cold when the sun, usually a symbol for warmth and peacefulness, remains, "wicked," in her eyes, "Now the sun shined its wicked and beautiful pattern on the kitchen window." The character believes that spirits surround her, "...the spirits that got loose when it was cold," and ,"She decided the spirits left it there." Her belief stems from the death of her husband and again represent the idea of being surrounded by something she cannot control.


B) "Polar Breath" by Diane Glancy uses the feeling of being surrounded by the cold as a way to represent suffocation and the attempt to fight one's way out of depression. In the work, a woman is delusional and has continuous visions of being surrounded and trapped under or with something she cannot control like, ""She was tangled in the fishing line that went down into the cold, dark hole below her," and, "Now they were wrapping her house in cellophane." She struggles to see the warmth in the sunlight, "Now the sun shined its wicked and beautiful pattern on the kitchen window," and feels the cold constantly, "She needed to work her fingers. They felt blue and cold." The author uses the birds as a representation of tying to escape her depression, "Inside her head, birds flew from the wall. They banged at the windows get out." But the further her mind strays from reality, "She felt like she was walking barefoot across the ice to him. She fought to hold onto the counter," the further she sinks into her depression until it consumes her, "She reached for the finger she saw at the glass. But the icehole burped like her old husband in his chair and the frigid water closed her up."

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.

Blooming Janie

The close reading passage uses many different types of figurative language, tone, and repetition. One type of figurative language used in this close reading is the personification of bees kissing and also bees singing. We think this represents Janie’s desire to grow up and be free just like the bees. The tone this passage has is hopeful but at the same time it also has a confused tone. Janie is not sure where she belongs or who she is, but she is hopeful that she will find out soon enough she just isn’t sure when. The repetition in this passage is used in different ways. Nature is a main idea that is repeated multiple times to show Janie’s thoughts on the world and how she feels about herself. She explains how trees bloom and grow and she pictures herself blooming and growing one day just the same. All in all the pink close reading passage on page 11 uses many differerent types of figurative language, tone, and repetition.

-Mufaro and Caitlynn

A Slave in a Free Wold

In the passage, Janie is caught kissing Johnny Taylor. Nanny is angry and tries to persuade her that Logan Killicks is a better match for Janie because he can ensure her safety and comfort. She is doing what she thinks is best, but her perspective of the world is different than Janie’s. Nanny grew up as a slave and was raped, while Janie grew up as a free black girl. Nanny’s bias is seen when in the passage, she says “...as Ah can see” (Hurston 14). “Maybe its some place of in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don’t know nothin’...” (Hurston 14) is what Nanny says to Janie in her attempt to convince her to marry Logan. This quote signifies her lost hope in an America where everyone is free- the idea seems foreign and far into the future. For now, “de white man throw down de load and tell de n***er man tuh pick it up...because he have to” (Hurston 14). The men only pick it up to satisfy the white men, but “he hand it to his womenfolk...de n***er woman is de mule” (Hurston 14). This is similar to when an older sibling passes off their esignated chore to the younger, weaker child. The author explains that women are the truly oppressed people, which simultaneously takes a stand against slavery and patriarchy. She compares women to mules, which is also an example of them carrying the burden and plays on the animal imagery motif as well. While Nanny doesn't want Janie to make the same mistakes, she is also setting Janie up for failure, which can be seen later in the book.

Ali and Ira

Their Eyes were Reading the Pink Passage

    This Passsage is an introduction of the metaphor of the tree and an introduction of Janie as character situated at the beggining of the book. The introduction of the tree is also the intorduction of the novels complete comparison of Janie to the tree. One example is the passage talks about the tree blooming, which is a representation of Janie becoming an adult and in a sense"evolving". This setups compariosn between these two throughout the rest of the book. One other thing that happens in this passage is a characterization of Janie. Janie leaving the house while her Grandma is asleep shows that she is a free spirit and also a anxetious person because she was "...Waiting for the world to be made." This means that she couldn't wait to get older and expierence situatiosn in the real world. One last thing that occured in this passage was actuall where it was situated in the book which was at the beginging of the book. This is a perfect place to place this paragraph because it was an elegant introduction to many of the motifs that had been repeated thrughout the ovel. One example is the repition of the tree or even reoccurong visuals of Janie's character such as later on we see her free spirit shen she lets down her hair showing her rebelous ways towards Jody. Through this, we are introduced many ideas, creating a structure for the rest of the novel.

