Zora Neale Hurston Essay
Sandles 1
Alvin Sandles
A. Dillard, Professor ENG – 550 – Q5158
3 Jul. 2015
Writings of Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston wrote her stories from an “insider’s” perspective. Her effective use of black dialect in her writings of “Sweat,” “The Gilded Six-Bits,” and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” often created a superficial realism which, by verging on racial stereotyping, overlooks the experiences and motivations of her characters (Cornish)<http://www. csmonitor.com/1985/0531/dbspun-f.html>. The writings of the author not only included the linguistic structure of dialect----i.e, grammar (specifically morphology and syntax) and vocabulary (David Crystal)<http://www.britannica.com/topic/dialect>, but the English phonology of words (Ah’m, ain’t, dat, “Ah done tole you…”). Writing a thesis on the writings of author Zora Neale Hurston’s use of linguistic elements in relationship to her style of writing required the use of my course textbook, “How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction,” written by Anne Curzan and Michael Adams. In Chapter 12 of the textbook a discussion of American Dialects stated, “In the twenty-first century, American speakers may poke at the drawl of Southerners” (Curzan and Adams 377); a culture and dialect frequently written about by Hurston. Hurston wrote masterfully within the folk idiom that she was heavily influenced by (Cornish)<http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0531/ dbspun-f.html>. Writing the dialect of an uneducated black people not only was appropriate to their rural existences and experiences, but also, provided insight into her choices which mattered in the final result of her writings. Sandles 2
When a black woman author writes stories about the experiences of other black women in the early twentieth century is the language used to tell those stories in
Alvin Sandles
A. Dillard, Professor ENG – 550 – Q5158
3 Jul. 2015
Writings of Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston wrote her stories from an “insider’s” perspective. Her effective use of black dialect in her writings of “Sweat,” “The Gilded Six-Bits,” and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” often created a superficial realism which, by verging on racial stereotyping, overlooks the experiences and motivations of her characters (Cornish)<http://www. csmonitor.com/1985/0531/dbspun-f.html>. The writings of the author not only included the linguistic structure of dialect----i.e, grammar (specifically morphology and syntax) and vocabulary (David Crystal)<http://www.britannica.com/topic/dialect>, but the English phonology of words (Ah’m, ain’t, dat, “Ah done tole you…”). Writing a thesis on the writings of author Zora Neale Hurston’s use of linguistic elements in relationship to her style of writing required the use of my course textbook, “How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction,” written by Anne Curzan and Michael Adams. In Chapter 12 of the textbook a discussion of American Dialects stated, “In the twenty-first century, American speakers may poke at the drawl of Southerners” (Curzan and Adams 377); a culture and dialect frequently written about by Hurston. Hurston wrote masterfully within the folk idiom that she was heavily influenced by (Cornish)<http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0531/ dbspun-f.html>. Writing the dialect of an uneducated black people not only was appropriate to their rural existences and experiences, but also, provided insight into her choices which mattered in the final result of her writings. Sandles 2
When a black woman author writes stories about the experiences of other black women in the early twentieth century is the language used to tell those stories in
Cited: Cornish, Sam. “Hurston’s Tales Illuminate Rural Black Culture.” The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 31 may 1985. Web. 13 Jul. 2015. Curzan, Anne, and Michael Adams. How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006. Print. “dialect.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 14 Jul. 2015. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Urbana: U of Illinois Press, 1978. Web. 24 Jul. 2015.