Teaching Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God in First-Year Composition

Abstract

My teaching note explores how to teach Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God in first-year composition classrooms. I discuss the demographics of my classroom in a rural public university, and my students' reactions to reading the novel. This article highlights the successes and challenges of my classroom discussions and activities relating to reader comprehension and code switching. In addition, I explore ways to implement antiracist and feminist pedagogies while keeping students out of the "panic zone."

Keywords

• First Year Composition
• feminist pedagogy
• antiracist