Journal #5

"Janie starched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil. It was like a wall of stone and steel. The funeral was going on outside. All things concerning death and burial were said and done. Finish. End. Nevermore. Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity. Weeping and wailing outside. Inside the expensive black holes were resurrection and life. She did not reach outside for anything, nor did the things of death reach inside to disturb her calm. She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world" (Hurston 88).

The passage I chose demonstrates Hurston's very unique syntax through punctuation and sentence length. One thing from this quote that stands out to the reader very quickly is the series of single words that are each punctuated as their own sentences. "Finish. End. Nevermore. Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity." Hurston uses this unconventional syntax of very incomplete sentences to emphasize her point of Janie having moved on from Joe's death. Instead of telling us how Janie feels in long, flowing sentences, Hurston uses periods after every word to create an abruptness and straight-to-the point explanation. The staccato structure of these sentences does not invite lingering on each word but rather moving quickly from one to the next. This style of writing parallels Janie's feeling of being ready to move forward from Joe instead of dwelling on the past. As soon as Hurston is done talking about Janie's feelings towards Joe, the sentences begin to get longer again, further evidence that these short sentences were written for the purpose of paralleling Janie's feelings.

Hurston's word choice throughout the novel is pretty basic. This passage follows the pattern of the rest of the book by using common words that are easy to understand instead of words that require a dictionary. Hurston's intention in using easy words is to give the reader an opportunity to understand the true meaning she is trying to convey through her sentences as a whole. Even through the basic vocabulary used here, this passage does its job of conveying Janie's emotions and connecting us to what she is going through at this point in the book.

In this passage, Hurston's words first create a tone of understanding towards Janie, and then a tone of hope for her future. The first half's choppy sentence structures and short sentence lengths move the reader right along, just like Janie has moved on from Joe. By the author moving through these feelings so quickly in the passage, it can be seen that she understands her character's desire to move forward instead of dwelling on the past. Hurston also feels a lot of hope for Janie's future, as seen when she lengthens the last few sentences that regard the remaining resurrection and life inside Janie, instead of hurrying the reader through.

As for sound devices, in this passage Hurston uses alliteration to help convey her point. The repetition of D's is used to emphasize the negative feelings Janie has moved past: death, darkness, deep hole, dissolution. All of these D words have negative connotations attached to them, and the literal sound of a D is harsh and final. By putting three of these words right in a row, ("Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution."), Hurston pulls off her intention of drawing the reader in to pay special attention to this section of the passage.

Through the aspects of syntax, word choice, tone, and sound devices found in this passage, it is clear that Hurston is very aware of the way she writes. It seems that none of her sentences happen by accident, but rather are all written the way they are for a specific purpose - to help her audience gain a greater understanding of her characters and their experiences and emotions.