..."How it Feels to be Colored Me" was written in 1928. Zora, growing up in an all-black town, began to take note of the differences between blacks and whites at about the age of thirteen. The only white people she was exposed to were those passing through her town of Eatonville, Florida, many times going to or coming from Orlando. The primary focus of "How it Feels to be Colored Me" is the relationship and differences between blacks and whites. In the early stages of Zora's life, which are expressed in the beginning of "How it Feels to be Colored Me," black and whites had little difference in her eyes. She didn't even seems to differentiate between the two until her early teens. She says, "I remember the very day I became colored." Before this time, she cites the only difference being that "[white people] rode through town and never lived there." During this part of her work, Zora is showing her childhood view that whites and blacks are no different from one another. This view changes as a result of her being sent to a school in Jacksonville. Now being outside her town of Eatonville, she began to experience what it was like to be colored. "But I am not tragically colored," she says. Zora makes it a point to show how she is not ashamed to be colored. At this point she seems to attack whites who continue to point out that she is the granddaughter of slaves by saying that blacks are moving forward. "The terrible struggle that made me an American out of a potential slave said...
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...“How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Hurston is an essay in which the author expresses the discovery of her identity and self-pride. The theme of the essay is self-confidence. Hurston’s confidence in herself helped her have a positive attitude about life and bad experiences. Zora Hurston’s use of diction, imagery, and form all contribute to the theme in the essay. Zora Hurston’s diction enhances an understanding that Zora is self-confident. During this time period, it was not common for black women to be educated. Her diction is easy to understand even though she uses quotations from literary sources. Her word choice makes it quite obvious that she was self-confident. Happiness came from being herself. She describes herself as confident when she is strutting down the streets of New York with her hat. Zora believes that she belongs to...
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...it did a few years back, maybe around the time Martin Luther King Jr. was alive and preaching peace and love. In Hurtson's "How It Feels To Be Colored Me", she expresses the idea that "At certain time, I have no race, I am me"(211). Hurston feels that society judges and criticize based on your race and ethnicity. She believes that it is quick to judge someone if they are...
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...1. The function of the first paragraph of “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” in setting the tone of the essay is for Hurston to express her views about being an African American girl in America. Hurston included strong diction in the first paragraph to inform her reader about her opinion of being colored. She also includes humor by using a hyperbole. Hurston says, “... except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief.” The author is sort of making fun of her own race and is saying that she is not as special as what other people thought she was. 2. Hurston counters the argument of being colored is a bad thing and that nobody would want to be colored. She says, “But I...
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...Race is a part of you. The Harlem renaissance explored this notion and popularized embracing black culture in writing and art. Zora Neale Hurston shares her experiences in her short story How It Feels to Be Colored Me. She describes her different treatment and views of being black in both cities she lived in. Hurston does not effectively argue her viewpoint due to her constant changes in opinions. She switches between believing race affects who one is and that it does not. Hurston is inconsistent with her arguments, but she uses harsh tones and opposition to show her view that race is a difference in human beings. She states that she is,”A dark rock surged upon, overswept by a creamy sea.” By using the adjectives dark and creamy she creates a sharp contrast for the reader and sets a harsh tone. Immediately, one separates the two in their minds. The objectification removes human emotions from the situation. There is no guilt or sympathy, but instead she creates a feeling of being overwhelmed physically. This contradicts her argument that race does not matter. She is being overwhelmed by the sea, so that shows white superiority in her mind. Then she goes on to say how she believes all humans are alike regardless of their race. The manifestation of that belief is in her objectification of herself, and all humans, as a brown paper bag. Color is used as a descriptor, but it only describes the outside of the...
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...Zora Neale Hurston recounts the day she began to feel colored in “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.” Hurston does not recall feeling colored until after her thirteenth birthday because up until then she had lived in an “exclusively … colored town.” (1) Thus, surrounded by individuals coming from a similar culture background Hurston never felt different. However, Hurston began to feel colored once she moved schools to the white Jacksonville. Still though, Hurston does not feel too colored until she is “thrown against a sharp white background.” (3) When Hurston feels the most colored she experiences a sense of loneliness because she has no one of the same background to relate to at her current residence, unlike her previous home. However, sometimes feeling colored does not give her negative feedback, rather it empowers her. For instance, when Hurston visits a jazz club she revels in the music and feels as if her “face is painted red and yellow and her body is painted blue,” because she is “in the jungle and living the jungle way.” (3) After, when she looks around and realizes that her white friends did not experience the music as she did, Hurston is grateful to be colored. Because she has a greater appreciation for the rhythm and colors that her white friends cannot see....
