1)Hurston’s opening paragraph in “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” functions as a joke that aims to lessen the stigma around discussing race in the 1920s. The phrase “extenuating circumstances” is defined as lessening the seriousness of a situation and therefore reducing any consequence that may emerge from her controversial stance. Hurston’s assertion that her “grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief” is intended to bring humor to the African American tendency to claim Native American ancestry in order to raise their social status. Her sarcastic juxtaposition of accepting her color versus colored people distancing themselves from it creates a colloquial tone that illustrates her defiance of social stigmas and norms. This biting opening paragraph intrigues the reader and allows her audience to grasp the overall purpose of the…show more content… Show In these two articles both writers are discussing two different topics. Zora Neale Hurston is talking about race and how she dealt with a change in environment in her essay. In Adrienne Rich’s speech, she is telling women the importance of self-educating themselves about the need to know how to become a self-conscious self-defining human being. Even though the topics are different the main idea in both these articles is identity. The importance of embracing your identity even with the setbacks from society. Argument Description One of the most prevalent themes in "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" is that race is a social construct—i.e. a human-invented and perpetuated classification system not based in essential biological differences. For hundreds of years, white settlers in the United States tried to justify genocide of Indigenous peoples and the enslavement of African-descended people by arguing that biological differences meant non-white people were of a lower order of the human species, seeking to designate them as separate and inferior "races." The flawed and biased theory of biological racial difference has long been refuted by biologists, but we still live with the legacy of white supremacist hierarchical categorization. Hurston contributes to the idea of race being socially constructed by stating that she "became colored," only thinking of herself as "a little colored girl" when she was thirteen and lived among white people who projected their prejudices onto her. Rather than feeling her race as something essential encoded into her biology, Hurston notices her race in contexts where, for social reasons, her skin color sets her apart. PerformancePerformance is another of the essay's major themes. The theme first appears when Hurston details how her childhood involved sitting on her gatepost to watch "the show" of white tourists passing through her all-Black town. While she sees herself as a spectator of the exotic white tourists, she also becomes the entertainer, singing and dancing for them. The white tourists give her dimes, believing she must be performing for money, but in truth she is just being herself, happy to express the joy that so often prompts locals to "deplore" her. The same dynamic of being watched and judged arises later when Hurston speaks of the additional scrutiny she knows she faces as a Black woman pursuing her ambition as an artist, writing that "it is thrilling to think—to know that for any act of mine, I shall get twice as much praise or twice as much blame. It is quite exciting to hold the center of the national stage, with the spectators not knowing whether to laugh or to weep." Ultimately, Hurston views the pressures of performance as empowering, relishing the added attention. Racialized Public SpacesFrom early in the essay, Hurston shares anecdotes set in racialized public spaces. She begins with the road that goes through her all-Black Eatonville community. In a setting where racial separation is stark, the Black residents sit on their porches or hide behind curtains while white Northern tourists drive past in cars. Hurston finds herself in another racialized public space when she is sent to boarding school in Jacksonville, and, once living among white people, begins to think of herself as "colored." Barnard College is another racialized public space: One of only a few Black people on the mostly white campus, Hurston feels like "a dark rock surged upon" in a white-water river. The New World Cabaret inverts the racial dynamic, but Hurston feels her race nonetheless when her white friend doesn't respond to the jazz music with the same emotional depth she does. Ultimately, Hurston shows how certain physical spaces contribute to ideas of racial difference, further supporting her belief that racial difference arises out of social contexts and not biology. Rejection of VictimhoodEven though Hurston acknowledges that she sometimes experiences discrimination for her race and that her grandparents were slaves, Hurston rejects the expectation that she should see herself as a victim of racism. Stating that she is "not tragically colored," Hurston seeks to set herself apart from "the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are all but about it." Hurston prefers to identify with "the strong" who she sees as excelling in life. Adopting a confidence and optimism about her abilities to make her way in the world, Hurston encapsulates her rejection of victimhood and embrace of ambition in the statement: "I do not weep at the world—I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife." How does Zora Neale feel about being colored?I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored. I am merely a fragment of the Great Soul that surges within the boundaries.
What literary devices are used in How It Feels to Be Colored Me?Some of the rhetorical devices used by Hurston in her essay are anecdotes, direct address, antithesis, metaphors, , and allusions. These rhetorical devices are mainly meant to highlight Hurston's detachment from the victim mentality of the blacks.
What was the purpose of writing How It Feels to Be Colored Me?How It Feels to be Colored Me is an essay by Zora Neale Hurston published in the World Tomorrow on May 1928. In the essay she describes her first experience with racism. The purpose of the piece is to show self-confidents and pride in her identity.
How does it feel to be colored Me racism quotes?“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. ... . “I am not tragically colored. ... . “Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. ... . The Reconstruction said 'Get Set! ... . “I do not always feel colored. ... . “At certain times I have no race, I am me. ... . RELATED POSTS.. |