My Name

I was born December 3, 1994 with the name Julie Elizabeth. Interestingly enough, my grandmother picked my name. My parents couldn’t think of any girl names for me. They knew Elizabeth, but couldn’t find a first name. Their next door neighbor in Kentucky, Mrs. Lukita, wanted them to name me “Petina”, like a mix between Pete and Gina. Since my parents couldn’t think of a name for me, my grandmother said, “Why don’t you name her Julie? That’s a pretty name.” My parents agreed and so that is what I’m named. If I was a boy, my name could have been either Wolfgang after Wolfgang Amadaeus Motzart, or Calvin from the comics, Calvin and Hobbes.

Julie is a French name that means “youthful, soft haired, and vivacious one” in a baby names book I randomly looked through. Elizabeth means “consecrated to God”. My first name suits me extremely well. I asked some of my friends at a tennis practice and none of them really knew what a good name would be for me. Honestly, “youthful one” really describes my personality, since (from what Jay says) I’m pretty hyper, and always happy. My middle name, not so much. I mean I was born and raised Roman Catholic, but I’m definitely not going to be a nun, and my lifestyle isn’t necessarily based around all of God’s teachings. I really do like my name though, and the nicknames aren’t so bad either. My most interesting nickname came this year from a sophomore during volleyball season. Everyone calls me Juls, and so she thought it would be funny to call me “Bling Bling”. It’s like a synonym for Jewels like a diamond or shiny rock, and it sounds pretty cool I think anyways. On Urban Dictionary, my name means “sweet downy haired girl, changeable, and often misunderstood and complex. A fearful creature as well as a highly loyal one. She will rule your affection.” Enough said, but Emily thinks my name sounds like the description of a dog….

Symbolism

Janie’s hair- Janie’s hair symbolizes her freedom when it is worn down or in a thick braid. However, when it is up in the head rag she is controlled and unable to be free.

Overalls- the overalls symbolize a working class and farming. Janie is looked at as sloppy and a worker instead of a lady when she walks into the town by the townspeople.

Pear Tree- the pear tree symbolizes the cycles of life, and how there is a beginning, growth, mature time, and then death, and how Janie was then at the point between growth and maturity in her life.

Gate- the gate is metaphorically what is holding Janie back from what she wants. It is also physically at times holding her back from what she wants.

Horizon- the horizon is where all of her dreams are. However, she will never be able to fully reach the horizon. It will always be just out of reach.

Head Rag- the head rag is symbolic because of Janie’s lack of freedom because Joe has held her as his little doll that follows all his commands because that is was has to be done.

High Chair- the high chair is what Janie sits on as the mayor’s wife. Joe wants her as the belle to show off to everyone instead of enjoying being around friends and having fun.

Tobacco Spittoon- shows how rich Joe Starks makes his life, like spitting into a golden spittoon that others would gladly use as an ornament for their tables.

Lamp Lighting Up the Town- the lamp symbolizes all the good it brings like lighting up a dark place (aka the building of the small town by Joe Starks and the people), but it can also be a nusance.

Joe Stark’s House-Joe Stark’s house was very big and had two stories. The house was white, which was symbolic, since that was what most of the white plantation owners’ houses were colored.

Imagery

1. Janie’s butt p.2

The men noticed her firm buttocks, like she had grape fruits in her hip pockets. Janie at her age still had some of the good features of younger people, like a firm butt.

2. Pear tree p. 10-11
From barren brown stems to glistening leaf buds; from the leaf buds to snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again….It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep. The pear tree, Janie feels, relates to her, like how it goes through all of its stages to reach a full growth.

3. The porch setting p.1

The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky. It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongue less, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long.
Where Janie’s from, it’s like an old southern town, where everyone is lazy and lackadaisical at the end of the day and everyone is in everyone’s business.

4. Janie’s hair p.2

A great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume. Janie’s hair is beautiful and long, which most of the women are envious of.

