What Every Student Should Know and Be Able to Do in Drama
NAME________________________
CLOSE READING ANALYSIS Practice PER _____ DATE ________
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
PAGE 11
CONTEXT (What is happening in the novel when this quote occurs?)
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PASSAGE: Highlight key words and images, highlight and identify figurative and ironic devices. Take notes in margins.
She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree
soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the
panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her.
She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes
arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root
to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this
was marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation.
CENTRAL TONE ___________________________
JUSTIFICATION ________________________________________________________
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UNDERTONES __________________________________________________________
Please attach an analysis of this passage that reflects on those elements that contribute to the tone: particularly the diction choices, metaphoric and ironic devices, image patterns, symbols, and the syntactical arrangements. You are encouraged to make notations on the passage above that will note key words, figures, and sentence patterns. You may wish to label your analysis (diction, syntax, figurative devices, ironic devices.)

