The Gilded Six-Bits

by Zora Neale Hurston

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The Gilded Six-Bits Questions and Answers

How would you describe the dialogue in “The Gilded Six-Bits?” What does it sound like to your ear? Give an example of the conversation in the story that most exemplifies your description. Why do you think the author wrote the dialogue in this way? (150 words)

Is it important that Missie May and Joe are a working-class couple? Why or why not?

What is a possible thesis statement for the story The Gilded Six-Bits by Zora Neale Hurston?

How was Missie Mae punished for sleeping with Mr. Slemmens while her husband was at work?  

What is the theme of "The Gilded Six Bits" and how is that theme communicated?

How can you discuss the symbolism of the gilded half-dollar?

Why did Zora Neale Hurston call this story "The Gilded Six-Bits"?

Missy May is talking to Joe before she leaves to get dressed and says, “Joe, Ah hates to see you so dumb. Dat stray nigger jes’ tell y’all anything and y’all b’lieve it.” How does this exemplify Joe's character?

How are Joe and Missy May a Pre-Lapsarian couple?

What are some quotes that represent ambition in "The Gilded Six-Bits"?

What is symbolic about Joe Banks and his name in The Gilded Six Bits?

What is the plot in The Gilded Six-Bits? How is greed related?

What seems to be the author's purpose for writing "The Gilded Six-Bits"?

Taking the role of an interviewer, what questions would you ask Hurston related to The Gilded Six-Bits?

In "The Gilded Six-Bits," who is the protagonist in the story and what is the point of view?

How does this quote exemplify Joe's character? Joe to his wife and says,“Ah’d ruther all de other women’s in the de world to be dead than for you to have a toothache.”  

How does this quote show qualitites of Joe Bank's character? At the beginning when Joe comes home he does a certain routine, “But before she could tie her slippers, there came the ring of singing metal on wood. Nine times.” Also again after the couples son is born Joe comes back home, “ Joe reached his own front door. There was the ring of singing metal on wood. Fifteen times. Missie May couldn’t run to the door, but she crept there as quickly as she could.”

what would Joe Bank's character be idenitified as in the story?