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1. PBS’s online NewsHour project on the Harlem Renaissance will help put Hurston’s life and work into perspective.  How does Hurston’s work fit into the larger movement of the Harlem Renaissance? What benefit might readers gain from studying Hurston in the context of this movement? What might the drawbacks be?


2. Download and listen to this audio clip from Hurston’s folklore tales Mules and Men, read by the actress Ruby Dee. What can you find that’s thematically similar to "Spunk" in this clip?