Preview

Rhetorical Analysis Of How It Feels To Be Colored Me

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
178 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rhetorical Analysis Of How It Feels To Be Colored Me
In "How it Feels to Be Colored Me" by Zora N. Hurston, Zora had realized she had become "colored" when she was sent to school in Jacksonville at age thirteen where she was known as the little colored girl. Nevertheless, Zora describes in extraordinary detail how she is not ashamed of being colored. Therefore, Zora utiliezes self respect and selt commitment as her overall tone. thus, she sets her tone by describing her writing with fascinating phraseology and representation; it's as if her readers were experiencing her journey. "I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against a wall. Against a wall in company with other bags, white, red, and yellow." This descriptive phrase is especially strong; Hurston describes herself to a brown bag

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The poem “How it feels to be colored me,” if you feel uncertain that Hurston is asserting her pride in her ethnicity, then you have gotten her message! Throughout the essay she points to her feelings of being herself, and individual, much more that she feels a member of a specific race, or “granddaughter to slaves.” She does mention instances when she “feels colored,” but her strongest experiences of being fully alive are when she swings down the boulevard in Harlem, charged by the adventure of being young and strong and “the eternal feminine,” an inner-circle member of the family of humankind. She even states that she does not feel particularly American –nothing that specific, even though she was born here- but part of something much greater. That ardor of belonging to the winder world, and being at home in it, is more central to who she is that the labels or culture of any one ethnicity.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In her essay, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”, Zora Neale Hurston writes about how she found her identity and became proud of who she is. Hurston recognizes the discrimination against African Americans, and sees it as “the price I paid for civilization, and the choice was not with me”. Hurston does not attempt to distance herself from her race; rather she openly accepts it. She only feels different from other races when the views of others are forced upon her. Using bags of miscellaneous objects as a metaphor, Hurston points out that we are all the same on the inside, despite our physical appearance. God created us all equal, and it is merely the views of society which divide us. Hurston’s capability to find her true identity and take pride…

    • 142 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the [past, many jobs were industrial in nature and didn’t needs necessarily require formal schooling. Education has always played a main factor in my life and to my parents. Being active keeping my grades up and being on extra curricular activities has played a major role in my life. After high school I plan to get a masters and first a bachelors degree. I am majoring in computer science; and plan to practice in becoming a engineer or computer programmer. I have many career goals as. A second major I was interested in was sociology and justice and later going to law school to help out crime within the community.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Inner Pece

    • 1463 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Salah O. Ahmed Intro to Afro-American Literature Professor Todd Duncan (This could use a longer conclusion) Inner Peace In the essays, "How it Feels to be Colored Me" and "On Being Young-a Woman-and Colored", the authors, Zola Neale Hurston and Marita Bonner, respectively, tell a similar story of having grown up and had to deal with racism in the Post-Bellum Era. In their appeal to a new generation, one less stigmatized by slavery and more hopeful about the future than its predecessor, Hurston and Bonner take divergent paths to point to a common understanding. The convergence between their works centers on the idea that in order for the young people of their generation to achieve a sense of peace with the world around them, they must first find peace within themselves.…

    • 1463 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Question and Author

    • 4785 Words
    • 20 Pages

    | In her thesis she explains that even though people do discriminate against her, she does not feel colored. She states “There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, or lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all” to show how she doesn’t care that she’s colored. Being color does not determined who is she is or what she will be. She doesn’t get depressed that she’s colored. Being colored just describes one single fact about her.…

    • 4785 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hurston recalls that her mother cared deeply about how she and her siblings presented themselves in front of others, in a way so as not to appear to be poor "no-count Negroes" and rather supply themselves with many opportunities in life. Her father, on the other hand, was shown to care more about his daughter's attitude so that she would not "have too much spirit" since "the white folks were not going to stand for it." Hurston intelligently presents these two different viewpoints from her parents in a way that can easily be understood by the audience.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Race and Ethnicity

    • 1687 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Literature gives writers of all creeds the vehicle to express themselves in numerous ways – love, hate, fear, sadness, and hope. Writers give their interpretations of life through verse and bring readers of their works into their world for just a moment. Although some may consider race and ethnicity the same, they are totally different. An example of this is in the poems, What Its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith and Child of the Americas by Aurora Levins Morales. Both authors give their view of how race and ethnicity plays a part in one’s life when it comes to even the simplest decision.…

    • 1687 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Spunk

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurtson’s symbolism, style, and background help bring her story and her ethnicity to life.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As she entered the local supermarket, everyone’s actions came to a standstill. They all watched her as she walked down the aisle minding her own business. Their eyes pierced into her dark flesh, discovering the humility that the woman felt as they watched every single one of her moves. The humiliation that she experienced caused her to question how one’s mind could be so immoral to the point where they discriminate people from society because of their skin color. She perpetually wondered what it would be like to be born a different skin color. It was challenging for the young woman to be a part of society without feeling discriminated by others. She longed for the time where color would not create a rift in society and instead would unite people…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Occasionally, once in a great while, a unique person comes along. Zora Neale Hurston was one of those bigger than life people. She would have told you so herself. She was just as she should have been. She was, "Zora."…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reliance

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As we know, much of the American culture is based upon slavery, and how African Americans as well as other individuals with a dark complexion have been persecuted and segregated throughout American history until the 1960’s. Fortunately, Zora Neale Hurston, the author of the passage “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” explains how she lived through the civil rights period, and how she was looked at as a low member in society because of the color of her skin. In the last paragraph of the passage, Zora presents the idea that no matter what color a person is, they are all the same from the inside. I strongly disagree with Zora’s belief about different races and how they conduct themselves in today’s society; either being a productive member of society or a menace to society.…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sometimes we know who and what we are, but it’s impossible to wear an identity without becoming what we pretend to be or bullied into silence allowing ourselves to be made a victim to oppression. In this essay I’m comparing the authors of “How it Feel to Be Colored Me by Zora Hurston, and How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua. Gloria Anzaldua became a victim of oppression by accepting society expectations of the Chicano culture. Meanwhile, Zora Hurston accepted who she is despite who people perceived her as because of her skin color.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I grew up in a circumstance that everything should be obeyed without a single question. I used to shout, cry, do everything I can to get rid of that feeling of my will being controlled by someone else. It turned out that physical rebellion would not do anything good, since adults were much bigger and stronger than me; but I found out quickly that oral arguments did give me some chances to win. When I earned my first battle from my parents in middle school—through an argument about the latest bedtime—I, for the first time, felt the strength of words as weapons and got excited for it. So when I started to read Richard Wright’s memoir Black Boy and reached the part where he describes his experience of being baptized, I was excited again; Wright…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the piece of literature,” How it feels to Be Colored Me”, by Zora Neale Hurston, uses diction, detail, and syntax to express her individuality. Instead of talking about her racial inequality, she expresses her uniqueness as a pro. At the time most essays written by African-Americans, tend to complain about their racial inequality instead embracing it. The entire tone of the piece is set by the opening sentence, where she states she is different by using the word “only.”…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line” – DuBios. People of color have had the worst of sufferings around the globe, from slavery to racism and hate; DuBios addresses the problem that despite that people of color are free, they suffer the early hate of the post civil war era, and are always known as the “problem” of the white dominated society. For many decades the people of color lived in a state of double consciousness, stuck on the invisible side of a veil that cloaks their voice into silence. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the author confronts the same problem through the life of the female heroine Janie and her quest of identity. On her way Janie is met with many challenges that raise eyebrows and gossiping that quickly plagues the people around her like an epidemic, with quick judgment ensuing.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays