Question

In at least 150 words, discuss the importance of African American identity in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. How does this novel demonstrate James Baldwin’s assertion in his essay that Black English is its own distinct language?

Answer 1

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston strives to vividly and accurately describe the lives of African Americans in the South during the early twentieth century. One of the things that she does in order to achieve this is use the local dialect.

Hurston writes the dialogue in the same way that she believes these people are likely to have talked. Therefore, she is able to create a world which is extremely close to reality and which paints a vivid picture for the reader. Through the use of dialect, Hurston emphasizes the importance of African American identity above all other identities. Moreover, she is able to demonstrate Baldwin's assertion by showing that Black English can be considered its own distinct language that gives rise to a distinct and unique culture.

Answer 2

Answer: Their Eyes Were Watching God is the story of Janie Crawford, whose life is a fight to find true love. Joe and Janie move to Eatonville, Florida, which was the first all-black town in America, and the location where Zora Neale Hurston spent her childhood. Janie thinks that she might be happy for the first time. The title comes from a quote in the book which says: "They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God". It basically means that, you couldn't always tell, but people in the book have a spiritual and ever-present knowledge and bond with God.  In the novel you can notice that the characters show their identity by how they use English. However, I don't think that a particular accent or way of speaking of a region slang words make another language as James Baldwin asserts.

In the article “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?,” James Baldwin claims an impressive argument as to how Black English is not only its own language, but that it being a language shows many things about American society. After stating a brief introduction explaining the difference between languages of the same country, he gives his reasoning in almost a chronological fashion; starting with African tribesman coming to America as slaves, and ending with modern day black children in America. Baldwin also uses the oratorical strategies ethos, pathos, and logos, as well as linguistic variaty to appeal to his readers in an attempt to augment the appearance of being true of his writing.