"This was a new sensation for her, but no less excruciating. If only Tea Cake would make her certain!" (108) The narrator is telling us Janie's inner thoughts here. She is wondering why Tea Cake wasn't coming back to her. I think the diction, or word choice, Hurston uses in this passage is important. Her use of the word excruciating's connotation makes me think of pain, and the word 'excruciating' is much more interesting and vivid than 'painful'. I think this choice of diction makes the atmosphere more intense and the reader feels the pain more than if Hurston had just used 'painful' or something equally as bland. It makes the reader realize how intense Janie's feelings are for Tea Cake.
"So he didn't come that night and she laid in bed and pretended to think scornfully of him. 'Bet he's hangin' round some jook or 'nother. Glad Ah treated him cold. Whut do Ah want wid some trashy nigger out de streets? Bet he's livin' wid some woman or 'nother and takin' me for uh fool. Glad Ah caught myself in time.' She tried to console herself that way." (106) Here, Janie is literally talking to herself and wondering about Tea Cake. Hurston's use of apostrophe here gives the reader more insight into what Janie is thinking than if she simply told us her thoughts. By having Janie talk to herself in bed, she shows us what Janie is thinking and what she is saying to herself in the same passage. It allows the reader more intimacy with the character of Janie.
"Janie wanted to ask Hezekiah about Tea Cake, but she was afraid he might misunderstand her and think she was interested. In the first place he looked too young for her. Must be around twenty-five and here she was around forty. Then again he didn't look like he had too much. Maybe he was hanging around to get in with her and strip her of all that she had. Just as well if she never saw him again. He was probably the kind of man who lived with various women but never married. Fact is, she decided to treat him so cold if he ever did foot the place that he'd be sure not to come hanging around there again." (100) In this first paragraph of chapter 11, Janie is starting to be more interested in Tea Cake. Hurston uses simple sentences in this paragraph. Most of the sentences have the same structure. They don't have commas and they start with words that aren't subjects or verbs, like 'maybe', 'just', and 'must'. Her use of simple sentences makes Janie's thoughts seem more concise, like she had been thinking about them for a while, and the reader gets a clearer picture of what is in Janie's mind.
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