Thursday, April 22, 2010

chapter 12

"Jody classed me off. Ah didn’t. Naw, Pheoby, Tea Cake ain’t draggin’ me off nowhere Ah don’t want tuh go. Ah always did want tuh git round uh whole heap, but Jody wouldn’t ‘low me tuh. When Ah wasn’t in de store he wanted me tuh jes sit wid folded hands and sit dere. And Ah’d sit dere wid de walls creepin’ up on me and squeezin’ all de life outa me. Pheoby, dese educated women got uh heap of things to sit down and consider. Somebody done tole ‘em what to set down for. Nobody ain’t told poor me, so sittin’ still worries me. Ah wants tuh utilize mahself all over."

Janie is trying to tell Phoeby that tea cake is not going to make her do a lot of things that she doesn’t want to do ant then take her money away from her. She said that she didn’t get all classy and high standards by herself, she says that Jody did that to her, he is the one that tried to make her look like a championship trophy.

chapter 11

"Well, is he – he – is he got ... uh wife or something lak dat?"…

"No’m. And nobody wouldn’t marry Tea Cake tuh starve tuh death lessen it’s somebody jes lak him – ain’t used to nothin’. ‘Course he always keep hisself in changin’ clothes. Dat long-legged Tea Cake ain’t got doodly squat. He ain’t got no business makin’ hissef familiar wid nobody lak you."

Someone doesn’t want Janie to run off with tea cake because he is poor and they don’t think tea cake should get familiar with someone like Janie, and they don’t think Janie should get familiar with anyone like tea cake, because they know Janie comes from way better than what they think tea cake can offer to Janie.

"It was so crazy digging worms by lamp light and setting out for Lake Sabelia after midnight that she felt like a child breaking rules. That's what made Janie like it."

Janie liked that she got to feel like a kid again when she was digging worms up by the lamp light and setting out for the lake. She said that she felt like a child breaking the rules, and that is why she enjoyed digging worms up by the lamp, and watching the lake.

chapter 8

"Listen, Jody, you ain’t de Jody ah run off down de road wid. You’se whut’s left after he died."

Janie means that ever since Jody became mayor, and he got a "Big Voice", he has really gotten beside himself. She thinks that the Joe that she first met, and ran off down the road with died a long time ago. She feels that the Joe she knows now is just a pitiful shadow of Joe back when he wasn’t just a voice.

"All dis tearin’ down talk!" Jody whispered with sweat globules ... forming all over his face and arms. "Git outa heah!"

"All dis bowin’ down, all dis obedience under yo’ voice – dat ain’t whut Ah rushed off down de road tuh find out about you."

Now that Janie spoke up, all Jody Joe can do is whisper, because all of those years of Janie taking Joes criticism, she finally speaks up and tells him what is really on her mind, right before he dies. All he could do now is tell her what he wishes that would happen to her, and to get out, the big voice is now gone.

Chapter 7

[Janie]: "You big-bellies round here and put out a lot ... of brag, but ‘tain’t nothin’ to it but yo’ big voice. Humph! Talkin’ ‘bout me lookin’ old! When you pull down yo’ britches, you look lak de change uh life."

Janie finds out that Joe and all of the other men in the town are just a bunch of talk. She feels that words are not good enough on their own, they have to have some type of actions behind them, and she didn’t see that in Joe’s words or the words from the other townsmen. She also thinks that her words are true, and in her state of mind words have power when truth is behind them.

"I god amighty! A woman stay round uh store ... till she get old as Methusalem and still can’t cut a little thing like a plug of tobacco! Don’t’ stand dere rollin’ yo’ pop eyes at me wid yo’ rump hangin’ nearly to yo’ knees."

Joe is making a fool out of himself because Janie has no noticeable flaws, and she and the townspeople know it, Joe is just trying to get the townspeople to like him, but the towns people really think that he is making himself look pitiful, and I think he is. I believe that he just wants a little attention, but he is not getting it so he tries a little harder so he could get what he wants, how he wants.

chapter 6

"Freein’ dat mule makes uh mighty big ... man outa you. Something like George Washington and Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln, he had de whole United States tuh rule so he freed de Negroes. You got uh town so you freed uh mule. You have tuh have power tuh free things and dat makes you lak uh king uh something."

Janie told Joe that since he saved that mule, he could do anything that he wanted to do since he bought a mule and freed it. She told him that he is now a mighty man because he saved someone or something. She now refers to him or thinks of him as a king, or a person of great leadership.

"But Ah hates disagreement and confusion, so Ah better not talk. It makes it hard tuh git along."

Janie feels that she shouldn’t argue back with Joe, because she didn’t want any thing bad to happen to her, because she hates disagreement and confusion, and she didn’t want to start anything, so it was best that she kept her mouth shut at that moment in time with Joe.

chapter 5

"Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech- makin'. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home."


It sounds like the mayor is saying that Janie doesn’t know how to make speeches, and all he married her for is to work in their home, and the store, and he doesn’t want her to do nothing more. He also made her feel pretty bad, she felt cold, and I don’t blame her either.


