Their Eyes Were Watching God Group Discussion Questions Chapters 1-2
Please write individual answers to the following questions.
1. The novel was published in 1937. The critical reception o it was negative and the book was
nearly forgotten until the feminist movement of the 1970’s “rediscovered” it. What do you
think feminist scholars liked in the book? Be specific.
2. The novel is a frame story, like The Great Gatsby. What advantages and what disadvantages are
there to using the frame story format?
3. What does your group think that the title might mean? (Your answer will of course be a guess.)
4. What is your group’s reaction to the dialect used in the conversations in the book?
5. What are the townspeople’s reactions to Janie when she returns to Eatonville in chapter 1?
6. Describe Janie in these first chapters. What is her personality like? How did she first “discover”
that she was black?
7. There’s a great poetic passage about a pear tree in bloom on pages 10-11. READ IT ALOUD in
your group and discuss what you think it means.
8. Make a family chart of Janie’s parents and (one set) of grandparents, based on the details that
are revealed in the second half of chapter 2.
Their Eyes Were Watching God Group Discussion Questions Chapters 1-2
Please write individual answers to the following questions.
1. The novel was published in 1937. The critical reception o it was negative and the book was
nearly forgotten until the feminist movement of the 1970’s “rediscovered” it. What do you
think feminist scholars liked in the book? Be specific.
2. The novel is a frame story, like The Great Gatsby. What advantages and what disadvantages are
there to using the frame story format?
3. What does your group think that the title might mean? (Your answer will of course be a guess.)
4. What is your group’s reaction to the dialect used in the conversations in the book?
5. What are the townspeople’s reactions to Janie when she returns to Eatonville in chapter 1?
6. Describe Janie in these first chapters. What is her personality like? How did she first “discover”
that she was black?
7. There’s a great poetic passage about a pear tree in bloom on pages 10-11. READ IT ALOUD in
your group and discuss what you think it means.
8. Make a family chart of Janie’s parents and (one set) of grandparents, based on the details that
are revealed in the second half of chapter 2.
