Harlem Ren Final Study Guide

The final will be short answer questions and an essay where you compare elements of T​heir
Eyes Were Watching God​ to the literature/history that we covered this semester. To study for
this, my suggestion is to study smarter, not harder. This means focus your study on the topic
that will most likely appear on the final. With this in mind, please list the key details of the
following:

The History.

What are the key historical details that could help with your essay. Some potential topics are the
factors that led to the creation and destruction of the American system of race slavery; the
aftermath of slavery, especially in regards to the “big question”; details about Jim Crow laws,
how they were designed, and their purpose; the factors leading to the Harlem Renaissance
including the Great Migration and Red Summer; and key details about the Harlem Renaissance.
Literature

What are the key details to know about the literature we read this semester? List important
things about The Underground Railroad, Frederick Douglass, the stories/poems of “The Big
Question”, stories/poems of the Harlem Renaissance, and Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Themes

What are the themes that you saw in both ​Their Eyes Were Watching God​ and other works of
the semester? Some potential things to think about are the power of stories/language, the big
question, the positives/negatives of dreams, power dynamics, the role of good/bad traits like
ambition or pride, the role of religion/God as a positive/negative force, the friction between
urban and rural blacks, and others. When you think about these themes, list how the themes are
the same/different in ​Their Eyes​ than in the other works.