"There’s some women dat jus’ ain’t for you tuh broach. You can’t git her wid no fish sandwich."

This is when Joe and Janie arrived in Eatonville, and everyone was staring at Janie because of her beautiful long black hair and her looks. Then there was a guy with a fish sandwich, and a guy who was cleaning up, and the guy with the fish sandwich is trying to talk to Janie, and the guy who he was cleaning up with said you need more than a fish sandwich to get her.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Chapter 4 Pg. 28,30

"Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon. He spoke for change and chance."

She didn’t want to talk to Joe because she didn’t think that he was her knight in shining armor. But finally she gave in and finally talked to him, and the way he spoke, she really liked, she said that he spoke for far horizon, and change and chance.

"You didnt say all dat when you wuz begging Nanny for me to marry you."

Janie was telling Logan that whatever he was telling her he didn’t say any of that when he was begging Nanny for her to marry him. It sounds like they were arguing, because they were talking about leaving, and her not impressing the white folks, and what not. they were going at it pretty hard, her and Logan, and that’s when she brought up about him not saying what he was telling her when he was trying to get Nanny to say yes so him and Janie could get married. Now since they are married to each other he feels that he can say anything to her that he wants.

chapter 3 pg. 22,23

"No'm, he aint even talked 'bout hittin me. He says he never mean to lay de weight uh his hand on me in malice.He chops all de wood he think Ah wants and den he totes it inside de kitchen for me. Keeps both water buckets full."


Sounds like whoever Janies husband is doing good so far. he promised to never lay the weight of his hand on her in malice, which means to cause harm or injury. Then he goes outside to chop wood, for her without her even asking, and he chops how much he thinks she needs. on top of that he keeps both water buckets full, not just one, but both.

"Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think. Ah . . ."


She wants things to be perfect and relieving, like when you sit under a pear tree, because when you sit under a pear tree and think, you daydream and pretend that everything is extra perfect, and that’s how she wants her marriage and her life to be, ate least that’s what she wishes.

Chapter 1 Pg., chapter 2, pg 15

"You know, honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways. You in particular. Ah was born back due in slavery so it wasn't for me to fulfill my dreams of whut a woman oughta be and to do . . . Ah wanted to preach a great sermon about colored women sittin' on high, but they wasn't no pulpit for me."

This quote is saying that colored folks (blacks) have things happen to them in weird and crazy ways. She was also talking about how when she tried to fulfill her dreams, but colored people couldn't do that. She wanted to preach about colored women moving to the top, but there was no where for her to sit to where she could even hear the other preachers preach. i think what she is trying to say is that things didn't come easy for colored women when she was growing up.

"These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human.

The sitters, I think were happy to not be controlled while they wee working, and they were happy that the sun had gone down. They had been working all day long, and they were tired. They were also tired of getting yelled at, so when the boss went home and the sun went down, they didn't feel like something other than humans, they felt exactly like humans.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Chapter 17 Pg. 140

"Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. No brutal beating at all. He just slapped her around a bit to show he was boss."

I think that this quote means that Tea Cake wanted to prove to Janie that he wore the pants in the family by whipping her. He wanted to let her know that he was the one with the authority. He didn't want to beat her too bad but just enough for her to realize that she better not get too relaxed;even though he was wrong.It says in the story that he just slapped her around a little bit, but to me he took it too far, he shouldn't have touched her at all. She shouldn't have had to be slapped around because he has something wrong with him in the inside.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Two of My Most Important Dreams For the Future

I have alot of dreams for the future, but i am just going to tell you about my two most important. being a police officer has been one of my dreams since i was little, and it still is. this is my back up plan, if i don't make it to be a pro athlete. i am going to school for criminal justice, then I'm going to try and work for the top-notch agencies like the FBI,CIA,SWAT,CSI, or DEA, i want to be where the action is. i also want to become a police officer because i want to help make sure that this world stays safe for everyone who lives in it. i will do that by putting criminals, or any other people who cause harm to other people,in any way, behind bars, or wherever they need to go. i know that i have to keep working hard in school, and in the community to accomplish this goal, and i wont stop working until i do.

Being a pro athlete is every boys dream, but unfortunately every boy doesn't make it. I'm going to make it, because I'm going to work and work and work as hard as i can to make myself pro material. even though i will make millions of dollars playing pro sports, that is not what i am in it for, i am in it because i love athletics. the main sports are basketball and football. i love both of those games. i want to go over seas to play basketball, i want to go to china,Argentina, and Australia, then i want to play for the USA Olympic team for the Olympic games. i want to play football for the Canadians, and for the NFL. if i go to the NFL i want to play for the vikings, or the eagles. i am working on football now, i play for the high school, and i am pretty good, i still have a few things to work on, but that what practice is for, and that is what i have to do so i can live my dream of becoming a pro athlete.

As you can see, i have alot of work to do, and alot of practice, so i need to start working, and working hard. i am going to try and live both of my dreams. i will play sports first, and then i will be a police officer, but i will already be ready, because i would have went to school for criminal justice already. it looks like i have big dreams. now its time for me to have Deja Vu.