The Life of Zora Neale Hurston Essay Zora Neale Hurston Essay Essay on Zora Neale Hurston

1. The Life of Zora Neale Hurston Essay
Zora Neale Hurston, known as one of the most symbolic African American women during the
Harlem Renaissance in the 1930's. Hurston was known as a non fiction writer, anthropologist and
folklorist. Hurston's literature has served as a big eye opener during the Harlem Renaissance,
celebrating black dialect and their traditions. Most of her published stories "depict relationships
among black residents in her native southern Florida, was largely unconcerned with racial injustices"
(Bomarito 89). Hurston was unique when it came to her racial point of views, promoting white
racism instead of black racism. Even though her works had been forgotten by the time of her death,
now her literature has left a bigger impact to future literature...show more content...
Kaplan 2). This struggle was the beginning of her independence from her relatives and her coming
of age. Setting her independence, Hurston at the age of 14 left her residence to work as a maid of a
traveling Gilbert and Sullivan theatrical troupe. Given the opportunity Hurston was sent to Morgan
Academy in Baltimore, Maryland by one of her employers. Finishing up her high school studies in
Morgan Academy and graduating on June 1918, Hurston studied part–time at Howard University in
the same year. While Hurston studied in college she decided to support herself as "a manicurist, a
waitress, and a maid in order to support herself" (D. Kaplan 2). Hurston's talent towards literature
started to emerge while studying at Howard. She made such an impact in her first short story
titled, "John Redding Goes to Sea" in 1921, that it was included in the university's literary
magazine named "Stylus". Sociologist Charles S. Johnson, immediately caught the attention of
such excellent work who also encouraged Hurston to move to New York City in the year of 1925
(Bomarito 89). Beside Johnson mentoring her to go to New York he also inspired her to enter the
literary contest of his magazine entitled "Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life." Even though
Hurston was economically unstable at this point, her dreams and goals were not because her mind
was set to
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2. Zora Neale Hurston Essay
Sandles 1
Alvin Sandles
A. Dillard, Professor ENG – 550 – Q5158
3 Jul. 2015
Writings of Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston wrote her stories from an "insider's" perspective. Her effective use of black
dialect in her writings of "Sweat," "The Gilded Six–Bits," and "Their Eyes Were Watching God"
often created a superficial realism which, by verging on racial stereotyping, overlooks the
experiences and motivations of her characters (Cornish)<http://www. csmonitor.com/1985/0531
/dbspun–f.html>. The writings of the author not only included the linguistic structure of
dialect––––i.e, grammar (specifically morphology and syntax) and vocabulary (David Crystal)<http:/
/www.britannica.com/topic/dialect>, but the English...show more content...
She knew men of the same characteristics as the ones she wrote of, the ones who feigned affection
but mistreated the women. The languages spoken in her writings were the languages learned from
these peoples' ancestors.
Zora Neale Hurston's writings contained the linguistic elements (i.e. syntax (speech patterns), diction
(sounds), figures of speech (morphology), and grammar (pronunciation) necessary to create the
languages, plots, and settings of rural southern African–Americans during the early nineteenth
century. The realism and truthfulness of her stories have often been questioned, but, based on the
way the people talked, the living conditions and the gender relationships presented in her stories in
relationship to stories written by white writers of the words, pronunciations, and speech patterns of
the same race of people during the same time period her stories can be believed. Hurston 's novels
Sweat, The Gilded Six–Bits, and Their Eyes Were Watching God, each used vernacular of rural
southern African–American English.
Hurston used syntax, morphology, and semantics in each of her stories. In Sweat she wrote
"Gimme some kivah heah, an' git yo' damn foots over on yo' own side! Ah oughter mash you in yo'
mouf fuh drawing dat skillet on me" (Hurston 3). She mastered writing African American English
Vernacular (AAVE) to write stories of the mistreatment of black women by their husbands and
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3. Essay on Zora Neale Hurston
On January 7, 1891, Zora Neale Hurston was born in the tiny town of Notasulga, Alabama. She was
the fifth of eight children in the Hurston household. Her father John was a carpenter, sharecropper,
and a Baptist preacher; and her mother Lucy, a former schoolteacher. Within a year of Zora's birth,
the family moved to Eatonville, Florida; a town, which held historical significance as the first,
incorporated Black municipality in the United States. In 1904, thirteen–year–old Zora was
devastated by the death of her mother. Later that same year, her unaffectionate father removed her
from school and sent her to care for her brother's children. A rambunctious and restless teenager,
Zora was eager to leave the responsibility of that household....show more content...
In 1925, Hurston headed to New York, just as the Harlem Renaissance was at its crest. She enrolled
in Barnard College to study under Franz Boas, the father of anthropology. While there, Hurston
married an old Howard boyfriend named Herbert Sheen, but the marriage was short–lived. After
graduation, Zora returned to her hometown of Eatonville to collect folklore as material for her
blossoming writing career. The late 1920's marked a resurgence of her literary muse as Hurston
published several works, and consequently gained financial sponsorship from wealthy New York
patrons. The 1930's and early 1940's marked the peak of Hurston's literary career. It was during this
time that she completed graduate work at Columbia, published four novels and an autobiography,
and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her writing brought her to the Caribbean where she
became so intrigued by the practice of voodoo that she began incorporating these supernatural
elements into her novels and stories. Although her work was receiving increasing acclaim from the
white literati of New York, Zora often felt under attack from many members of the Black Arts
Movement. She termed these detractors, members of the &quot;niggerati&quot;, for being
close–minded in their criticism of her racial politics. By the mid–1940s Hurston's writing career was
faltering. At one point she was arrested and
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