Their Eyes Were Watching God: Chapters 12-16

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

In the chapter you just read, Janie met Tea Cake.

In your notes, write a brief paragraph about why Janie is attracted to Tea Cake. Include at least four examples to support your explanation.

In the next reading, Janie and Tea Cake's relationship will continue to develop, and they will relocate to the Everglades, farther south than Eatonville, Florida.

Read Developing the Everglades to learn more about the Everglades in the early twentieth century. As you read, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.

• How did human intervention alter the traditional ecosystem of the Everglades in the early twentieth century?
• What were the results, both positive and negative, of the 1948 Central and South Florida Project?
• What were the living conditions like in early twentieth-century Everglade communities?
• What effect did hurricanes have on Everglade communities?

After discovering those answers, consider this final question.

• Would you have wanted to live in the Everglades at this time? Why or why not?

Now, read Chapters Twelve Through Sixteen in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

If you do not have a copy, you may access Their Eyes Were Watching God online.

Take notes on Janie and Tea Cake's relationship as you read. Write down at least six examples or direct quotations that illustrate the development of the couple's relationship. You will use these to help you answer the questions in the Got It? section.

After reading and taking notes, move to the Got It? section to explore the issues that Zora Neale Hurston raises in these chapters of the novel.