Blog Post 2

Zora Neale Hurston’s How It Feels to Be Colored Me documents her understanding of racism throughout varied childhood experiences. Hurston, born African-American in 1891 (Editors), faced much of the prejudice that existed against people of color. As she noted, neighborhoods were largely segregated when she grew up, so it was only when she moved to a town with many white people that she felt out-of-place. As a civil rights activist, Hurston concludes the essay with an extended metaphor, explaining how she “feel[s] like a brown bag of miscellany … in company with other bags, white, red, and yellow,” later continuing that “all might be dumped in a single heap and the bags refilled without altering the content any greatly” (Hurston 117). This extended metaphor is the most straight-forward explanation of her purpose: to help her audience recognize that, regardless of the body one is given at birth, everyone shares fundamental similarities. While this was written directly for those who held prejudices against people of color, the essay serves as a documentation of repression to help closed-minded individuals see past any prejudgment. Hurston also uses synecdoche, another type of metaphor, to distinguish between race and identity. Effectively denouncing the misconception that her race stands for her whole self, Herston says, “At certain times I have no race, I am me” (Hurston 117). Hurston also uses similes in the essay, most notably when she says, “I set my hat at a certain angle … feeling as snooty as the lions in front of the Forty-Second Street Library” (Hurston 117). Hurston hopes to relate to her audience with the use of the simile, hoping to break down racial and ethnic barriers that hold people apart. The unique description of the prejudice Hurston faced throughout her life and the rhetorical devices that bring her closer to her audience certainly helped Hurston to achieve her purpose. The essay marked a significant step forward in desegregation, and as Hurston wanted to achieve, society now has very few racial barriers.

This picture shows one beautiful red flower in a large field of yellow flowers. It shows the theme that difference is beautiful. This image was retrieved from flowermeaning.com, and the photographer is unspecified (One).

Works Cited

Editors, Biography.com. "Zora Neale Hurston Biography." The Biography.com Website. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.

Hurston, Nora Neale. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." The Best American Essays of the Century. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Atwan. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 114-17. Print.

One red tulip in a field of yellow flowers. Digital image. Flower Meaning. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2016.