For Thursday, please make sure you have read "Sweat." We moved Hurston's story up on the revised schedule. Many of you did not know this, so rather than discuss the story tonight, we are going to discuss it on Thursday.
Before Thursday, though, I would like to hear your reactions to the story. Here are a couple of things you might write about, but feel free to write about other topics as well:
1. What does Hurston gain by writing the story in a local vernacular/dialect? What does she lose?
2. On page 714, paragraph 28, Delia shows "a triumphant indifference" to Sykes. How might this phrase be used to describe her choice at the end of the story?
3. On page 713, Delia says, "Sometime or ruther, Sykes, like everybody else, is gointer reap his sowing." Is this what happens at the end of the story? Does Sykes get what is coming to him, or is Delia in part to blame? How does she justify not helping him when he cries out to her?
Thanks. See you on Thursday.
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Hurston's use of the dialect in her writing demotivates the reader. The dialect is hard to follow and makes the reading very strenuous. Reading the narration between dialogs gives the reader a relieving feeling of coming up for air after being submerged in the dialect. Being able to get through it, i do realize that by using the dialect it gives the reader a deeper understanding of how the characters in the story treated each other and what their relationships are like to one another. Hurston does gain uniqueness in her writing by using the dialect. The story wouldn't be the same otherwise, even though it is very tough to read.
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