3 Lit Techs

Literary Technique 1: Personification (pg. 116) "The train beat on itself and danced on the shiny steel rails mile after mile."
Zora Neale Hurston uses the personification here to express the joy of this event. It is possible to say there is the tone of happiness as well, but the dancing in the personification expresses it more clearly. Through this personification, Hurston establishes a happy tone for the rest of the scene. The consonance of "l" is used at the end to elongate each word, drawing them out like the beat of a railroad.

Literary Technique 2: Metaphor/Nature Motif (pg. 136) "A little seed of fear was growing into a tree."
This motif relates to the tree of love mentioned earlier in the book. Now the metaphor is for jealousy, showing the other side of love, which she so idolized. She fears now losing the love she has and this fear will corrupt the relationship. She knows this and this adds to the fear, making it grow. Zora Neale Hurston uses nature so often because growth is a central part of the story.

Literary Technique 3: Hyperbole (pg. 122) "When the fellow began to pick the box the people begin to come from east, west, north and Australia."
This hyperbole overexaggerates Tea Cake's skill at the guitar, but to make a point that in Janie's eyes, seeing it through the looking glass of love, he seems perfect and skilled and charming. People wouldn't travel great distances to see him perform but to her he is the greatest guitarist ever.