This is a suggested teaching schedule for a 10 day class study of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Lesson plans and handouts can be downloaded individually by clicking on the name of the file in the schedule below. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view these files.
Audio Guide CDs are available only for the communities participating in The Big Read. If your community is participating, contact the lead community organization to receive a free Audio Guide CD. Non-participating communities can listen to the full audio online.
Day One
FOCUS: Biography
Day One Lesson Plan [48K PDF]
Activities: Listen to The Big Read Audio Guide, Track One. Read Reader’s Guide essays. Write short life story.
Homework: Read Chapter 1 (pp. 1-7).
Day Two
FOCUS: Arts and Culture
Day Two Lesson Plan [39K PDF]
Activities: Listen to The Big Read Audio Guide, Track Two (15:35). Listen to music on NEA Jazz in the Schools Web site. Read Reader's Guide essays, and Handout Two [48K PDF] on Harlem Renaissance.
Homework: Read Chapters 2-3 (pp. 8-25).
Day Three
FOCUS: Narrative and Point of View
Day Three Lesson Plan [43K PDF]
Activities: Compare omniscient narrator and heroine's narration. Explore how audience affects the story. Tell story from the point of view of a secondary character.
Homework: Read Chapter 4 (pp. 26-33).
Day Four
FOCUS: Characters
Day Four Lesson Plan [35K PDF]
Activities: Explore Janie's relationship to nature. Introduce foil.
Homework: Read Chapters 5-6 (pp. 34-75).
Day Five
FOCUS: Figurative Language
Day Five Lesson Plan [36K PDF]
Activities: Document figurative language used in the first sixchapters. Follow a repeated image.
Homework: Read Chapters 7-9 (pp. 76-93).
Day Six
FOCUS: Symbols
Day Six Lesson Plan [35K PDF]
Activities: Listen to The Big Read CD, Track Two. Explore symbols of the pear tree, the street lamp, and the mule.
Homework: Read Chapters 10-12 (pp. 94-115).
Day Seven
FOCUS: Character Development
Day Seven Lesson Plan [43K PDF]
Activities: Listen to The Big Read CD Track One. Map Janie's development as a young woman. Write on freedom and the "maiden language."
Homework: Read Chapters 13-16 (pp. 116-146).
Day Eight
FOCUS: The Plot Unfolds
Day Eight Lesson Plan [39K PDF]
Activities: Chart a time line of the story. Watch a segment of the film of the novel. Write a new conclusion.
Homework: Read Chapters 17-20 (pp. 147-193).
Day Nine
FOCUS: Themes of the Novel
Day Nine Lesson Plan [40K PDF]
Activities: Develop an interpretation based on a theme: a woman's voice, race, or religion.
Homework: Read Afterword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Work on essays.
Day Ten
FOCUS: A Great Novel
Day Ten Lesson Plan [40K PDF]
Activities: Explore the qualities of a great novel and the voice of a generation. Examine qualities that make Hurston’s
novel successful. Peer review of paper
outlines or drafts.
Homework: Essays due next class period.
ADDITIONAL HANDOUTS
Handout One: Biography of Zora Neale Hurston [48K PDF]
Handout Three: Jim Crow [48K PDF]
