In the first chapter, the reader is introduced to "the woman" and "the people". The woman's name is Janie, and she is clearly an outsider. She is an attractive forty year old teacher who has just returned after "going off" with Tea Cake, who was presumably her significant other. In chapter one, the only thing readers learn about Tea Cake is that he is around thirty years old. "The people" are a group of provincial working men and women. Readers learn this from the description of their day-to-day live Hurston provides in the beginning of the chapter: "These sitters had been toungeless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins." Also, one can deduce from their dialect that they are uneducated. The readers also meet Phoebe, who claims to be Janie's best friend. Pheobe stands up for Janie when "the people" are gossiping about her, and leaves them to go talk with her later in the chapter. It seems like she will be playing a "supportive friend" role.
Noah, you have confused some of the basic facts from the novel. Janie is not a teacher. She does run away with a younger man. Focus on specific moments. You are correct in assuming that the townsfolk are uneducated but what is the Hurston's purpose in illustrating such a society in action. I also think you can go an extra step to connect an image to the novel without going with a movie poster.
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