Their Eyes Were Watching God     Essay Prompt on a Literary Element:    Some of the most significant events in this work is mental or psychological;  for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness.  In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to gives these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external events.  Do not merely summarize the plot.  

Another Essay Prompt on a Literary Element:   This novel depicts a conflict between a parent or parental figure and a son or daughter.  Write a well-organized essay that analyzes the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.  Avoid plot summary.    

Another Essay Prompt on a Literary Element:    This novel uses contratsting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that arecentral to the meaning of the work.  Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the overall meaning of the work.   

Another Essay Prompt on a Literary Element:    This work offers a happy ending through moral development.  Write a well-organized essay that identifies the moral reconciliation evident on the ending and analyze its significance in the work as a whole. 

Another Essay Prompt on a Literary Element: Critic Roland Barthes has said, "Literature is the question minus the answer."  Choose a novel or play and, and considering Barthes' observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author's treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.  Avoid mere plot summary.