For our introductory lesson on our next novel ,I provided instruction on the life of Zora Hurston and the importance of the Harlem Renaissance. I then discussed the novel as lyric in style and as anthropological fiction given the author's background. In this regard, we noted the importance of the use of dialect in the book.Thematically, I introduced the novel as a bildungsroman and a feminist novel as Janie, the protagonist, is on a journey of self discovery that places her in conflict with the patriarchy that according to the author is a source of oppression even greater than the oppression of White society.