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Research Prompt
Their Eyes Were Watching God Research Prompt
Griffin/Schenck
Spring 2025
PROMPT
You will develop a researchable question that considers Zora Neale Hurston's development of your topic/motif in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Whatever question you develop, the answer MUST require both the novel and an understanding of the time period/topic to answer.
Possible Prompts to Play With:
- What is Zora Neale Hurston's commentary, via Janie or Their Eyes, on my topic? How does she use the novel or Janie to respond to the issues of her time?
- How does my topic/motif that I researched in my annotated bibliography emphasize or contribute to a particular theme in the novel?
- Why and/or for whom is Their Eyes Were Watching God a sacred text?
NON-NEGOTIABLE REQUIREMENTS
- MLA Format: Heading, header, Times New Roman 12 pt. font, double-spaced, MLA style guidelines
- QUOTATIONS: Your essay must include gracefully integrated quotations from both primary and secondary sources (the novel itself and the research you’ve completed).
- LENGTH: Your essay will likely be about five to six pages in length in proper MLA format (the works cited page is NOT INCLUDED in this number, but it is a required part of the essay). If you think better in terms of body paragraphs, then aim for 3 to 4 body paragraphs.
- SOURCES: You will need at least 3 sources in addition to Their Eyes (at least 4 total, then). These sources can be the ones you’ve researched or an entirely new source you find during the writing process. You must use at least one literary criticism (again, the one in your annotated bib or another you have found during the writing process).
- WORKS CITED PAGE: I will not accept an essay without a works cited page. A works cited page is an essential part of a research essay, and without it, your paper is incomplete.
Annotated Bib
Their Eyes Were Watching God Annotated Bib
Griffin/Schenck
Spring 2025
Topics/Motifs: Their Eyes and the 1930s Florida/Harlem Renaissance
Reflect on your annotations: what potential topics/themes are emerging that you might want to trace? That you might want to know more about? Below is a starter list of ideas, but please also feel free to propose another topic. We will eventually develop a researchable question based on this topic for the essay.
Language/dialect
Folktales
Oral storytelling
Gossip
Grief
Mourning
Trauma (and the Body)
Ecology of the Florida Everglades/Landscape
Poverty
Class/Caste
Race and Racism
Annotated Bib: Four Total Sources
- At least one source on your given “topic” or “motif”
- At least two literary criticisms about Their Eyes Were Watching God (these can be connected to your topic/motif, or they can be more general article).
- For each of your sources, you will write:
- One paragraph (5-10 sentences) that summarizes the source.
- A second paragraph (3-5 sentences) that explains how/why this source is useful to your research and how it develops/clarifies an understanding of Their Eyes.
What kinds of sources can I use?
- A variety of genres from the UA Library: articles, books, book chapters, etc.—print or electronic.
- Non-UA library sources MUST have them pre-approved by me.