Journal #6

Literary Techniques

Page: 116
Device: Personification
Quote: "The train beat itself and danced on the shiny steal rails mile after mile"
So What? Janie was on her way to moving to Jacksonville to live with Tea Cake. Though she had been excited to marry her first two husbands, the feeling of marrying Tea Cake was different because for once, she fell in love before marriage. The lightheartedness of the way the train moved on the tracks reflects Janie's current state of mind. This personification leaves a light feeling of excitement of what's to come next for Janie. Had it been a more somber ride, the train probably would not have "danced on teh shiny steal rails".

Page: 119
Device: Hyperbole
Quote: "Everything that you could see was hanging. Her chin hung from her ears and rippled down her neck like drapes. Her hanging bosom and stomach and buttocks and legs that draped down over her ankles."
So What? This hyperbole exaggerates Mrs. Tyler, a woman that Janie met in Jacksonville. She was a 52 year old woman who had been left widowed. This hyperbole isn't just used to show how old Mrs. Tyler is, it is used to show how Janie feels compared to Tea Cake. Tea Cake is much younger than Janie, young enough to be frowed upon as a couple, and Janie feels insecure about the age gap. Compared to Tea Cake, she feels old, aging, and feels as if Tea Cake always wants better.

Page: 120
Device: Dialect
Quote: "But oh God, don't let Tea Cake be off somewhere hurt and Ah not know nothing about it. And God, please suh, don't let him love nobody else but me..."
So What? Usually, the dialect is kept to the dialogue, but in this case, the narration had a bit of dialect in it. The dialect was used in order to convey what Janie was feeling at the time - narration would not have been able to fully express her emotion, which is the only con of having a well-articulated narration in this type of novel. However, these are Janie's thoughts - it would be ridiculous to have her say them outloud. I thought that the way Hurston wrote this was the best way to show Janie's worry for Tea Cake, especially when you picture the quote written in a perfectly written way. The worry would not come across as strongly.