johoca

In case you weren’t in class or if you want to see the questions we did in class again. The link to the radio play is http://www.scribblingwomen.org/znhsweatfeature.htm

There is also a nice little summary about Hurston on the follwing site http://www.barnard.edu/archives/persons.htm

Sweat- part 1 to 5 mins

Aint-isn’t

Ah-I

Mah-my

Skeer-scare

Yo-your

Dat-that

1. What did Sykes do to Delia and why?
2. How does Sykes feel about Delia’s job? Why?
3. What happens to Delia when he threatens her to throw out the whites’ clothes? Why does she react like this?
4. Is Sykes a good husband? Explain.
5. How does he feel about the ‘new Delia’?

Sweat part II to 11:14mins

Mah’ied-married

Huh-her

Wuth-worth

Wuz-was

Lak-like

Sho-sure

Kin-can

1. What is the comparison being made as Delia is passing the men on Joe Clarke’s porch?
2. How do the men feel towards Delia?
3. How has Sykes changed as a husband?
4. What is the analogy made on p. 382?
5. Even though everyone knows what Sykes does to Delia, why does no one do anything to stop him?
6. Why does Sykes treat Bertha so differently to Delia?
7. Why do you think that Delia, despite the way she is treated by Sykes, tries to repair their relationship?

Part III to 16 mins

1. What might the foreshadowing be at the end of p.383?
2. Why does Delia get angry even though she is scared of the snake?
3. What is Sykes’ plan with the snake?
4. What does Delia tell Sykes (bottom p.384) and how does Sykes react to this? Why does he react like this?
5. What does Delia threaten Sykes with (top p.385) and how does Sykes react to this threat?

Part IV to 20:55

1. What is the role of religion in Delia’s life?
2. Why does Delia refer to the snake as ‘ol’ satan’?
3. What does Delia do to escape from the snake?
4. What is being said in the paragraph starting ‘finally she grew…’
5. What do you think is going to happen now?

Part V to end

1. How does Delia act during Sykes’ death?
2. Is that how a good religious person should act? Why does she do this?
3. How is Sykes represented at the end of the story? How is that different from the beginning of the story?

Discussion

1. What do you think the significance of the title is?
2. What do you think the themes of the story might be?
3. What are the symbols used in the story?
4. Do you think that Hurston’s story is typical of stories written at the time?
5. Why might Hurston have been criticised for her writing by other blacks?

While you are reading the story The Yellow wallpaper try to keep in mind the following questions:

What is the relationship between the narrator and her husband?

How does her husband treat her?

What is the narrator suffering from and how is it treated? Does she seem to be getting better? Why or why not?

Why is the narrator so obsessed with the wallpaper and what do you think it symbolises for her?

Can the story be defined as a feminist text? Why or why not?

How reliable is the narrator?