                       --Swivine and Adam

Cameron and Jonathan--Close Greending

This passsage contains multiple sections involved in close reading. The most important are context, concepts and speaker. For context, this passage is situated soon after Jody (Joe)nis elected mayor of Eatonville. The townsfolk say that Janie, being the mayor's wife, should give a speech. But before she can get started, Jody cuts it all off. They walk home together, and it creates an interesting juxtaposition. It creates a juxtaposition between Janie's sadness and dejectedness, and Jody's joy and pleasure. This juxtaposition occurs throughout the rest of the novel. There is one big concept that this passage conveys, because it occurs consistently through the book. That  is the concept of Janie's silence. Whenever she builds herself up to speak, she is shot down by Jody.  For speaker, it starts with Jody speaking, then moves on to the narrarator. This is important because it shows Jody's prominence in his voice, while Janie is really lacking.

Waiting For The World to be Made

The narrator uses figurative language, tone, and concepts to give the readers a better understanding of how Janie see's life.  The figuratice language is used to describe Janie and her thoughts. It says " Oh to be a pear tree- any tree in bloom!" (11) The narrator gives Janie the characteristics of a tree and uses the word bloom as a sexual term. This sentences is figurativly saying that Janie wants to find love and go on an adventure. She isnt blooming yet, which means that she hasn't found the love she is searching for. The passage uses an extended metaphor of trees bloosoming and of nature to describe how Janie sees life. In the passage Janie has a very dissapointed tone because she is unhappy with her life. Because of this she also has an anxious tone because she is waiting for a new chapter in her life to begin. In this passage the tone stays consistent to show that she wants a new life but it has not yet come. Some of the main ideas that help the reader understand Janie and what she wants for life are wanting to find her love and her waiting at the gate for her life to start. Together these ideas form a theme of " when the buds bloom, you will find your happiness."


Serah and Hannnah -pink

Their Place in the World (blue)

In the passage on the bottom of page fourteen, Nanny was talking to her very disgusted. This is because she kissed Jhonny Taylor and Jhonny is not one of the best people to be running around with especially because Janie is a young girl. In the passage Nanny was talking to Janie after she "slapped some sense into Janie".  The actual character Nanny is doing the talking or dialogue in this passage.  The speaker is reliable to a certain point, she is very wise due to her past expiriences in slavery and with her daughter(Janies Mother). The slavery does alter her point of view slightly, she says,"So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up.  He pick it up because he have to, but he dont tote it.  He hand it to his womenfolk de nigger woman is de mule"(14) This shows a very strong impression of slavery however slavery was not that long ago, so the speaker is in fact reliable in this passage. Now moving on to tone, the tone in the passage is really strong and powerful. While reading you can "feel" the tension in the air from nanny with this tone. The tone is made up of fear,"Ah been prayin' fuh it tuh be different wid you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!"(14) and that is not the only thing, there is also realization. The passage is jam packed with tons of tension and fear from the connection with Janie and Nanny.


Spencer Perr
Mark Gutierrez  

"de mule uh de world"

In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God on page 14 Nanny is explaining to Janie why it is a good thing for her to marry Logan Killicks even though she may not want to. Janie believes that marrying Logan would go against her dreams of Freedom and love and would "desecrate" her pear tree (the pair tree is mentioned as a motif for her wants and dreams throughout the book). So Nanny who wishes for Janie to marry Logan is trying to convince her to marry him as it will make her life easier and clear her of burdens. Imagery in the passage includes the pair tree which is established throughout the book as a very important motif and is used to describe Janie's dreams and freedom. Another instance of imagery was when Nanny told Janie about roles in the world. She told Janie that the white man in in power and under them is the black man (at the time) who where given the burdens of the white man, then the black man handed off the burden to their women making the black woman the "mule" of the world. This describes the heirarchy of the time period in depth and shows with imagery (such as hard working mules) that the black woman was squarely at the bottom. The main concept of the passage is that Nanny is trying to get Janie to marry Logan as this will clear her of the burdens placed on the black woman. Nanny says that marrying Logan will provide Janie with wealth and a good life that will ease her burdens, and that Nanny always dreamed of seeing janie find peace, safety, and substance which she, as a slave never had.

-Griffen Cook, Whitney Marshall

Words unspoken

 

 

 

On page 43, Joe Starks has just opened the new store. The townspeople were excited because Eatonville is a community that is being developed still. In their excitment they ask Janie to make a speech about the occasion. But Joe interrupts and states that he doesn’t approve of it and thinks that his wife is uneducated. He rudely states that, “... but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech makin’.... She’s uh woman and her place is in de home. “

He conveys the message that he is a patriachist who has authority over his wife. This signifies role playing, because in Eatonville, many of the women were uneducated and at that time period many’s job would be to take care of the house. Janie is seen as the sterotypical woman and Joe doesn’t realize that she is somewhat educated. He wants her to stay in the house.

