Locations and Character Development in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Introduction: This webquest is designed to introduce students to the novel. This webquest will also ask questions about the novel and background research of the locations mentioned to help students understand the theme of the novel.

Grade Level: 9-12

Subject: English/Language Arts

Task: You will do background reseach on the key locations mentioned in the novel. You will be asked questions concerning all of these locations that I will provide hyperlinks to. By doing the research on the locations in the novel, you will be able to understand why characters made the choices they made as well as why they had the jobs the worked in the novel. Knowing this information will engage you in the story as well as create background  knowledge to be used to understand the story.

Process:To begin this webquest, click on the image below to pull up a list of locations found in the novel.. 

Based on the list of locations, answer the following question(s):

• Where was Janie raised?
• What character trait(s) could be developed because of growing up here in this time period?
• Janie's first marriage kept her in this same reigion were farming is essential for survival. Based on your findings here about the hardships of farming, why would Janie not thrive?
• Based on our knowlege of this area so far,why would Janie be excited and ready to leave?
• The next area Janie arrives in is a town called Eatonville. Why would we be surprised Janie would want to stay her? Remember at the time, the town is just starting out.
• While in Eatonville, Janie helps her husband to build the small town up in this video, how to we see Janie's character grow from where we first met her?
• The third place we are introduced to in the novel is?
• Based on this location, what must we conclude about Janies maturation into a woman?
• Why do we believe Janie makes this drastic change?
• Based on all of the locations we have see, what can we conclude about life in the time period of this novel?

Evaluation: This assignment will be graded based on you ability to place characteristics with different regions. For example, If you were to say the chracter grew up in the city, I will be looking for KEY EXAMPLES to support your argument for that character trait.

Conclusion:We can conclude that Janie was not ready for marriage and thus not ready for her life as a wife. When she ran off to Eatonville she was looking for a new start and a new identity so she was more inclined to work harder. By knowing these locations and the amount of work needed to survive there, we are able to understand Janie better and why she made certain decisions.

Photo Credits:  "Eyes Were Watching God." Mrs. Graham. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.   

"Their Eyes Were Watching God: Janie's Journey." Prezi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.         

 "More-picture-online.com - Map Of Southern United States Region." More-picture-online.com - Map Of Southern United States Region. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.                    

 http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/050308/152238__eyes_l.jpg