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Do you believe this novel is a stereotypical African-American fiction? Why or why not?

No, I do not think that "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is a stereotypical work of African-American fiction. There are two major reasons for my position. The first is biographical: Hurston was influenced by anthropology, and traveled widely. This gave her fiction a philosophical distance from American culture that keeps it from stereotypes. The second reason is artistic: the book is simply lovely, and Hurston has a strong hand and her own style. These two fit together. The style fits with the anthropological perspectives, fitting the novel's structure together with its imagery almost mythically.

I completely agree with the above answer. Hurston's writing is so beautifully lyrical at points, especially concerning imagery, that it transcends any stereotypical genre.

I must agree with the two posts above me. Zora Neale Hurston's verbiage and word choice fits perfectly with this novel, she did something that no other author was really brave enough to do, and that is using her own personal style in the dialogue of this novel. She stayed true to the the personalities of all the characters by using a Southern/ slang dialect and it not only helps with the development of characters, but also helps paint a perfect picture of how life in this novel went by.