... War II. She is noted for her metaphorical language, her story-telling abilities, and her interest in and celebration of Southern black culture in the United States, and this is shown in her best-known novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) (Miers 143). The Harlem Renaissance came about in the late 1910s, flourished in the 1920s and had all but diminished by the beginning of World War II. "The ... Harlem Renaissance was shattered by the Great Depression because of naive assumptions about the centrality of culture, unrelated to economic and social realities" (Reuben, 7). Many themes ar...

• Word Count: 925
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... that has [...] a decentering effect on us"(Rider, 3). Critics believed that the book had a "definite sense of destabilization"(Rider, 3). The struggle for power between men and women in Their Eyes Were Watching God made Hurston's contemporary writers very critical and picky. Only many years later, when women achieved the same rights as men, critics realized that Hurston's book was really important. Hurston tried to show how hard ... it is for a woman to be a woman, especially black, in a society dominated by white men. Janie struggled to find herself throughout the whole book, and yet a...

• Word Count: 1388
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... a very inspirational American folklorist, anthropologist and author during the Harlem Renaissance. She is well known for her exceptional novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God." The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. "She arrived in Harlem, seeking the flourishing 'New Negro Movement'. She had $1.50 in her purse, one published story to her name and, ''no job, no friends and a lot of hope.'' No, Zora ... of Negro Life (Biography.com; Zora Neale Hurston). These specific pieces of work became a great influe...

• Word Count: 1464
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... LeRoy Locke was considered the leader and chief interpreter of the Harlem Renaissance. His efforts to debunk race-based myths of the inherent intellectual, social, and spiritual inferiority of African-Americans that emerged in the post Reconstruction era are thought to be some of his greatest accomplishments. He sought to destroy commonly held myths through his writings and by identifying, selecting and promoting a talented group of well ... 's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) used folk life of the black rural South to create a brilliant study of race and gender in which a woman...

• Word Count: 2619
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the few women who are remembered for their part in the advancement of African American Literature during the Harlem Renaissance is the author/anthropologist Zora Neal Hurston. Hurston is one of few African American women recognized for their work during the 20th century and she is one of the greatest writers/anthropologists during the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. Hurston is mostly known for her book Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937 ... , but her first work was her 1934 publication of Jonah's Gourd Vine, and she published two more works before the release of her most famo...

• Word Count: 2200
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Zora Hurston was an American writer and folklorist, who influenced the Harlem Renaissance writers of the 1930's, as well as later black American authors. She was born in Eatonville, Florida on January 7, 1891. Eatonville was the first incorporated all-black town in the United States, which figured prominently in her later fiction and collections of folklore. Born in Eatonville, Florida, Hurston was educated ... at Howard University, at Barnard College and at ... characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie is raised by her grandmother. Grandmother sets Janie up for her journey of self-...

• Word Count: 1431
• Approx Pages: 6