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...Zora Neale Hurston is a powerful writer of African American literature. Hurston is closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance and influenced many writers during the time period. In 1928, Hurston’s article “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” was published by The World Tomorrow. The essay argues against the typical ideologies of racial segregation. Hurston states that she “do[es] not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood” (“How It Feels…”, 1-2) that requires her to internalize past and present injustices faced by African Americans. Hurston later published another article in 1950 titled “What White Publishers Won’t Print”, where she addresses the lack of interest in society about the lives, emotions, and culture of African Americans. White people find their interest sparked by...
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...Blues” & “How it feels to be Colored Me”; and more specifically, how music is used within the two. Music is something that transcends people’s preconceived notions, cultural differences and personal schemas; and for those reasons can be very beneficial to use as a literary device. While the two short stories have more similarities in how they use music, they are not without their differences. “Sonny’s Blues” and “How it feels to be Colored Me” both use music similarly in that they both use music to convey certain elements, albeit how the authors used music differed in the two works. Music is used similarly between the stories as something used to surpass words when it comes to expressing your inner feelings, as well as something the narrators use to show differences between two characters. In “Sonny’s Blues” music is a focal point of the story as it is exemplifying the difference between the narrator and his brother, as well as being the thing that ends up bringing the two together (Baldwin 148). “How it feels to be Colored Me” uses music in a similar way in that it makes Zora see the differences as well as the emotional distance between herself and her white friend (Hurston 3). While...
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...EN105 25 January 2015 Racism For many years African Americans have been discriminated against, not as individuals, but solely because of the color of their skins. In her essay “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”, Zora Hurston relays to the reader that being discriminated due to your color doesn’t take away from who you are as a person, nor does it change the morals and virtues and pride that you have for yourself. Hurston speaks of her life experiences, and through those experiences she has became to know who she was, which at the beginning made her feel ashamed. The author didn’t realize or have ever been truly exposed to racism until the age of thirteen, when she moved from Eatonville, FL., a predominately black community, to Jacksonville, FL. Until then white people only differed to Zora because they didn’t live in her town. There in Jacksonville Zora experienced racism and discrimination; through all of this Zora never felt bitter towards those that discriminated against her. “But I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow damned up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all. I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood.” (Hurston 266). Though slavery was sixty years in the past, Zora understood that slavery was the price that was paid for civilization by her ancestors. Racism is alive and well. The past year many of us were stunned by the cases of racial intimidation and judicial bias, during the Michael Brown and Eric...
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...How It Feels To Be Colored Me (Interpretation) Where does racism come from? Are we born with discrimination or racism? Is it easier for some to hold back their anger when being discriminated against? How It Feels to BE Colored Me, is a book reflected on racism and discrimination. Hurston goes on to describe how she experiences her life events. She grew up in a small town Eatonville, Florida. At the age of thirteen, she begins a new chapter in her life in a city outside of Eatonville, Florida. From there, she talks about life experiences she encounters and discusses some of her reactions to those encounters. In the beginning of the essay, Hurston talks about her childhood. Her childhood was an easy going one. Hurston grew up in a small town described to be exclusively of only colored people. While living there, she, from time to time, would see what she refers to them as Southerners and Northerners. Right here, she is already distinguishing the difference between her people (Southerners) and the people to the north of them (Northerners). Although she doesn’t know it, she is already beginning to label others. Why? This might be due to the fact that she is a part of a town that is mainly colored people. But the Northerners were something else again. They were peered at cautiously from behind curtains by the timid here (Hurston, 265). She goes into detail on how white people are unknown to her in the city she grew up in. If we were to dissect this sentence, a bigger picture...
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...English 110 October 9, 2014 Compare and Contrast rough draft Have you ever stopped and thought to yourself if racism has really come to an end? The stories “Of the coming of John” and “How it feels to be colored me” have plenty of differences and similarities. These two stories have the same theme, which is race. The both have an interesting plot and a great message that everyone in the audience can enjoy. The first point of these two stories that has differences and similarities is the characters message. Both of these stories are based off of race and they are both trying to give the same message to their audience, for example how racism was really serious back in the day. Another similar message is there lives change at some point of their lives. A difference is that their lives change in different ways. In the story “Of the Coming of John”, John changes because he realizes how things really are and it kind of makes him a little bitter. The second point of these two stories that has differences and similarities is the setting. The setting of both these stories are in the 1900s. “Of the Coming of John” takes place in the year 1903 and the story “How it feels to be colored me” takes place in 1928. The third Point of these two stories that has differences and similarities is the characters. The differences between the two characters are that obviously one of the characters is a girl and the other one is a boy. Another...
