Research Paper On Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston, known as one of the most symbolic African American women during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930’s. Hurston was known as a non fiction writer, anthropologist and folklorist. Hurston’s literature has served as a big eye opener during the Harlem Renaissance, celebrating black dialect and their traditions. Most of her published stories “depict relationships among black residents in her native southern Florida, was largely unconcerned with racial injustices” (Bomarito 89). Hurston was unique when it came to her racial point of views, promoting white racism instead of black racism. Even though her works had been forgotten by the time of her death, now her literature has left a bigger impact to future literature

     Zora Neale Hurston was a phenomenal woman. At the height of her success she was known as the “Queen of the Harlem Renaissance.” She came to overcome obstacles that were placed in front of her. Hurston rose from poverty to fame and lost it all at the time of her death. Zora had an unusual life; she was a child that was forced to grow up to fast. But despite Zora Neale Hurston’s unsettled life, she managed to surmount every obstacle to become one of the most profound authors of the century.

Zora Neale Hurston was born January 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama and later moved to Eatonville, Florida. She lived a happy childhood in her 8-room house and 7 siblings. As a child, she was raised in an all black community, therefore was never exposed to discrimination. Black achievement flourished in her town, including her father and mother. Zora’s father, John Hurston, formulated laws. Zora’s mother Lucy Ann Hurston aided in churches as a director of the christian curricula. However, following the death of her mother in 1904, Zora’s life shifted. Her father quickly remarried, resulting in a difficult relationship in which he no longer had the time or money for his children. (Gradesaver)

During the early 1920s to mid-1930s, the United States went through an appreciable time period called the “Harlem Renaissance”. This time period was the revival of the African American Culture and pride. Originally, the Harlem Renaissance was referred to as the New Negro Movement because it was during this time when the African Americans found their identity through literature, art, music, dance and photography.

Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama. Her writing career began at Howard University where she published her first story in 1921. In 1925, Zora moved to New York where she became one of the many writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Her life experiences in Eatonville and her research into black folklore greatly impacted much of her writing skills and techniques. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the character known as Janie is faced with some difficult relationships with three men forcing her to find out who she really is as a woman and what she wants to be. By going through these different relationships, Janie eventually finds herself as a person and ends up actually helping another

The Harlem Renaissance, originally called the New Negro Movement, was a movement that shook the 1920’s in the United States of America. The Harlem Renaissance spanned between the years of 1918 all the way to the mid 1930’s. This movement was a movement of the arts. It has been said that this time period was a rebirth to the African American arts. The Harlem Renaissance is an extremely important piece of history for America.

The Harlem Renaissance was the rebirth of black literary and musical culture, during the years after War War, which started around 1914 and ended around 1919, in the Harlem section of New York City. The Harlem Renaissance was the most influential times of cultural black history, in so many different aspects. The Harlem Renaissance helped “blacks” in ways that pretty much launched them to a high level them to a higher level in the arts, music, and literature. It is very important because in the 20th century and now in the 21st century, the Harlem Renaissance enabled African Americans to express their feelings through the arts and it also created a trend for other generations because them too could express their feelings.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement for African Americans that involved new styles of literature, artistic ways, and intellect. The Renaissance had “kindled a new black cultural identity” (Harlem Renaissance) and gave a new name to the community of Harlem. However, everything great must come to an end. There are many reasons as to why the Harlem Renaissance had concluded. One of the most popular reasons as to why it had ended was the uprising of the Great Depression.

Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 to a family of sharecroppers in the tiny town of Notasulga, Alabama. She was the 5th out of 8 children. She moved to Eatonville, Florida as an infant and spent most of her childhood there. Eatonville was the country's first black township. At the age of thirteen, Hurston's mother died. She had a hard time coping with this loss. At the age of 16, Zora Neale Hurston started working at a travelling circus. She also worked as a maid in a white household. She was arrested in 1949 after the 10 year old son of her neighbor accused her of molesting him. These accusations ruined her reputation and she moved back to Florida in 1950 and worked as a cleaner. She died at the age of 69 in January 28, 1960. She

Zora Neale Hurston was an all-around successful and a phenomenal human being. None the less, that did not encumber on her journey to success. Whether it was her brilliant works in writing, being a folklorist or contributing to the field of anthropology, she had accomplished so much within her lifetime. Influenced by the occurring events and the independence of her community, Zora Neale Hurston became one of the most celebrated figures of the Harlem Renaissance where she published her most famous pieces of literature.

Subsequent to World War I, America saw the dawn of the industrial age, and a labor boom that would ignite a great and steady migration of Black American(s) (BA) and Caribbean nationals to the North. Such an influx of Blacks and other immigrants began to change the landscapes of these cities from rural to urban centers, with concentrated populations that caused housing shortages, economic disparity, and social and political pressures for BA. The failed attempt to abolish slavery by law, and of the Reconstruction Era, BA were stuck within a new kind of purgatory. Their expectations of having equal rights recognized, while segregation was still actively pursued by the white majority, came as a crushing and bitter reality for southern migrants. As such, frustrations were felt by both White Americans (WA) and BA; WA began to resent the waves of migrants coming to take jobs, and overrun their cities, just as BA resented the lies they were fed that influenced their migration, as well as the conditions that were forced upon them. In a time heavy with ever growing frustrations around political, economic and social barriers, it would be a group of BA intellects and artists that would begin of movement towards acknowledging black culture and pride, known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama. Hurston moved with her family to Eatonville, Florida when she was still a toddler. Hurston is the fifth of eight children, to John Hurston, a carpenter and Baptist preacher, and Lucy Potts Hurston, a former school teacher. September 191 to June 1918 Hurston attends Morgan Academy in Baltimore, completing her high school requirements. In the summer of 1918 she works as a waitress in a nightclub and a manicurist in a black owned barbershop that only serves whites. In 1918 to 1919 Hurston attends howard Prep School in Washington, D.C. She later attended Howard University and receives an associate degree in 1920. Hurston Published her first story in 1921 called “John Redding

The Harlem Renaissance was “variously known as the New Negro movement, the New Negro Renaissance, and the Negro Renaissance, the movement emerged toward the end of World War I in 1918, blossomed in the mid- to late 1920s, and then withered in the mid-1930s. The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time mainstream publishers, critics took African American literature seriously, and that African American literature and arts attracted significant attention from the nation as a whole (1).”

Zora Neale Hurston was an African-American folklorist, novelist and anthropologist. She was born in 1891 and lived in the first all-black town in the United States, Eatonville, Florida. Her 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God and played a vital role in the literacy movement the Harlem Renaissance is what she is best known for. Zora Neale Hurston depicts racism in her writings and has contributed greatly to African-American literature. Her work became more popular posthumously.

Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891 in Alabama. She is known to be one of the most influential novelist of the twentieth century in African America literature. Hurston is described to be a very opinionated woman that stood for what she believed in; which reflected in some of her works. In addition to her many titles such as, being an anthropologist and short story writer, she was closely related and heavily focused on the Harlem Renaissance. Zora Neale Hurston and her political opinions placed her at odds with important figures during that time which I wholeheartedly believe played a part in the undeniable attraction that most people have towards her works. Being that Hurston was such a unique writer, to understand the ethics and themes of her and how she contributed to African American literature comes with an understanding of the background and childhood she had.