"Their Eyes Were Watching God" Socratic Seminar Essay Example
World Connection Question: If you were in a unhappy relationship but that you prospered greatly from, what would you do? Would you stick it out or look for an escape?
Close-Ended Question: What do the townspeople think of Janie when she returns in the beginning of the novel?
Open-Ended Question: Is Janie truly not happy with her relationships or is she just dissatisfied?
Universal Theme/Core Question: How are personal dreams and goals treated in the novel?
Literary Analysis Question: How does Hurston use Janie’s hair to symbolize her situation and emotions throughout the novel?
TEWWG 1: Janie’s main desire is to find a relationship in which she experiences what she had experienced “under [the] blossoming pear tree in [her] backyard” (Hurston 11). Janie’s life is spent searching for “[a] personal answer” to her questions of “Where? When?” and “How?” she will find her mate (11).
Outside Support 1: Desire is reality as we see it: a fantasy. Desires rely on lack, since fantasy does not correspond to anything real. At the heart of desire is a misrecognition of fullness where really there is nothing but our own narcissistic projections. To come too close to our object of desire threatens to uncover the lack that is necessary for our desire to persist. Desire is driven to its extent by its own impossibility.
"Introduction to Jacques Lacan, Module on Desire." Introduction to Jacques Lacan, Module on Desire. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
TEWWG 2: Nanny wants to make sure that Janie is “safe in life” before she is taken by “de angel wid de sword” (15). Nanny’s desire is to see Janie have a good life so that Nanny can be “[p]ut… down easy” (20).
Outside Support 2: Desires make us act, give us urges, make us feel joy if the desire is met, and make us feel sorrow if they are not. Desire leads to action. Desire makes pleasure. Desire also leads to reward-based learning. If a person desires something, they will normally be motivated to obtain what it is
Close-Ended Question: What do the townspeople think of Janie when she returns in the beginning of the novel?
Open-Ended Question: Is Janie truly not happy with her relationships or is she just dissatisfied?
Universal Theme/Core Question: How are personal dreams and goals treated in the novel?
Literary Analysis Question: How does Hurston use Janie’s hair to symbolize her situation and emotions throughout the novel?
TEWWG 1: Janie’s main desire is to find a relationship in which she experiences what she had experienced “under [the] blossoming pear tree in [her] backyard” (Hurston 11). Janie’s life is spent searching for “[a] personal answer” to her questions of “Where? When?” and “How?” she will find her mate (11).
Outside Support 1: Desire is reality as we see it: a fantasy. Desires rely on lack, since fantasy does not correspond to anything real. At the heart of desire is a misrecognition of fullness where really there is nothing but our own narcissistic projections. To come too close to our object of desire threatens to uncover the lack that is necessary for our desire to persist. Desire is driven to its extent by its own impossibility.
"Introduction to Jacques Lacan, Module on Desire." Introduction to Jacques Lacan, Module on Desire. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.
TEWWG 2: Nanny wants to make sure that Janie is “safe in life” before she is taken by “de angel wid de sword” (15). Nanny’s desire is to see Janie have a good life so that Nanny can be “[p]ut… down easy” (20).
Outside Support 2: Desires make us act, give us urges, make us feel joy if the desire is met, and make us feel sorrow if they are not. Desire leads to action. Desire makes pleasure. Desire also leads to reward-based learning. If a person desires something, they will normally be motivated to obtain what it is