(LA.A.2.4.7) analyzes the validity and reliability of primary source information and uses the information appropriately.

(LA.A.2.4.2) determines the author's purpose and point of view and their effects on the text.

Zora Neale Hurston came to work for the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in Florida in May of 1938. She signed on for the position of "Junior Interviewer" with the Federal Writer's Project (FWP). At the time Hurston had already published Jonah's Gourd Vine and Mules and Men and was the only widely published author on the Florida payroll.

In 1939, Hurston went to Cross City, FL to interview workers of the Aycock and Lindsay turpentine camp. Material from her essay "Turpentine" later appeared in her book Seraph on the Suwanee.

Turpentine camps were isolated, and known for their terrible working conditions and abuses. It was unusual for a writer to be allowed in to gather information. This essay is one of the few written, first hand accounts of the lives of the turpentine workers. Although Zora Neale Hurston was aware of, and made notes concerning some of the abuses that occurred in the camp, this essay focuses on the workday.

Students will read and analyze this essay.

1. "Turpentine" by Zora Hurston (see Documents)
   Transcript | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
   
   
2. Document Analysis Worksheets
   from the National Archives and Records Administration
   http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/

Zora Neale Hurston was criticized by her some contemporaries for not dealing with the harsh realities of racism in her writing. Her supporters saw her as celebrating the strength and culture of African Americans in a way that almost no one else was doing at the time.

In this lesson, students will first examine the essay, "Turpentine" as a primary source document using the Document Analysis worksheet. Then students will read the essay to determine the author's purpose and point of view and their effects on the text.

Students might notice that Zora Neale Hurston talks about individual turpentine workers, mentions them by name and describes their skills in positive terms. "Leroy Heath is the champ puller."

"Turpentine" as a source for literature and history
(SS.A.1.4.1)

Students will compare the description of John McFarlin in Zora Neale Hurston's essay "Turpentine" to the description of the character of Jim Meserve on page 42 of Hurston's book, Seraph on the Suwanee.