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Zora neale hurston life of colored me
Zora neale hurston life of colored me
Zora neale hurston life of colored me
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In “How it feels to be Colored Me”, Zora Hurston is trying to explore her own identity and find who she is in a world full of discrimination. She is a young black girl who is living during a time when it is tough to be black because of the way they are treated and used. In “Theme for English B”, Hughes writes about a young black man about the age of 22 who is given an assignment by his teacher to write a one page report from the self. The young man questions whether or not his paper will have the same truth behind it as a young white man’s paper. I am comparing these two works because the setting is similar. They are both in school during a time that blacks and whites were still trying to get used to being around each other in a learning atmosphere. …show more content…
She even talks about how they were being generous to her. For example, Hurston says, “During this period, white people differed from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there. They liked to hear me “speak pieces" and sing and wanted to see me dance the parse-me-la, and gave me generously of their small silver for doing these things, which seemed strange to me for I wanted to do them so much that I needed bribing to stop, only they didn 't know it” (539). Hurston would soon find out that when she had to leave her small town to go to a boarding school because of family changes that the real world is full of racism and discrimination towards colored people. I think this is when she realizes that she is …show more content…
In conclusion, the speaker comes to terms that the teacher is freer than he is. He thinks that there is no way for his paper to have the same truth as the white professor’s truth. He feels that during this time that the discrimination and hatred toward colored people could in no way help his truth be the same as the white people’s truth. I believe these two stories can be compared because they are both dealing with young black people trying to figure out why they are being discriminated just because of their skin color. They both feel like they should be just as free or equal as white people and not judged so harshly for being born black. They both are attending school during a rough time for colored people. They both just want to make a difference and make people realize that they are not bad people and that they are just as smart as white people. I would say that they both were very unlucky to be born colored during this time period because of the hatred but at the same time they are the ones who could have the biggest impact on changing lives and making it better for colored
The similarities are prolific in their presence in certain parts of the novel, the very context of both stories shows similarities, both are dealing with an oppressed factor that is set free by an outsider who teaches and challenges the system in which the oppressed are caught.
Many stories today have similar characteristics. While reading “the Lesson” and “Sonny’s Blues” it is clear that the stories are alike in several ways. I wondered how two separate stories written by two different authors could be so parallel, so I did some research on the authors. While researching I found out that the author of “The Lesson”, Toni Cade Bambara, was born in Harlem just like the main character, Sylvia, in her story. In an interview, Bambara talked about women in her neighborhood that influenced her literature. This is parallel to Miss Moore, a neighbor of Sylvia, who had a big impact on her. Like Bambara, James Baldwin, the author of “Sonny’s Blues”, was born in Harlem. While researching Baldwin, I found out he too grew up in poverty like, the characters in his short story “Sonny’s Blues”. Between the two stories there are many similarities
This passage bothered me. It is probably the part that bugged me the most about this book. There are many African Americans who are better behaved, smarter, more artistic, more athletic, etc. then white children. There are also many African Americans who are less educated and more poorly behaved than white children, but the same for both of these things go with white children. It bothers me that she knows that if the worst child in the class was white she wouldn't care if the best child in the class was white. I think that throughout the book she often generalizes with African Americans and doesn't even realize it. She claims that she is getting better, but I don't think that she really is. She keeps trying to have the African American children become the same as the white children.
From slavery to the Harlem Renaissance, a revolutionary change in the African American community, lead by poets, musicians and artists of all style. People where expressing their feeling by writing the poem, playing on instruments and many more. According to the poem “ I, Too” by Langston Hughes and article “How it feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurtson, the poem and article connects to each other. The poem is about how a African Man, who sits in the dinning café and says that, one day nobody would be able to ask him to move anywhere, and the in the article written by Zora Neale Hurtson, she describes how her life was different from others, she was not afraid of going anywhere. They both have very similar thoughts,
Both Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were great writers but their attitudes towards their personal experience as an African American differed in many ways. These differences can be attributed to various reasons that range from gender to life experience but even though they had different perceptions regarding the African American experience, they both shared one common goal, racial equality through art. To accurately delve into the minds of the writers’ one must first consider authors background such as their childhood experience, education, as well their early adulthood to truly understand how it affected their writing in terms the similarities and differences of the voice and themes used with the works “How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Hurston and Hughes’ “The Negro Mother”. The importance of these factors directly correlate to how each author came to find their literary inspiration and voice that attributed to their works.
