September 5, 2006
Lesson Plan: Using/Misusing the Black Vernacular: Hurston, Hughes and Toomer
“But now, the sun and the bossmen were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment.”
–Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Assigned Readings:
(From The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Ed. Paul Lauter, 5th Ed., 2005):
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston
“The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes
“Blood Burning Moon” from Cane by Jean Toomer
Background:
One of the most striking qualities of Hurston’s prose is her use of the black vernacular. In Hurston’s novels and short stories it is often the dialogue and not the narration that drives the story forward. Consider the following passage from “Sweat”:
“Heah come Delia Jones,” Jim Merchant said, as the shaggy pony came ’round the bend of the road toward them. The rusty buckboard was heaped with baskets of crisp, clean laundry.
“Yep,” Joe Lindsay agreed. “hot or col’, rain or shine, jes es reg’lar ez de weeks roll roun’ Delia carries ‘em an’ fetches ‘em on Sat’day.”
“She better if she wanter eat,” said Moss. “Syke Jones aint wuth de shot an’ powder would tek tuch kill ‘em. Not to huh he ain’t.” (Lauter 1580)
In this passage Delia’s workday is narrated by a group “village men” sitting out on Joe Clarke’s porch. Note Hurston’s use of the black vernacular and the blurring of the boundaries between her narrative voice (“the shaggy pony came ’round the bend”) and the gossip of the men (“She better if she wanter eat”).
During the Harlem Renaissance there were many writers who attempted to portray black “folk culture” by incorporating black vernacular into their texts. Consider the following examples from Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” and from Jean Toomer’s Cane:
From “The Weary Blues” (1925) by Langston Hughes:
Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more—
“I got the Weary Blues
And I can’t be satisfied—
I ain’t happy no mo’
And I wish that I had died.” (Lauter 1522)
From Cane, “Blood-Burning Moon” by Jean Toomer:
Figures shifted, restlesslike, between lamp and window in the front rooms of the shanties. Shadows of the figures fought each other on the gray dust of the road. Figures raised the windows and joined the old woman in song. Louisa and Tom, the whole street, singing:
Red nigger moon. Sinner!
Blood-burning moon. Sinner!
Come out that fact’ry door. (Lauter 1506)
Authors like Hughes, Toomer and Hurston felt that using black vernacular was a way to give both black and white readers an insight into black culture. However, these authors all had very different ways of incorporating the vernacular into their texts. Some writers like Hughes drew a sharp division between his “poet’s voice” and the voice of the “common folk” (for example, the blues singer in his poem). Others, like Hurston and Toomer at times allowed their narrative voice to blend with the dialogue of the characters in their stories. In addition, some authors (like Hurston) made extensive use of the black vernacular, while others limited their use to specific quotes or references to songs.
Small Group Discussion Questions:
1. What are the benefits of including the black vernacular in a text? Why do you think Hurston used so much black vernacular in her writing? For whom was she writing?
2. What are the downsides of using black vernacular extensively? What kind of audience would a text like “Sweat” attract? What kind of audience might it exclude?
3. Critiques of Hurston. There were many different critical reactions to Hurston’s use of the black vernacular, both at the time she was writing and afterwards. As Christa Smith Anderson writes in her article “Do You Speak American?”:
Hurston’s heavy use of dialect and folk speech drew both praise and criticism from her African-American contemporaries. Philosopher and critic Alain Locke praised Hurston’s “gift for poetic phrase… and rare dialect,” and considered it a welcome replacement “for so much faulty local color fiction about Negroes.” Yet he also felt that Their Eyes Were Watching God lacked psychological depth (Locke). The harshest criticism came from Richard Wright, who wrote that Hurston “exploits that phase of Negro life which is ‘quaint.’” Wright said Hurston’s dialogue captured only the “psychological movements of the Negro folk-mind in their pure simplicity,” and likened Hurston’s technique to that of a minstrel show designed to appease a white audience. During a time of pervasive and overt racial oppression, Wright found in Their Eyes Were Watching God, “no theme, no message, no thought” (Wright). (Anderson)
Do you agree with Locke that Hurston’s use of the black vernacular adds a richness and authenticity to her writing? Or do you agree with Wright that Hurston’s depiction of black culture is simplistic and functions like a “minstrel show designed to appease a white audience”?
4. Who does a better job of incorporating the black vernacular into their work: Toomer, Hughes or Hurston. Why? Which text best gives readers an insight into black culture while avoiding the pitfalls that Wright identifies?
5. What modern day productions can you think of that incorporate a version of the vernacular? List some of the mainstream T.V. shows, movies, or songs that feature minority dialects. Are these representations of the minority culture accurate? What kinds of stereotypes do they play on?
Assignment:
Part 1: Write a short story or poem that incorporates a form of modern-day vernacular. Lanugage options include: Ebonics, Spanglish, “Surfer Slang” or regional dialects.
Part 2: Write a two-page analysis explaining why you chose this language and how you incorporated it into your text. In your analysis, be sure to answer the following questions:
1. Who is your audience? To whom would this text appeal?
2. How did you gather your knowledge about the dialect you included? What were your sources? (First-hand experience, movies, the Internet, etc.)
3. What makes your text difficult/easy to read?
4. Does your text give an accurate or realistic picture of the culture you are depicting? What stereotypes might your text be drawing on?
5. Which texts/authors provided you with examples for how to include a dialect into your writing? (Toomer, Hughes, Hurston, Gloria Anzaldúa, etc.)
Works Cited:
Anderson, Christa Smith. “Do You Speak American?” PBS. 4 Sept. 2006. http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/powerprose/hurston/#1
Lauter, Paul, Ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 5th ed. Vol D. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.
Locke, Alain. Opportunity. June 1, 1938. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/enam312/znhhp.html, accessed March 14, 2004.
Wright, Richard. “Between Laughter and Tears.” (review) New Masses, 5 October 1937. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/enam312/znhhp.html, accessed March 14, 2004.
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