Sweat--Honors Only

Analysis: “Sweat” By Zora Neale Hurston

1)     Examine the author’s use of symbolism by listing 3 objects or abstract nouns associated with Sykes or Delia.  How does the author use those symbols to characterize Sykes and Delia?

2)     Dialect makes this story.  Based on their dialect, what demographic information can we determine about the characters?  List three things.

3)     List two ways the narrator explicitly and indirectly develops Delia’s character.   (4)

4)     List two ways the narrator explicitly and indirectly develops Sykes character. (4)

5)     The text is loaded with irony.  Identify an example of each form:  dramatic, verbal, and situational.

6)     The text contains many allusions, some of them Biblical.  Identify several (3).  What comparison is implied with each?

7)     When we first met Delia and Sykes, we were amused at their dialect.  The author, Zora Neale Hurston, is renowned for writing feminists texts, as well as texts that show understanding of domestic issues in general, and issues specific to African Americans.  How does Hurston make Delia a respectable person?

8)     Syntax, or deliberate choice of sentence structure, is important to the mood and meaning of a text.  Read this portion from the text:

 "Ah wantah cross Jurden in uh calm time," she was singing again. The mood of the "love feast" had returned. She threw back the lid of the basket almost gaily. Then, moved by both horror and terror, she sprang back toward the door. There lay the snake in the basket! He moved sluggishly at first, but even as she turned round and round, jumped up and down in an insanity of fear, he began to stir vigorously. She saw him pouring his awful beauty from the basket upon the bed, then she seized the lamp and ran as fast as she could to the kitchen. The wind from the open door blew out the light and the darkness added to her terror. She sped to the darkness of the yard, slamming the door after her before she thought to set down the lamp. She did not feel safe even on the ground, so she climbed up in the hay barn.

 

What does the syntax do for the mood of the text?  How does it help us understand Delia’s experience?

9)     How do plants, the weather, and the final sunrise serve as symbols for the text?