How it Feels to Be Colored Me (1928-Zora Neale Hurston)

In How it Feels to be Colored Me, Zora Neale Hurston describes how she feels about being an African-American woman. She analyzes her place in society and how her racial background both limits and propels her. Having experienced the pros and cons of her societal niche, Hurston exhibits a high level of credibility. Contextually, Hurston grew up in an all-black town in Florida. When she was 13, she moved to the city, where the racial integration she experienced changed her life. The author’s chief purpose in writing the essay is to analyze racial differences from a child’s perspective. This purpose is designed to connect with her audience, which is chiefly African-Americans who feel burdened by their skin color. One rhetorical device she uses is a humorous tone. Rather than adhere to the conventional gravity of racial differences, Hurston employs the use of humor to keep her audience interested and to display the simplicity behind racial differences. She recalls, “I remember the very day that I became colored” (114). The humorous tone coupled with the use of analogies is effective in proving Hurston’s point as she compares racial differences to different colors of plastic bags. Although they all look different, the contents of the bags are the same, showing how simple these differences truly are. Finally, Hurston employs a great deal of imagery to keep the reader’s attention. Rather than tell the reader, Hurston often chooses to show the reader. When describing her childhood, she describes how the residents of the town acted cautiously around Northerners. Hurston remembers, “They were peered at cautiously from behind curtains by the timid” (114). Overall, the author did a wonderful job accomplishing her purpose and proving her argument. She set out to simplify racial differences and did just that. Hurston’s humorous tone, analogies, and use of imagery enabled her to keep her reader’s attention while advancing her argument. By the end of the tale, there can be no doubt in the reader’s mind that Hurston’s thesis is accurate. By over-simplifying racial differences, Hurston managed to prove how meaningless they truly are.

The color of the plastic is different, but the lens is ultimately the same

Source: BP Blogspot