English Final Topics Flashcards
(135 cards)
Pear tree
Metaphor for sex/sexual awakening (bees, flowers blooming) from Johnny Taylor
Nanny & Johnny Taylor
When Nanny finds out about Johnny Taylor (who helped Janie experience sexual awakening) she wants to get rid of him
“De mule uh de world”
Black women are mules of the world, below everyone else in the world
White men > black men > black women
Black men have horrible lives & then come home & take it out on their wives
The rapes
The two generations of rape in Janie’s family
Nanny was raped by the white plantation owner & Janie’s mother was raped by her white schoolteacher
Safety first
Nanny wants Janie to have a good, stable husband to take care of her & give her an easy & comfortable life
Safety before love
Nanny prioritizes Janie’s protection before her desire to marry for love
“Come help me move dis manure pile”
The manure pile is a shit field
He wants Janie to help move it because she is seen as garbage to Logan Killicks
Jody’s dream
Go to Eatonville & put it on the map
Put a post office in it make it an official town
Start a black town
House/field
House slaves had food & shelter
Field slaves were more often beaten & worked harder
House slaves were lighter & field slaves were darker
The street lamp
Indication of what Jody wants to turn Eatonville into
Ordered from Sears
Janie & the mule
Janie could not
Janie’s speech making
Janie was not allowed to make speeches
Jody would not let her
The porch
The setting for the oral culture
Oral culture
Happens on the porch
Like hallway, cafeteria, locker rooms, texting, twitter, etc.
“De change uh life”
Shows up Jody in front of a lot of people at the store
That is what Janie calls Jody in the store
Male menopausal woman
First time she stood up to him
“You gointuh listen tuh me one time befo’ you die”
Unloading it all
Ultimate closure between her & Jody (both cruel & unnecessary)
The kerchief
Janie lets her hair down, metaphor for her freedom
Tight kerchief hair was a metaphor for her life with Jody
No longer in Jody’s control
Jody wants Janie under his thumb
The “starched & ironed” face
Janie’s face at Jody’s funeral
Checkers
Tea Cake teaches Janie how to play checkers
Treats her as an equal (no longer classed off)
Girls used to not go into the muck just stayed & watched the store
Tea cake let her get involved
“Janie, everybody’s talking”
About Janie and Tea Cake (he’s young, below her class, not good enough for her according to people in Eatonville)
She shouldn’t be with tea cake because he is a gold digger and young but Janie does not hear a word they’re saying
Phoebe told Janie everybody was talking about them
$200
Tea Cake took Janie’s money and threw a party but did not tell her & Janie doesn’t want Tea Cake to go out and have fun without her
Tea Cake wins back the money he lost gambling
Janie does not tell tea cake about this but he finds it and throws a party
She is not upset about money she is upset that she wasnt inviited to it - boxed off again
The muck: Garden of Eden
Janie finally gets to be a part of things
Not seen as being too good for anything but when she gets out of the muck she gets to be with everyone & be in the Garden of Eden or Heaven on Earth
“Jody classed me off”
Janie was not allowed to participate in conversations
Jody would say Janie was not allowed to talk to everyone on the porch because thought they were too trashy for her and him
Mrs Turner: the snake
Was the snake that broke up Adam & Eve
Broke them up because she worshiped lightness of skin & did not want Janie to be with Tea Cake (who was dark)
wanted Janie to marry her brother because she thought tea Cake was trash
The flood
Janie can start fresh after the flood
Tea Cake is gone & she ends up in Eatonville happy & independent
The flood wipes out all of the evil of mankind in the Bible