Monday, January 14, 2008

Essay 2- Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neal Hurston’s romance novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God follows the journey of Janie Mae Crawford in her search for true love.

Janie’s journey to find true love leads her through multiple marriages with happy, sad, and emotionless times in each. Her journey starts at the age of 17 when Janie’s grandmother marries her out to the middle-aged Logan Killicks who owns 60-acres of land. Janie is forced to stay at home and do field work all day. She does not love him and quickly leaves the marriage to run off with Jody Starks. She soon marries Mr. Starks, but after twenty years of routine life she realizes she does not love him. He dies after twenty years of a loveless marriage. One year after his death she meets Tea Cake. For the first time in her life she is experiencing the joy and excitement of true love.

Changes began to occur in Janie as she went from marriage to marriage. At first she was rebellious but still obeyed, but by the time the second marriage was settled she was obedient to her husband at all times. When Tea Cake came around she was filled with excitement and love that came through mutual respect. In her search she becomes independent and content with being alone after Tea Cake died. Her search is over; she has experienced the greatness of true love.

The love Janie searches for throughout the book is not one gained through marriage and based on obedience. The love she longed for was based on mutual respect and trust that can only be gained through a deep connection between two people.

Love transpires when it is least expected to appear. The search for love can be short or long, but at some point in life, good timing or bad timing, love comes knocking on everyone’s door.

Grade: 8

Essay 1- Ordinary People

Judith Guest’s moving novel, Ordinary People illustrates the devastation resulting from the loss of a loved one. Conrad Jarrett demonstrates the difficulties associated with death.

Conrad and his older brother, Buck, were very close. They would do everything together; a boating trip was not unusual to either of them. When a large storm came a flipped the boat over both fought hard for their lives, and Buck lost his fight. This devastating accident of Buck’s passing causes Conrad to become depressed and blame himself for surviving.

This depression causes Conrad to take a razor blade and slice both arteries in his forearms in an attempt to commit suicide. His parent’s find him and call an ambulance. He survives and is sent to spend a year in a psychological ward. When Conrad is released from the hospital, he goes back to school a different person. His experience caused him to become antisocial and reserved. The death of his one and only brother affects Conrad in ways that cannot be predicted.

Conrad’s struggle to gain beck what he has emotionally lost is one of self-allowance. He must learn how to allow himself to feel emotion in order to forgive himself for the suicide he attempted and for the drowning of his brother he had no control over. His difficulties show how hard it is to endure such a sudden loss of someone close.

Guest uses Conrad as a way to express the pain and suffering one goes through during emotional times. The loss of someone close can be hard, but with endurance and strength the moment will pass.

Grade: 8.5

Prompt 2- Their Eyes Were Watching God

The search for something great such as fame, fortune, and love, among others, can lead a person through a great journey. Chose a novel in which a character, in search for greatness and is led on a long journey and how it relates to the meaning of the work as a whole.

Prompt 1- Ordinary People

The death of a close friend or family member may have devistating affects to the people who experienced the loss. Chose a novel in which a death of a close friend or family member occurs. Then, write an essay describing the affect it has on a character and how it relates to the meaning of the work as a whole.