Their Eyes Were Watching God Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. How does Janie’s life in the Everglades, or “the muck,” contrast with her role in Joe’s Eatonville household?
She becomes more isolated because the workers reject outsiders
She gives up companionship to manage a business by herself
She participates more directly in work and communal social life
She gains formal political authority over the local community
2. What ideal does the blooming pear tree most strongly represent for young Janie?
A warning that desire inevitably leads to loss
The financial security that comes from owning fertile land
The social recognition available through marriage
A vision of mutual, harmonious love and fulfillment
3. Mrs. Turner’s admiration for Janie’s features and contempt for darker-skinned Black people primarily illustrate which issue?
Competition between Eatonville and Everglades workers
Conflict over whether Janie should return to Logan
Colorism and the internalization of a racial hierarchy
Resentment toward people who own land in Florida
4. Why does Nanny strongly encourage Janie to marry Logan Killicks?
She believes Janie must remain close to the land she inherited
Her experiences of slavery and insecurity make protection and property seem essential
She wants Janie to gain influence within Eatonville
She thinks Janie and Logan already share a mature romantic love
5. At the novel’s end, Janie metaphorically pulls in her horizon “like a great fish-net.” What does this image suggest?
She has claimed her experiences as her own and reached a measure of inner wholeness
She intends to preserve Tea Cake’s reputation by controlling the town’s stories
She now believes fulfillment depends on withdrawing permanently from others
She has abandoned her past so she can begin again without memories
6. What narrative situation frames most of Janie Crawford’s story?
Janie writes a journal while traveling through Florida
Tea Cake narrates their relationship to the people of the Everglades
Janie recounts her life to Pheoby after returning to Eatonville
The Eatonville townspeople reconstruct Janie’s life from gossip
7. What event ultimately leads to Tea Cake’s fatal illness?
He is injured while escaping a collapsing house
A rabid dog bites him while he is saving Janie during the flood
He contracts an illness while burying hurricane victims
He is wounded in a fight after returning to the Everglades
8. Who wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God?
Zora Neale Hurston
Nella Larsen
Alice Walker
Jessie Redmon Fauset
9. When Joe prevents Janie from speaking at his mayoral celebration, what larger pattern does the scene establish?
Janie dislikes public life and asks Joe to represent her
Joe’s public authority is accompanied by restrictions on Janie’s voice
Joe plans to prepare Janie privately for a future leadership role
The townspeople refuse to recognize Janie as Joe’s wife
10. Compared with Janie’s earlier marriages, what initially makes Tea Cake’s companionship distinctive?
He invites her into play, conversation, and shared experiences
He offers her a respected position without asking her to work
He promises to restore the social standing she held with Joe
He shares Nanny’s belief that security should come before affection
11. During the hurricane, the image behind the title—people whose “eyes were watching God”—most strongly conveys what?
Tea Cake believing the storm is punishment for gambling
The workers expecting local officials to organize an evacuation
Janie deciding that religious faith can prevent natural disasters
People confronting forces beyond their control and waiting in uncertainty
12. What is Joe Starks primarily seeking when he arrives in Eatonville?
Reconciliation with relatives already living there
A quiet farming life away from public attention
Employment on a railroad construction crew
The opportunity to build a prosperous town and become an influential leader
13. What is the outcome of Janie’s trial after Tea Cake’s death?
She is convicted of manslaughter but receives a suspended sentence
The sheriff dismisses the matter before any testimony is heard
She is convicted and later pardoned by Florida’s governor
She is acquitted after explaining that she acted to protect herself
14. The novel draws a meaningful parallel between Janie and Matt Bonner’s overworked mule. What connects them most strongly?
Both are burdened and controlled while others speak for or about them
Both gain authority by entertaining the Eatonville community
Both obtain economic independence through hard physical work
Both represent the town’s opposition to commercial development
15. Joe makes Janie cover her hair while she works in the store. What does this most clearly reveal?
His concern that store work will damage her hair
His attempt to follow a formal rule established by the town council
His jealousy and desire to control how other men perceive her
His wish for Janie to reject all signs of wealth and status
16. What best explains Janie’s decision to leave Logan and go with Joe Starks?
Logan intends to sell his farm and move north
Logan treats her increasingly as labor, while Joe appears to offer possibility and change
Janie wants to avoid taking responsibility for Logan’s land
Nanny instructs Janie to seek a wealthier husband