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1. With which literary movement is Zora Neale Hurston most closely associated and why?

The lengthy introduction written by Genevieve West provides a great deal of useful information about Zora Neale Hurston's life, work, and critical reception. The works of Zora Neale Hurston were written during the literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. The period took place during the 1920s and 1930s and its aims were closely aligned with the goals of the New Negro movement, which was designed to change the image of the black community in the eyes of the white majority throughout the United States.

2. According to Genevieve West, what conclusion did scholars come to regarding the story "Muttsy," prior to the discovery of the eight other stories contained within the collection Hitting a Straight a Lick With a Crooked Stick?

The writer of the introduction, Genevieve West, describes scholars' surprise at finding that so many of the newly discovered stories focus on urban life in the Northern United States. West explains that Hurston has long been associated almost solely with the rural environment encapsulated in her oft-chosen setting of Eatonville, Florida. Before the discovery of the new stories, "Muttsy" was always thought to be the only Harlem-set story in Hurston's catalog.

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