The Gilded Six-Bits Questions and Answers
The Gilded Six-Bits
How was Missie Mae punished for sleeping with Mr. Slemmens while her husband was at work?
Miss Mae and her husband Joe seem to have the perfect marriage. Happily in love, they hit a snag when Joe comes home and finds Mr. Slemmens hurrying to get dressed in the bedroom with his wife....
The Gilded Six-Bits
Is it important that Missie May and Joe are a working-class couple? Why or why not?
In Hurston's short story "The Gilded Six-Bits," it is exceedingly important that Joe and Missy Mae are a working-class couple, as it is their position that prompts Missy Mae's choice. If either...
The Gilded Six-Bits
What is symbolic about Joe Banks and his name in The Gilded Six Bits?
In The Gilded Six-Bits, Joe Banks symbolizes several things. First he symbolizes domestic happiness. He demonstrates what it feels like to be genuinely happy in a marriage and to be fulfilled in...
The Gilded Six-Bits
What is a possible thesis statement for the story The Gilded Six-Bits by Zora Neale Hurston?
One of the best ways to create a solid and coherent thesis statement is to start with a topic. An example from Zora Neale Hurston's "The Gilded Six-Bits" could be about misjudging others based on...
The Gilded Six-Bits
What seems to be the author's purpose for writing "The Gilded Six-Bits"?
There seems to be a number of important messages in this particular story. We see that one cannot judge a book by its cover, for instance. Mr. Otis Slemmons seems to be a man of some wealth and...
The Gilded Six-Bits
How does this quote show qualitites of Joe Bank's character? At the beginning when Joe comes home he does a certain...
One of the important things about Joe and Missie's relationship is its playful nature. Joe's job is not one that is going to pay him a lot of money and so they don't have some of the comforts or...
The Gilded Six-Bits
Why did Zora Neale Hurston call this story "The Gilded Six-Bits"?
Missie May and Joe share a real and true happiness together, symbolized by the cheerfulness of their simple home. A "mess of homey flowers" is "planted without a plan" out front, and they bloom...
The Gilded Six-Bits
What are some quotes that represent ambition in "The Gilded Six-Bits"?
Jo looked down at his own abdomen and said wistfully: "Wisht Ah had a build on me lak he got. He ain't puzzlegutted, honey. He jes' got a corperation. Dat make 'm look lak a rich white man. All...
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...
‘‘The Gilded Six-Bits’’, by Zora Neale Hurston, is a story where innocence and naivete are ever-present. We see innocence in the relationship of Joe and his wife, Missy May, and their everyday...
The Gilded Six-Bits
How would you describe the dialogue in “The Gilded Six-Bits?” What does it sound like to your ear? Give an example of...
The dialogue in Zora Neale Hurston's short story, "The Gilded Six-Bits," could be described as being countrified, grammatically incorrect, and full of broken English. To the ear, the characters'...
The Gilded Six-Bits
What is the theme of "The Gilded Six Bits" and how is that theme communicated?
The most obvious theme in Zora Neale Hurston's The Gilded Six Bits can only be appreciated when one remembers the context in which the story was written. Remember that Hurston was raised in a black...
The Gilded Six-Bits
What is the plot in The Gilded Six-Bits? How is greed related?
Greed might be one theme of Zora Neale Hurston's "The Gilded Six-Bits" -- to me, 'reconciliation' or 'trust and betrayal' might be a more precisely worded theme -- but it's not the plot. At least...
The Gilded Six-Bits
In "The Gilded Six-Bits," who is the protagonist in the story and what is the point of view?
The story is told from a third person limited point of view. This is important because it keeps the suspense alive for the reader. This particular mode of telling events keeps the reader at the...
The Gilded Six-Bits
How can you discuss the symbolism of the gilded half-dollar?
The first way the gilded half-dollar is symbolic is that it appears to be real and impressive, like the flashy Otis D. Slemmons. If you took false gold for real, it could ruin you, just as it...
The Gilded Six-Bits
How are Joe and Missy May a Pre-Lapsarian couple?
In traditional Christian theology, Pre-Lapsarian refers to man's innocent state before the Fall. This was the state in which Adam and Eve existed prior to their defiance of God by eating of the...
The Gilded Six-Bits
Taking the role of an interviewer, what questions would you ask Hurston related to The Gilded Six-Bits?
Zora Neale Hurston was often criticised for focusing her stories within African American communities where a comparison of racial differences didn't/wouldn't come into play. The criticism was that...
The Gilded Six-Bits
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...
Along with his playfulness and innocence, Joe has an incredible devotion to Missie, like a puppy to his new master or a child to its loving parent. It is important to contrast his feelings and his...
The Gilded Six-Bits
what would Joe Bank's character be idenitified as in the story?
The character of Joe Banks in Zora Neale Hurston's "The Gilded Six-Bits" is that of a adult black male living in the all-black community of Eatonville, Florida. This community is one of many...