Directions: Use the websites provided to find the answers for this Web Quest.

Put your answers on a

sheet of paper.

1. When and where was Zora Neale Hurston born? Where did she move as a young girl? Jan. 7, 1891.
Notasulga, Alabama

http://zoranealehurston.com/about/index.html

2. Given your knowledge of the time and place, what kind of world did Hurston grow up in? Hurston grew up in
a segregated time period.

http://zoranealehurston.com/about/index.html

3. What was the extent of Hurstons education? Considering her gender and color, does this surprise you?
Explain. She graduated from Barnard College. This surprises me because during that time period it was hard
for people of color, especially women, to get that far with education.

http://zoranealehurston.com/about/index.html

Go to the following site for Eatonville, Florida http://townofeatonville.com/

4. When, and by whom, was Eatonville founded? It was founded by three Union officers after the civil war.

5. Who was it named after? Captain Eaton

6. What is significant about Eatonville and African-American history? It was a place where black people could
establish independent communities.

7. What kind of achievements is Hurston noted for? The first Black American to collect and publish African-
American and Afro-Caribbean folklore

http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/hurston/hurston.htm

8. Use Google to look up The Harlem Renaissance. What was it? Cultural, social, and artistic explosion in
Harlem, New York.

9. When and where did it occur? Harlem, New York

10. Who were some of the key participants? Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Du Bois, Louis Armstrong, Josephine
Baker

11. Use Google to look up when (and how) Zora Neale Hurston died. January 28, 1960, Hurston had suffered
several strokes
12. Look up a definition of vernacular language. Explain in your own words what the term means and how it
might be applied to the novel we are about to read, which takes place in the Deep South. The native language
or native dialect of a specific population.

13. Us the following link to explore Hurstons use of Florida as a setting for African American folk life (scroll to
the bottom of page 2 of the document you find there, and read the short article called Scholarly Criticism on
the Use of Florida):

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00076693/00001

14. Why was Hurston criticized by other African American writers at the end of her literary career? She felt like
blacks and whites didnt need to be integrated. Black people didnt need white people.

15. According to Hurston, what role should cultural forms play in the writing of African Americans? The role it
is played in and influenced by its genres.

Using the same document, scroll down to page 5 to the article Hurston and Hughes: Competing
Public Intellectualism.

16. Explain how Mule Bone was supposed to be an example of real Negro art theatre. Authentic folk-art
centered on language, especially the connection between folk culture and rural vernacular.

17. According to the article, why was it problematic? Audience was considered: the problem of image...etc.

18. How have African-Americans historically dealt with oppression and self-identity in this country? Offer some
reasons why. They dealt with racism in their communities. Theyve tried to protest and fight for what is right.
They used to folk traditions to make black communities stronger. They united.