Zora was one of the greatest folklorists of the harlem renaissance and she dedicated her life and career to learning and writing about black culture. Zora neale hurston and the people she looked at very hard and loved very much duration. Collected playsmarks the first time that the extant dramatic writings of zora neale hurston have ever been collected in a single volume. Sweat by zora neale hurston it was eleven oclock of a spring night in florida. Inside fine gowns and tuxedos, marcel waves and glitter. Zora neale hurston 18911960 was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist whose fictional and factual accounts of black heritage remain unparalleled. The men in the general store watch with interest as spunk banks, a giant of a brown skinned man, struts through the only street in the village with lena, joe kanty s wife, on his arm. Spunk s bold parade elicits admiration from elijah, who praises spunk for being so confident and selfassured. Spunk is an adaptation of three short stories by zora neale hurston. Born in alabama, she wrote plays, short stories and essays apart from novels. So she collected the soiled clothes on saturday when she returned the clean things. She won second prize in the 1925 literary contest of the urban leagues journal, opportunity, for her short story spunk, which also appeared in the new negro. Zora neale hurston spunk is 1 of the 3 short stories zora has written.
Everyone in this small spunkk in florida knows each other very well enough to predict what one. Telling almost the entire story through the viewpoint of the town general store gossip spunk is a great ghost story set in hurstons beloved eatonville, florida. About her writing, hurston once said, mary louise wells this is your brain on english. Short stories community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Hurston was the fifth of eight children, and while she was still a toddler, her family moved to eatonville, florida, the first allblack incorporated town in the united states. Through these characters, and other mens reactions to them, hurston. Zora neale hurstonnovelist, folklorist, and anthropologistwas known. In addition to being a fine writer of fiction, zora neale hurston was a folklorist and cultural anthropologist.
But she was a washwoman, and monday morning meant a great deal to her. Sweat, story in harlem slang, and the gilded sixbits. Familial characterization in zora neale hurstons spunk ipedr. Spunk zora neale hurston was born on january 7, 1891 in nostagula, florida. Zora neale hurston american folklorist biography youtube. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of spunk by zora neale hurston. Zora neale hurston was born on january 7, 1891, in notasulga, alabama, to john hurston, a carpenter and baptist preacher, and lucy potts hurston, a former schoolteacher.
Elijah tells us in the story that spunk sees a black bobcat that looked him in the eye, an howled right at him. Students will ideally have studied other work by hurston and have a working understanding of her tendency to write stories about storytelling, and her use of vernacular to facilitate connections between. A giant of a brownskinned man sauntered up the one street of the. The short stories contained in this book reflect the manifold talents of zora neale hurston as a fiction writer. Abstract the aim of this paper is to analyze the representation of spunk courage in zora neale hurstons short story entitled spunk. She used the distinctive dialect of the region to create an authentic representation of the culture. Her notable novels included mules and men, their eyes were watching god, and moses, man of. Pdf downloads of all 1297 litcharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. Directed by seret scott september 8 october 9, 2011 at. Zora neale hurston was the most prominent female writer of the 20th century.
Wolfe won a 1989 obie award for best offbroadway director for spunk external links. Zora neale hurston facts, worksheets, life, writing. Hurston knew her subject matter inside and out, whether it be the poor african american communities of florida or harlem during the renaissance. She portrayed racial struggles in the early 1700s american south and published research on hoodoo. A journal of negro life, because johnson had published her second story, drenched in light, and recognized her talent. Rich fur wraps tripping up the steps of the well furnished home in the two hundred block. Spunk at signature theatre lives up to zora neal hurston. Zora neale hurston was an african american anthropologist and author who became famous for her short stories and essays about african american culture and racial struggles in the south as well as her research work in african american folklore. Spunk, based on three short stories by harlem renaissance writer zora neale hurston, is now onstage at signature theatre and lives up to the writers literary flair. Following joes murder, the characters experience different forms of guilt, representing hurstons belief that everyone in our world has a conscience.