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...imagine. It would be on a bright and warm island. With the white sand all around me, bright from the glistening of the sun, to the feel of the breeze blowing up to the shore and the sound of the beautiful aqua blue waves. As I walk up to the house all I imagine to see is a big porch overlooking the island. I see a two story house with maybe 3 bedrooms or so, not too big. It should be rustic, in a light colored wood or a nice colored plaster, with big windows where I can sit on the windowsill and look out on the island. It will be bright with a light sense and feel to it. Sitting with crisp white rocking chairs so that every evening as the sun goes down I can lose myself in the calm sound of the waves. Where I can be evincible over anything and everything life throws at me. What will be light and cozy from the inside as if you were sitting in the sand, relaxing and not a care in the world about anything stressful. The living room will have huge windows overlooking the gorgeous blue water and will give the room a nice lightning in the day and when the evening comes there will be plenty of candles lit for the warmth feel in the room. With a built in couch all the way down the room so me and my little family could spend hours playing games. The kitchen is a very important room for me, I love to cook. I want a rustic countryside style kitchen with a island in the middle of the room. The kitchen will be colored in different tones of white mostly, with grayish color countertops and will...
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...Contemporary Literature Final Paper Never Marry Me Sandra Cisneros’ short story “Never Marry a Mexican” details the life of a young, Chicana woman who struggles with an intense yearning and contempt for love and the union of marriage. It opens speaking about her childhood and recounts individual, life-altering events that have led her to foster her adult beliefs as well as her disillusionment with marriage. She has internalized events that occurred in her parent’s marriage and used these to alter her faith in the structure of the traditional, heterosexual marriage contract to the point that she no longer believes it has held up to the norms of society. The protagonist in “Never Marry a Mexican” does indeed love marriage, but because of the events that have transpired throughout her life she chooses to lash out in unusual fashions. Psychologically, she has had to cope with her inability to achieve her ultimate dream, of marrying a white man. She seeks to become something better than she believes that she is capable of on her own or even with a Mexican man. Sandra Cisneros uses the protagonist to show her readers the psychological struggles that women, more specifically, colored women have to contend with on a regular basis. The protagonist makes it clear to the reader that, in this particular case, male infidelity plays a large role in psychologically harming women who otherwise would likely be open to marriage. For example, at one point in the story the protagonist says...
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...American struggle for equality. Hughes wonders if his paper will be graded differently because he is black. He says, "I guess being colored doesn't make me not like the same things other folks like who are other races So will my page be colored that I write?"Hughes was not asking for sympathy, or for an apology, just understanding. He knows that even that will be hard, considering that he and his professor come from two completely different worlds. He explains that a black man will always have an impact on a white man's life, and vice versa; but Hughes knows that the white man wants no part of the black man's life. Hughes' only meager wish is to be accepted-not as a black man, but as an American. The point that Hughes tries to get across to his teacher is clear, that he, the black man, likes and does the same things as the white man. The difference being how the world views the two races. Someone can feel different because if their race, color, ethnicity, and gender. One can even feel different because of a physical handicap. All of these reasons that make one feel different make up one’s identity. Someone who is “different” may feel like they want to be a part of someone or something yet at the same time, because of what makes them so different, they may not want to be a part of someone or something else. It is a sense of fear and rejection. They may feel isolated and alone. It is true when Langston Hughes writes, “I like to eat, sleep, drink and be in love. I like to work, read,...
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...discrimination towards different people occurs because of sudden changes to an established system and society. In reality, racism is a result of generations of stereotypes and mistreatment of a certain group of people, and is not something that can be resolved as quickly as it is in the movie. The film Pleasantville, directed by Gary Ross, is the story of how two teens from the 1990’s, David and Jennifer, end up in a 1950’s sitcom called Pleasantville. Everything is black-and-white in this world, and all the citizens believe it is perfect, or pleasant. As David and Jennifer (now called Bud and Mary-Sue) stay in Pleasantville, they quickly change the conventional norms of the society, bringing new and different ideas to the people. This change is shown when some of the citizens change from black-and-white to full color. As the changes to many citizens’ color and behaviors keep occurring, a group of black-and-white people who are resistant to the new changes rises up, led by the town mayor Big Bob. This group would have meetings discussing how to stop the alterations that were occurring in the townspeople, and set rules that limited what colored people could do. They also vandalize the local shop owner Bill Johnson’s store for having a colorful painting on his windows. At the end of the...
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