How does language affect how we see each other? Does the language that characters use influence how we see them? In this lesson, work with students to investigate the preconceived notions people have about accents and dialects, and how Zora Neale Hurston uses language in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Students will engage in collaborative discourse with preconceived norms and utilize active listening skills. Students will explore the link between the cultural perspective and language the characters use and the implicit meaning of the text. This lesson also provides students with the opportunity to compare multiple formal and informal languages and draw inferences about the social implications of a specific accent or dialect in a work of literature.