5. Beginning of the night p.7
They sat there in the fresh darkness close together. Janie and Pheoby are really close, and sat there in the early part of the night, talking to each other.

6. Johnny Taylor kissing Janie p.12
She bolted upright and peered out the window and saw Johnny Tayler lacerating her Janie with a kiss! Janie is seen by Nannie kissing Johnny Taylor, and Nannie overexagerrates and freaks out because of what has happened before.

7. Nannie’s voice p.12
The old woman’s voice was so lacking in command and reproof, so full of crumbling dissolution-that Janie half believed that Nannie had not seen her. Nannie has a very weary old cracking voice, making it hard to understand whether or not she had noticed things she was talking about.

8. Nannie’s hair.12
Nannie’s head and face looked like the standing roots of some old tree that had been torn away by a storm. Nannie had some major bad head.

9. When Nannie slapped Janie and the outcome of the slap p.14
She slapped the girl’s face so violently, and forced her head back so their eyes would meet in struggle. Nannie smacked Janie across the face and moved her head back so Janie would understand Nannie was the boss and to do what she says.

10. The first site of Joe p. 27
It was citified, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn’t belong in these parts. Is coat over his arm, but he didn’t need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world. Joe was very stylishly dressed, with all the accessories showing he was wealthier than most other black men.

11. The lumber under the tree p. 40
In the first place everybody was late in coming; then the next thing as soon as they heard where Jody was, they kept right on up there where the new lumber was rattling off the wagon and being piled under the big live oak tree.

12. Janie’s red dress p. 41

So she put on one of her bought dresses and went up the new-cut road all dressed in wine-colored red.

25 Random Things About Me...

1. I was born in Frankfort, Kentucky

2. I am a semi black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do (some of you might have seen my picture of when i was younger in the window of Chung's Martial Arts in the Bel Air Festival smiling that goofy smile and throwing a punch)

3. I have an uncanny ability to see people for who they really are instead of who they say they are

4. My favorite vacation spot is Garden City, South Carolina, which is right next to Myrtle Beach

5. I have a terrible habit of randomly tripping over either nothing or my own feet

6. I love to independently read(instead of being told what to read)

7. I love to draw people and faces

8. I love to listen to music

9. I also love to sing

10. I'm scared of the dark for the most part

11. My favorite food is fried squash

12. I skim board over the summer

13. I've never broken a bone

14. I can't live without honey barbeque tristed fritos

15. I don't have a favorite color

16. I love Chinese food

17. My favorite restaraunt is P.F. Chang's

18. I have been in advanced math classes since 1st grade

19. I have one younger brother

20. When I grow up I want to be a therapist or psychologist

21. I absolutely despise learning about American History

22. I love learning about Roman and Greecian History

23. I can pop my shoulder out of its socket and put it back in

24. I can run 100 meters in 14.8 seconds

25. I have this obsession with European and old muscle cars

Zora Neale Hurston

Hello, and welcome to my blog site :)

Zora Neale Hurston was a very famous writer of the 20th century. She is considered one of the most preeminent writers of the 20th century. She wrote many books, like Their Eyes Were Watching God, Mules and Men, and Every Tongue Got To Confess. Zora was mainly associated with the Harlem Renaissance.

Hurston was born January 7, 1903 and died January 28, 1960. She was born in Nostagula, Alabama, and grew up in Florida. She went to Howard University, while working as a manicurist so she could afford her payments. Zora went up to New York City, and then started writing fiction. She started her study of anthropology there.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a Southern love story about an independent and light skinned Janie Crawford. She went through three marriages, poverty, trials, and purpose. The story is told by a woman who refuses to live in mushy romantic dreams, fear, sadness, or hatred. The story is witty, filled with heartfelt wisdom and beauty, and entertaining with all of the Southern dialect involved. It is a wide read highly regarded story in African Literature.

http://www.zoranealehurston.com/