Zora Neale Hurston in the Classroom: "With a Harp and a Sword in My Hands"

Author(s): Renee H. Shea, Deborah L. Wilchek

With the publication of her landmark novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston has become a widely taught author in English classrooms across the nation. The authentic voices of her fiction and nonfiction embrace colloquial dialect and explore universal themes of relationships, self-discovery, race, and identity.

In Zora Neale Hurston in the Classroom, the eleventh book in the NCTE High School Literature Series, readers will discover new ways to share the work of this important author with students. The book offers a practical approach to Hurston using a range of student-centered activities for teaching Hurston’s nonfiction, short stories, and the print and film versions of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

This volume features numerous resources and strategies for helping students engage with Hurston’s writing. Highlights include biographical information, critical analysis, teacher-tested activities, writing assignments and student models, and discussion strategies and questions.

Zora Neale Hurston in the Classroom: “With a harp and a sword in my hands” is a useful resource that will enliven any literature classroom with exciting and enriching ideas and activities.

113 pp. 2009. Grades 9–12. ISBN 978-0-8141-5975-0. NCTE High School Literature Series.

No. 59750 $13.95 member/$18.95 nonmember

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ISBN: 978-0-8141-5975-0

Grade Level(s): Secondary