“It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that took the bloom off of things. But anyway she went down the road behind him feeling cold.” When the narrator explains this, it shows that they lost the love that they felt for each other. She felt like her opinion didn’t matter to him. He demands too much of her, and puts many rules on her to make her act the proper way for a mayor’s wife. She follows him most of their marriage, and never expresses her feeling about situations. By keeping her opinions inside, Joe never focuses on her and he always walks forward with dignity. He is very arrogant and focuses on the town and his accomplishments instead of her.


Danielle Pallarca and Drishti Patel

Are women completely dependent on men?

In this passage, there are different speakers, new concepts, and unique tones. The first speaker in this passage is Jody and he is talking about how Janie can't make a speech because she is a woman and is not capable of doing so. He says that, "mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech makin" He is saying that she is uneducated and because she is a woman she doesn't know how to speak well and clearly. Jody is very sexist and does not appreciate Janie, he only thinks of her as a woman who serves him. The other speaker in this passage is the narrator who talks about what Janie does and how she feels after Jody says this. Janie wants to say something and feels like she should but she doesn't, she just follows and Jody and keeps quiet. Some main ideas or concepts in this passage are that women only exist to serve men and that they cannot think for themselves and they are completely dependent on man. The tone at the beginning of the passage is mocking and sexist because Jody says that Janie is stupid and is not capable of making a speech. Towards the end of the passage the tone begins to be sympathetic because the narrator is talking about Janie wants to speak but decides not to. One of the larger themes this conveys is that women completely depend on men and are not capable of acting for themselves Overall this passage conveyed very different speakers, similar concepts, and again different tones.

John-Michael Osley

The road to marriage

During the passage at the bottom of page 32, where Janie is describing her feeling of Joe on her wedding day. The unplanned and unprecedented wedding occur only  few days after they met, and Janie is hoping that Joe will be a better match for her than Logan. The fact that she is describing herself and her love as able to "have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything" shows her childish optimisim about Joe and her new Husband, which is eventually proven wrong as Joe begins to supress her and treat her like property. She abandons the "apron" of her old life of being a farmer's wife for a "new dress" of her life with the wealthy Joe Starks. During the passage, and passages around it in context, we see that she has met and is running of to marry Joe Starks, leaving her old husband Logan for the rich, seemingly loving Joe. She loves the thought of his love and also likes his wealth and ambission. She sees him as Royalty in his "ruling chair" with his autitude and air. Throughout the passage, the tone of happy exitment holds as the only main tone. The tone is to set even more emphasis on her new love of this man, and her idea of him as a good match for her, even though later in her life he beggins to fail her expectations.

Allan MacDougall and Tyler Jensen

Who Has The Power?

Nanny has experienced a lot in her life; all she knows is that white have always had more power than black people. In this scene, Nanny is talking to Janie about how blacks have always been put under whites, and how she wants Janie's life to be different. "Honey de white man is de ruler as fur as Ah been able tuh find out." Nanny is the one speaking in this passage, she has the most experience in life and has been the one guiding Janie. In the scene before this, Nanny has just slapped Janie to make Janie respect her. This is revelant because Nanny wants her to learn respect, for use later in life.

Austin and Gordon.

Janies Encasement

During this passage on page 11 of the novel, Janie is grieving over the fact that that she has to marry Logan Killicks. Janie is being forced by nanny to marry Logan by nanny because he gaurentes a safe marriage because he has a lot of money. To illustrate her emotional state, the author utilizes many different tyeps of figurative language including three outstanding metaphors. First, Janie i compared to glossy leaves and bursting buds, which illustrates how her life is just starting to begin and unfold but her life has been held back by this forced marriage. Another metahor utilized to illustrate a similar concept includes the metaphor of the bees singing of the beginning of the world. The last ooutstanding mataphor in the passage is when Janie scans the world, and is "Waiting for the world to unfold."This passage is not illustrated by any dominant tone. It is illustrated by the narrator who uses tones that include bitter, mocking, and it is very ironic. Janie is being represented by ivacious statements to illustrate he depressed state of emotional being.

