1. Write the essay as an answer to the original question you asked.  Your introduction should introduce that question and why you were interested in it, as well as any background information necessary so that someone who has not necessarily read the book can follow you.  When you present facts you uncovered in your research, you are doing so because they provide evidence for, or otherwise help support, your answer to the question you asked.
2. The final is due at the end of your exam period on Wednesday, 6/8 (A Block) or Thursday, 6/9 (E Block).
3. The final must be submitted as a shared Google Document.
4. The Google Document must be titled as follows: Last Name First Init. – Essay Title – IP (while in progress) or DONE (when done)
5. You must use internal citations.  Every direct quote OR paraphrased/summarized piece of information that comes from one of your sources must be cited.  If you include several pieces of information from the same source in succession, you can just place the citation after the last of these sentences.
6. Your Works Cited page should be the last page of the research paper document.  It should not be a separate document.  Use Insert-Page Break to go from the last line of your essay to a new page.  Refer to this example to see how you should format the Works Cited page.

1. Log into your Google account.
2. Click here and check the question that you used to begin your research project.  If you haven’t entered it, enter it.  If it’s changed, change it here.  Confirm by entering your initials in the CONFIRMED column to the right of your question.

Thanks.

In class today, we looked at the following list of potential topic ideas.

Other topics are certainly possible.  Jenna was interested in learning more about the role art played in these communities at this time.  There are many good questions that could emerge from that interest.

Research Starts with Questions

Use this list, or ideas of your own, to generate THREE questions that you would be interested in exploring through research.  Some of the items on this list would need to be narrowed in focus.  So for instance, you might be interested in music.  You need to think of a question that is…

• open-ended – it can’t be answered by a simple collection of facts
• tailored in scope so that it could probably be answered in about a 4 page report (double-spaced).
• interesting to you!

So, you might ask, “Why did music play such an important role in African American culture in the rural post-Civil War south?”  Or, you might ask, “What were the musical roots of the blues music that developed in African American culture?”  Or, perhaps you’d be more interested in exploring, “How did the guitar come to be used as a major instrument in African American culture?”  Even within the scope of this project, the list of questions you could ask is only bounded by your own curiosity and interest.

Questions Not To Ask

• We’re not going to do biographical research.  So, no topics asking, “Who was Booker T. Washington and why was he important?”  I’m not saying that’s not a valid question.  It’s just not the kind of research we’re focusing on for this project.
• The topic can’t be just reciting the facts of a well-documented incident or event.  So, no questions like, “Who were the Scottsboro boys and why was their trial famous?”

Good research starts with good questions!  Good questions require some digging to answer.  If you can look up the answer to your question on a single Wikipedia page in five minutes and call it a day, your question might not be a good one (for a research project).

Start by asking what life was REALLY like for someone like Janie, or Joe Starks, or Nanny, or Tea Cake, or whoever else.  Ask what life was REALLY like for an “average” person working on the muck or living in Eatonville.  Try to move towards a question about some aspect of those lives that truly sparks your interest.

HOMEWORK: Submit a comment to this post with your three questions.  This is due before E block tomorrow (for both classes), but I’d prefer that you reply before school.

*Note to A block: I changed my mind about topics like Washington, DuBois, and the Harlem Renaissance.  Keep it related to the events of the book rather than Hurston herself, and I’m saying no to biography.

Group 1

1. disposition (n): one’s attitude towards something
2. eulogy (n): a speech made at a funeral to honor or remember the deceased
3. distended (adj): swollen because of pressure from the inside
4. lavish (adj): rich; extravagantly displaying wealth; (v) to give extremely generously
5. gallant (adj): displaying high courtesy, style, or heroism
6. sullen (adj): sulky, gloomy
7. languish (v): to lose or lack vitality; to fail to make energy
8. transient (adj): lasting only for a short time; impermanent; (n) one who stays in one place for only a short time
9. flivver (n): a cheap car or aircraft, esp. one in poor condition
10. peevish (adj): irascible; easily annoyed

Group 2

1. turbulent (adj): not controlled or calm; chaotic
2. hackles (n): hairs along the back of an animal that raise when it is alarmed
3. trifle (n): something of little or no significance
4. disheveled (adj): disordered; untidy
5. privy (to) (adj): aware of; “in the know”
6. delirium (n.): a state of serious mental confusion
7. beseech (v): to beg
8. scimitar (n): a curved sword
9. temporize (v): to avoid making a decision or committing to a course of action in order to gain time
10. saunter (v): to walk leisurely and with relaxation

1. Right off the bat, Zora zings us with some metaphors. What does she write that the dreams (or wishes) of men are? How is that different from the women? Which one doesn’t get disappointed?

2. What are the porch sitters compared to? Are the human or aren’t they? Explain.

3. How could their talk be “mass cruelty”?

4. The author makes a big deal about Janie’s black “rope” of hair. Metaphorically, what is it supposed to stand for? How could it also stand for race?

5. Hurston is careful to give us many of the particulars of Janie’s life since she left this town. What do we know about her?

6.  In the last line of the first chapter, Hurston uses a metaphor. What is it?

Group 1

1. commiserate (v): to feel or express sympathy
2. reproof (n): an act or expression of criticism or censure
3. transfiguration (n): a significant change in form or appearance, sometimes one that glorifies or exalts
4. disgorge (v): to discharge violently; to spew; to vomit
5. fracas (n): a noisy quarrel; a brawl
6. fractious (adj): inclined to make trouble; unruly; cranky
7. transmutation (n): the act or instance of transforming from one thing to another
8. uninitiated (adj): unknowledgeable, unskilled, or inexperienced; (n): an uninitiated group of people
9. phosphorescent (adj): glowing with light without burning, like certain jellyfish
10. ostentatious (adj): characterized by pretentious, showy, or vulgar display

Group 2

1. indiscriminate (adj.): Choosing randomly or not based on careful distinctions; unselective
2. chasten (v.): to correct by punishment or reproof; to “bring down a notch”
3. relish (v.): to take great pleasure in; (n) pleasure
4. discomfit (v.) to make uneasy or perplexed
5. oblique (adj.): indirect or evasive; dishonest or misleading
6. supplication (n.): a humble request, entreaty, or petition
7. homage (n.): a public show of respect or honor towards someone or something
8. insinuation (n.): an indirect or devious hint or suggestion
9. proffered (adj): offered for acceptance
10. intimate (n): close, personal friend or confidant

Learn these words using this week’s Sporcle quiz!