Study Questions for Zora Neale Hurston's "Sweat"
Vocabulary: allusion,
christological figure, dialect, Harlem Renaissance, metaplasmus
Introduction:
none
Lecture or Handouts:
none
Identify the following characters:
none
Identify the following characters:
Delia Jones, Jim Merchant, Bertha,
Sykes
Reading Questions:
- What sort of work does Delia Jones do to make ends
meet?
- What object does Sykes carry with him when he drives
the buggy and how does he use this item to frighten Delia?
- What is Delia's worst phobia?
- Why does Sykes declare that Delia is a hypocrite? Why
does this accusation not seem fair given the source?
- Why doesn't Sykes strike Delia this time the way he
usually does? (What's different about her stance and
body language?)
- Who is Bertha?
- Note the names of the figures who hang out at Joe Clarke's
porch: Joe Lindsay, Jim Merchant, Walter Thomas, and
Moss. How might these names be symbolic? How does their
dialogue help characterize Delia? How does their dialogue
help characterize Sykes?
Passages for Identification: Be
able to identify the author, the work, the character speaking
(if any) and briefly explain the significance or context
of the passage.
A: "You done gone too fur. Ah
been married to you fur fifteen years, and Ah been takin'
in washin' for fifteen years. Sweat, sweat, sweata! Work
and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat!"
B. "[He] . . . aint
wuth de shot an' powder hit would tek tuh kill 'em. . .
. He aint fit tuh carry guts tuh a bear"
C: "There's plenty men dat takes a wife
lak dey do a joint uh sugarcane. It's round, juicy an'
sweet when dey gits it. But dey squeeze an' grind, squeeze
an' grind an' wring tell dey wring every drop uh pleasure
dat's in 'em out.. When dey's satisfied dat dey is wrung
dry dey treats 'em jes lak dey do a cane-chew. Dey throws
'em away."
D: "An we oughter kill 'im" Old Man Anderson advised.
A grunt of approval went around the porch. But the heat
was melting their civic virtue.
E. "She don't look lak a thing but a hunk uh liver wid
hair on it."
F. "Ah hates you, Sykes," she said calmly. "Ah hates you
tuh de same degree dat Ah useter love yuh. Ah done took
an' took till mah belly is full up tuh mah neck. Dat's
de reason Ah got mah letter fum de church an' moved mah
membership tuh Woodbridge--so Ah don't haftuh take no sacrament
wid yuh. Ah don't wantuh see yuh 'roun' me atall. Lay 'roun'
wid dat 'woman all yuh wants tuh, but gwan 'way frum me
an' mah house." Ah hates yuh lak uh suck-egg dog."