Zora Neale Hurston?

Question

I am doing a term paper on Zora, how do I find information on the tone, theme,mood and style of her work?

Answer 1

I would suggest the library. Seriously. There are books--dozens of books that are scholarly criticisms of her works. And I would search databases (literary ones) to find articles of her work.

Chinn, Nancy, and Elizabeth E. Dunn. “The Ring of Singing Metal on Wood: Zora Neale Hurston’s Artistry in ‘The Gilded Six-Bits’.” Mississippi Quarterly: The Journal of Southern Culture 49.4 (1996) : 775-90.

Davis, Rose Parkman, ed. Zora Neale Hurston: An Annotated Bibliography and Reference Guide. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Glassman, Steve, and Kathryn Lee Seidel, eds. Zora in Florida. Orlando: U of Central Florida P, 1991.
Hemenway, Robert E. Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography. Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1980.
Holloway, Karla F. C. The Character of the Word: the Texts of Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.
Howard, Lillie P. Zora Neale Hursston. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980.
Hurston, Zora Neale. “The Gilded Six-Bits” American Short Stories. 6th ed. Ed. Eugene Current-Garcia, and Bert Hitchcock. New York: Longman, 1997.
Peters, Pearlie Mae Fisher. The Assertive Woman in Zora Neale Hurston’s Fiction, Folklore, and Drama. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1998.

Bloom, Harold, ed. Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. and K.A. Appiah, eds. Zora Neale Hurston: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad, 1993.
Harris, Trudier. The Power of the Porch: The Storyteller’s Craft in Zora Neale Hurston, Gloria Naylor, and Randal Kenan. Athens: U of Georgia P, 1996.
Hill, Lynda Marion. Social Rituals and the Verbal Art of Zora Neale Hurston. Washington, DC: Howard UP, 1996.
Howard, Lillie P., ed. Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston: The Common Bond. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1993.
Lowe, John. Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston’s Cosmic Comedy. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1994.
Plant, Deborah G. Every Tub Must Sit on Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1995.
Walker, Alice, ed. I Love Myself When I Am Laughing... And Then Again When I Am Looking Mean and Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader. New York: Feminist Press, 1979.

Bethel, Lorraine. “This Infinity of Conscious Pain: Zora Neale Hurston and the Black Literary Tradition.” Modern Critical Interpretations: Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 1987. 9-17.
Bone, Robert. “Ships at a Distance: The Meaning of Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Modern Critical Views: Zora Neale Hurston. ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 15-20.
Callahan, John F. “Mah Tongue Is in Mah Friend’s Mouf: The Rhetoric of Intimacy and Immensity in Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Modern Critical Interpretations: Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 1987. 87-113.
Carby, Hazel V. “The Politics of Fiction, Anthropology, and the Folk: Zora Neale Hurston.” New Essays on Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Michael Awkward. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 71-93.
Cooke, Michael G. “The Beginnings of Self Realization.” Modern Critical Views. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 139-49.
Gayle Jr., Addison. “The Outsider.” Modern Critical Views. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 35-46.
Hemenway, Robert E. “Crayon Englargements of Life.” Modern Critical Views: Zora Neale Hurston. ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 71-81.
---. “The Personal Dimension in Their Eyes Were Watching God.” New Essays on Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Michael Awkward. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 29-49.
---. Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography. Chicago: Univerisity of Illinois Press, 1977.
Holloway, Karla F.C. The Character of the Word: The Texts of Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Perennial Classics, 1937.
Jenkins, Joyce O. To Make A Woman Black: A Critical Analysis of the Women Characters in the Fiction and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International, 1978.
Kubitschek, Missy Dehn. “Tuh de Horizon and Back: The Female Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Modern Critical Interpretations: Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 1987. 19-33.
Love, Theresa R. “Zora Neale Hurston’s America.” Modern Critical Views. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 47-61.
Plant, Deborah G. Every Tub Must Sit On Its Own Bottom. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1995.
Washington, Mary Helen. “A Woman Half in Shadow.” Modern Critical Views. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 123-38.
Williams, Sherley Anne. “Janie’s Burden.” Modern Critical Views: Zora Neale Hurston. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 97-102.

Answer 2

Some of the best resources are the forewards at the beginnings of her books, like Their Eyes Were Watching God. Go to the bookstore and you can usually find forwards in different copies of the books, there might even be a copy which contains different pieces of literary criticisms in the same book. You can use info from these sources, and they also usually site other books or places which might provide more information. The most important recommendation I can give you is read a good amount of her work for yourself and look her up online, like on wikipedia, find out what her life was life and try to find similarities between her work and her life. You would be surprised at the parallels you can draw. One other interesting point you might examine if your paper is her use of dialect.

Answer 3

There's always SparkNotes.com, but I prefer PinkMonkey.com. (PinkMonkey only has information about Their Eyes Were Watching God, so if you picked a different Hurston book, try SparkNotes.)

Answer 4

The Gilded Six Bits Sparknotes

Answer 5

Lots of great answers already for this

Answer 6

Hace you tried sparknotes.com yet?

Answer 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston

If this helps :D