Three poetic devices.
The three poetic devices I chose that were used in the book were sensory image, personification, and symbolism. The examples that I used included the pear tree, the train that took Janie to Jacksonville, and the lake that flooded the 'Glades.
The pear tree was a symbol for Janie and the love that she was searching for the entire book. In the beginning when she was sitting under the pear tree she was watching the bee land on the flower and "...the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch...So this was a marriage!" (Hurston 11). Later when she meets Tea Cake she wonders if he is the bee and she the tree (106). Throughout the rest of the story the reader finds this to be true.
The train that takes Janie to Jacksonville is an example of sensory image. It also has a bit of personification in it. "The train beat on itself and danced on the shines steel rails mile after mile." (Hurston 116). Beating is an example of sensory image it helps the reader to hear the sound that it was making. The dancing is the part that is more of a personification, and the "shiny steel rails" helps the reader to picture the scene. This sensory image helps us to imagine what Janie's soul must have been doing at the moment, dancing.
The lake that floods the 'Glades is an example of personification. "The two hundred miles an hour wind had loosed his chains. He seized hold of his dikes and ran forward until he met the quarters; uprooted them like grass and rushed on after his supposed-to-be conquerors...” (Hurston 162). This is the strongest example of personification used in the book. It could also be argued that it is a personification of Tea Cake’s later sickness that chokes him whenever he drinks water kind of like the lake drowned many. Another reason that the lake is so important is because it leads to the death of Tea Cake which changes Janie’s life forever.
The strongest poetic device used in the book the pear tree used as symbolism of Janie and her search for love. It is recurring throughout the entire book. The story itself is about Janie’s search for love.
The three poetic devices I chose that were used in the book were sensory image, personification, and symbolism. The examples that I used included the pear tree, the train that took Janie to Jacksonville, and the lake that flooded the 'Glades.
The pear tree was a symbol for Janie and the love that she was searching for the entire book. In the beginning when she was sitting under the pear tree she was watching the bee land on the flower and "...the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch...So this was a marriage!" (Hurston 11). Later when she meets Tea Cake she wonders if he is the bee and she the tree (106). Throughout the rest of the story the reader finds this to be true.
The train that takes Janie to Jacksonville is an example of sensory image. It also has a bit of personification in it. "The train beat on itself and danced on the shines steel rails mile after mile." (Hurston 116). Beating is an example of sensory image it helps the reader to hear the sound that it was making. The dancing is the part that is more of a personification, and the "shiny steel rails" helps the reader to picture the scene. This sensory image helps us to imagine what Janie's soul must have been doing at the moment, dancing.
The lake that floods the 'Glades is an example of personification. "The two hundred miles an hour wind had loosed his chains. He seized hold of his dikes and ran forward until he met the quarters; uprooted them like grass and rushed on after his supposed-to-be conquerors...” (Hurston 162). This is the strongest example of personification used in the book. It could also be argued that it is a personification of Tea Cake’s later sickness that chokes him whenever he drinks water kind of like the lake drowned many. Another reason that the lake is so important is because it leads to the death of Tea Cake which changes Janie’s life forever.
The strongest poetic device used in the book the pear tree used as symbolism of Janie and her search for love. It is recurring throughout the entire book. The story itself is about Janie’s search for love.