Johnson, the editor of the national urban leagues influential magazine, opportunity. Works cited in the shmoop guide to zora neale hurston. Spunk by zora neale hurston 1925, 5 pages zora hurston 1881 to 1960alabama, usa was one of the leading writers of the harlem renaissance. Zora neale hurston novelist, folklorist, and anthropologistwas known during the harlem renaissance for her wit, irreverence, and folk writing style. Zora neale hurston has created two characters who have different kinds of courage, so deciding on their relative degree will depend on the readers perspective. A giant of a brownskinned man sauntered up the one street of the village and out into the palmetto thickets with a small pretty woman clinging lovingly to his arm. The role of guilt in spunk by zora neale hurston in spunk by zora neale hurston, the main character joe kantys death is the tool used to shape the characters in her story. Spunk was only the third short story zora neale hurston published, and it was immediately successful. Hurston was closely associated with the harlem renaissance and has influenced such writers as ralph ellison, toni morrison, gayle jones, alice walker, and toni cade bambara. Any other night, delia jones would have been in bed for two hours by this time. Zora neale hurston s spunk tells the tragic tale of two men and their virulent contest for one womans love. Spunk is zora neale hurstons third published short story and helped launch her career.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the representation of spunk courage in zora neale hurstons short story entitled spunk. Spunk by zora neale hurston 1926 zora neale hurston was an african american novelist, short story writer, folklorist, anthropologist, and one of the most important figures of the harlem renaissance. Though her work faded into obscurity during her life, it became popular again in 1975 when alice walker published an article titled in search of zora neale hurston the article was published in ms. Action at the rise there is the crack of mallet against ball and nunkie rushes across the dourt from upstage left to. Nov 4, 2019 ap literature comments off on hurstons use of dialect. The focus is on the three protagonists, two males and one female. On the one hand she found strong men electrifying but was equally wary of weakness in a man masquerading as strength. Elijah emphasizes spunk s strength and courage by sharing an anecdote from the sawmill. Spunk spunk famous works and awards personal life zora was born january 7, 1891 in notasulga alabama. Hurston had visited haiti and jamaica in the 1930s and had become very interested in the practice of voodoo. Guilt in spunk by zora neale hurston essay 1220 words.
Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Spunk by zora neale hurston by kynan mccrackin on prezi in either case, when hurston quotes elijah and the others, she attempts to capture not only their characteristic turns of phrase, but their pronunciation as well, as in this line from elijah. Hurston set many of her works, including spunk, in her hometown, eatonville, florida. This story of a fatal love triangle, contrasted against the story sweat, exemplifies the observable lovehate relationship hurston seemed to have with the ideas of love and marriage. In 1997, they found over a dozen plays and sketches stored in various locations throughout their vast holdings and rescued them from. In the 1996 print edition of the complete stories by zora neale hurston, gates did not include the five stories, and to our knowledge not a single one of these. Zora neale hurston was a wellknown american folklorist, anthropologist and author. Reassessing the life and work of zora neale hurston focused on her work and influence. The most popular of her four novels is their eyes were watching god, published in 1937. Legendary american writer zora neale hurston published a collection of short stories called spunk in 1925. Spunk by zora neale hurston short story from the harlem. Today, several of these stories have come to life at the african continuum theatres production of spunk, currently at the kennedy center.
Spunk by zora neale hurston short story magic tricks. The two male characters at the heart of the story spunk banks and joe kanty are positioned as foils to one another when spunk walks boldly through the neighborhood with joes wife, lena kanty. Zora neale hurston january 7, 1891 january 28, 1960 was an american author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. But thats one thing ah likes about spunk bankshe aint skeered of nothin on. Spunk is zora neale hurston s third published short story and helped launch her career. This biography gives the details of this personalitys profile, childhood, life and timeline. Spunks bold parade elicits admiration from elijah, who praises spunk for being so confident and selfassured. Zora neale hurston was an african american novelist, short story writer, folklorist, anthropologist, and one of the most important figures of the harlem renaissance. She grew up in eatonville, florida, which was one of the first allblack towns in americathe local government was run by africanamericans as were all of the businesses.
Although all three were written around the time of the harlem renaissance see pp. Oral histories and zora neale hurston’s audio recordings prior knowledge. She had been encouraged to come to new york city by charles s. In 2002, scholar molefi kete asante listed zora neale hurston on his list of 100 greatest african americans. Wolfe and is an adaptation of three stories by zora neale hurston. Zora neale hurston is considered one of the preeminent writers of twentiethcentury africanamerican literature. Barnard center for research on women 9,440 views 1. The beauty of it is the way we really only get the story from the point of. Elijah emphasizes spunks strength and courage by sharing an anecdote from the sawmill. Commonlit spunk free reading passages and literacy.
Carpio and werner sollors west 9th street at ten p. Five harlem short stories by zora neale hurston glenda r. She attended morgan academy completing high school requirements. Zora neale hurston uses symbolism to introduce the reader to the world of voodoo. See the fact file below for more information on the zora neale hurston or alternatively, you can download. Zora neale hurstonnovelist, folklorist, and anthropologistwas known during the harlem renaissance for her wit, irreverence, and folk writing style.
985 1127 65 1315 506 1190 445 1416 62 54 762 1444 1299 418 1150 34 1343 1293 1248 1306 606 1432 603 553 819 921 522 1378 1234 145 410 963 1435 1426 1370 333