Friday, October 31, 2014


“How It Feels to be Colored Me,” by Zora Neale Hurston


                This piece is about Zora Neale Hurston’s introduction and path through a time of segregation. It is explicitly positive due to the humor and witty remarks throughout the essay.[1] It also takes the reader with Hurston while she goes through a phase of discovering her self-pride and what it truly means to her.

            This piece was written in 1928.[2] It fits perfectly into its own time because this is the period when segregation had a strong influence on people here in the US. Hurston writes this piece to show the relationship and differences between blacks and whites.[3]

            Hurston conveys a powerful message to defy the mindsets of her, and our, time. It is portrayed through the way the essay obviously does not fit with the ideologies of racial segregation.[4] This piece may also be suitable for audiences that want to know what segregation was like from a different perspective.

            After reading this piece, the author clearly wants me never loose pride in myself just because of the color of my skin. As a reader, I am left with the need to walk with my head held high and make lemonade when life throws me lemons.

            Zora Neale Hurston wrote this piece. Her work is pleasant because her positive personality visibly weaves itself throughout her essay. Hurston seems to believe in the need to look past pride in one’s race and more into pride in one’s self.[5] This speaker, through experience, seems to be a wise person.



[1] http://anglistika.webnode.cz/products/hurston-zora-neale-how-it-feels-to-be-colored-me/
[2] http://www.studymode.com/essays/How-It-Feels-To-Be-Colored-113076.html
[3] http://www.studymode.com/essays/How-It-Feels-To-Be-Colored-113076.html
[4] http://www.enotes.com/topics/how-it-feels-to-be-colored-me
[5] http://www.enotes.com/topics/how-it-feels-to-be-colored-me

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