New Janie replaced by Joe's Death

This passage relates to the time after Joe Starks dies and shows her initial reaction to the event. A motif that occurs in the passage is hair. Janie’s hair describes her youth and freedom. In the passage, her hair is represented by, “ The weight, the length, the glory was there. She took careful stock of herself, then combed her hair and tied it back up again (pg 87).” Her hair illustrates her beauty, because people take notice her long hair. This is an important idea to society because it shows her wishes versus her dead husband’s wishes. She obeyed her husband and it was clearly a patriarchal relationship and society where the men control the women. This also illustrates juxtaposition. It is odd that the narrator mentioned her letting her hair out and then in the next sentence she put it right back. The significant meaning of this is that she has to act according to society. Her feelings are influenced by society’s ideas and she has to follow them so that the people in Eatonville still respect her. “The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place (pg 87).” This quote describes her physical qualities and looks. The young girl was the girl that was naive and believed in loving her husband. She thought she could love anyone, but when she ran away with Jody, she changed but still was young. It describes the sudden change that occurs in her when Joe dies. She no longer looks like a young girl learning things, but is now a woman. She understands the world, and the tone is ironic. It is ironic that she is described as a handsome woman, usually when handsome is to describe a man. It may be suggesting that she has gained power over the relationship and can now take on the jobs that men do by herself. She doesn’t need anyone to help her. This passage signifies a lot of importance of Janie’s new life.

Janie's Free?

In this passage Jody has just died and Janie looks at herself in the mirror and she realizes that she is not as sad as she should be but she decides to tie her hair backup and let the world think she was sad. “Set thought back and forth about what had happened in the making of a voice out of a man”(87). This sentence from the text shows that the tone of this passage is confused. It is confused because Janie doesn’t know if she should be sad or happy, but then she decides that she should act sad in front of the public. In this passage Janie’s hair is imagery for power. When her hair is up it shows how she is controlled or sad and when it is down she is free or happy. “She tore of the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there. She took careful stock of herself, then combed her hair and tied it back up again.”(87) This proves that she feels more free but if the public found out that she was happy she would be hated.

Freedom At Last

In this passage Joe Sparks has passed away with Janie was at his bedside. She was free. She went to look in the mirror and let down her hair. She had come to a realization that she has aged. She made herself presentable for the public and cried the news to the town. In the quote “ Years ago she had told her young girl self to wait in the looking glass. It had been a long time since she remembered. Perhaps she better go look. ” This describes her want to stay young and beautiful, and the motive to go look in the mirror. The looking glass shows what you are. She notices that, “The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman has taken her place.” She has accepted the fact that she is ageing, this is significant because she has noticed this on her own without Joe’s constant nagging about how she’s an old woman but, also shows she is still confident in her looks. “she tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair.” The letting down of her hair is symbolic of her freedom from Jody. She no longer has to hear his constant nagging to put it up. “ the she combed her hair and tied it back up again” she has done this out of respect for Joe. “she starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see...” Women have this unending expectation to be perfect. In order to cry out the window she needs to look decent and young. The tone of this passage is realization and respectful. We almost need inspirational music, its read with a slower speed out of respect for Joe. Janie no has the freedom to express her self and let her hair down.

The context of the passage puts the reader among Janie in her recollection of herself after she watches the life leave Jody’s body. She began to look back all that had happened, “She was full of pity for the first time in years.” She goes over to the mirror and looks at herself, it had been years since the young girl had left her face. Now, “... a handsome woman had taken her place.” She lets down her hair, the feeling of it empowered her with a sense of freedom. Now that Jody was dead, Janie feels sorry, because life had been hard on him just as much as others. In the passage, the speaker is a narrator seemingly limited only to the thoughts within Janie’s head. The passage conveys a sense or concept in which death and pity arise and a rebirth. The tone is somber in a way that shows Janie’s pity and sorrow but at the same time she realizes her maturity as a woman and she finally is free to be herself when she lets her hair down. This passage is a turning point that marks a transformation in Janie;s journey.

Close Reading: Their Eyes Were Watching God Free Janie

On page 87 in Their Eyes Were Watching God, the speaker is the narrator, and at the very end of the paragraph it is Janie yelling that her husband has died. The narrator is illustrating Janie's realization and how she can finally be free now that Jodie is dying. The speaker is reliable because they are stating the appearance of the situation without any opinions. Before the passage Jodie has always been over protective of Janie; he would not let her wear her hair down and force her to work in the store. Janie submits to Jodie and becomes quiet and bottles her emotions, in this passage she explodes and fiercely confronts Jodie to regain her power she has lost to him. The passage sheds light on the rest of the novel because Janie is changing her life and not allowing herself to be out spoken. She realizes she is still beautiful, not old and ugly like Jodie was accusing her of being. “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there. She took careful stock of herself, then combed her hair and tied it back up again.”(pg87) The main idea of this passage conveys how Janie has broken free and is now going to show her own strength and not fall under others. She has grown as a woman and is no longer a child whose face has definition and a story to it. She no longer has Jodie to hold her back and her new journey is just beginning.
-Tiana