Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist and writer associated with the Harlem Renaissance, born January 7, 1891, and died January 28, 1960. he was revolutionary in helping to protect the rights of African Americans. She is known for "How it Feels to be Colored Me", which she wrote in 1927, exercises what it means to be a black person in a world that is mostly dominated by white people and how she discovers her identity and pride, uses metaphors and Images to help your argument. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At first, she talks about how she grew up in an all-black town in Florida, but never thought much about her race. While growing up there she saw white people coming from out of town, but they were never rude or mean to her, in fact she welcomed them into town and performed, but not because she wanted money, she just had fun. When she moved to Jacksonville at age thirteen to attend school she realized she was black, not because she didn't know she was black but because people cared about the color of her skin, which had never happened to her in her life. old city where it has never been different. In the text she adds how she went from "Zora from Orange County" to little "colored girl", this is a great example of pathos because of the emotional change she was going through, people always reminded her of the color of her skin and what she looked like the granddaughter of a slave, but she refused to be sad about something that happened a long time ago, which meant that slavery was over and they were in a new era. She was very surprised and confused and was now aware of her skin color and what comes with it. Next, she uses a metaphor that helps the secondary statement of how she wouldn't let what others said depress her, which is that "the operation was a success and the patient is fine." The operation means slavery and the patient means black people basically saying slavery is over and they are doing fine so why are there still problems. Additionally, Hurston uses imagery when talking about feeling more colorful when thrown against a crisp white background, meaning that when she is around a lot of white people she feels different when she knows she shouldn't, they are all people just like her and l The only difference is the leather. Another example she uses would be when she was at Barnard which she attended from 1925 to 1928. "Over the waters of the Hudson" she feels her rush even though there are thousands of white people she is "a rock that shakes and sleeps too much" but she remains herself and nothing will change Which helps the image she was talking about, nothing would happen changing her skin or what she was, that's how she would be. However, she also saw it the other way around, towards the end of the reading she talks about an experience she had while going to college when she went to a nightclub with a white friend. When they entered the club the orchestra was playing wild jazz and Hurston started dancing wildly as if he lived in the jungle, which is a simile to compare the way he danced to someone living in the jungle which is a place of the wild. When she turns to look at her white friend, he sits quietly and simply taps the rhythm with his fingers, doesn't have much emotion towards the music, and doesn't have the same effect as her. Then he quickly notices how different they are not a race but a culture. He wasn't as interested in music as she was because she grew up listening to that music and he didn't feel what she felt when she listened to the orchestra. She sees how different people are and how cultures are so distant, as is the case with her white friend who is.
tags