In ‘How it feels to be colored me’ Neale Hurston opens up to her pride and identity as an African-American. Hurston uses a wide variety of imagery, diction using figurative language freely with metaphors. Her tone is bordering controversial using local lingo.
The same consistent, expressive voice introduces Ms. Angelou's effective strategy of comparison and contrast. By comparing what the black schools don't have, such as 'lawn, nor hedges, nor tennis courts, nor climbing ivy,' reveals not only a clear illustration of what luxuries the white schools in the forties had but also how unjust the system was. The adults at the graduation focus on the differences that were previously left unspoken. The black principal's voice fades as he describes "the friendship of kindly people to those less fortunate then themselves" and the white commencement speaker implies that" the white kids would have a chance to become Galileo's.... and our boys would try to be Jesse Owenes..." The author's emotions vary from the first proclamation that "I was the person of the moment" to the agonizing thoughts that it "was awful to be a Negro and have no control over my life" to the moment of epiphany: "we are on top again."
Looking at the historical context of each poem shows that the political movements of the time had a large effect on Hughes’s two poems. The timeline between the two poems is an interesting one to analyze. “I, Too” was written in nineteen twenty-six and “Theme for English B” was written in nineteen fifty-one (Rampersad). Many events relating to the civil rights movement happened during the years between the two poems. The nineteen twenties were filled with racism, intolerance, and
Discrimination is described as the unjust treatment of others, especially due to race, sex, or age. In the narratives “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, both writers use their works to shine a light on discrimination in the United States, though in different ways. Anzaldua’s focus relies mostly on the pride of her fellow Chicanos, whereas, Hurston has more of an individualistic, soulful message. Anzaldua grew up along the Mexican-American border where she struggled with her identity as she was torn between the standards of both Mexican and American societies. Hurston did not face significant racial differences until “the very day she become colored” (Hurston 1). Hurston’s
Hurston, Zora Neale. “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.” Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 5th ed. Ed. Robert Atawan and Donald McQuade. Boston:Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. 166-170. Print
In “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” Hurston breaks from the tradition of her time by rejecting the idea that the African American people should be ashamed or saddened by the color of their skin. She tells other African Americans that they should embrace their color and be proud of who they are. She writes, “[A socialite]…has nothing on me. The cosmic Zora emerges,” and “I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads” (942-943). Whether she feels “colored” or not, she knows she is beautiful and of value. But Hurston writes about a time when she did not always know that she was considered colored.
When I first read Langston Hughes' poem "Theme for English B", I did not particularly like it. But after reading it a second time and discussing it in class, I came to appreciate the poem on several levels. The way Hughes describes the setting of Harlem/New York is brief, but evocative. He also gives us insight into the thoughts and emotions of the main character, the young "colored" student, and ends the piece with several thought provoking passages.
In “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” Hurston undergoes many obstacles such as challenges because the colored of her skin, her change of life style, but the most important aspect is her attitude, the way she react towards these obstacles. Hurston nightmares starts when her life style changes. She moves to a town in which people of colored do not have good relationship with white. She is going to thirteen when she becomes colored she says. She becomes such because people (white) around keep reminding her of what she is. However, she never cares because she already knows that. Hurston
The four poems by Langston Hughes, “Negro,” “Harlem,” “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and “Theme for English B” are all powerful poems and moving poems! Taken all together they speak to the very founding of relations of whites and blacks all the way down through history. The speaker in the poem the, “Negro” and also, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” tells the tale of freedom and enslavement that his people have endured, and it heralds their wisdom and strength. The poems “Harlem” and “Theme for English B” speaks to the continuous unfair treatment that the blacks have received at the hands of white people throughout the years.
Unlike the earlier era, in which they had received freedom but it was so new to them, and they truly didn’t understand what it meant to be a free group, they began to move into a time period where they were finding their voice, and “finding their freedom”. Instead of writing about becoming free, and wanting freedom, they begin to act free. They begin to prove they were free by giving off confident in their culture and in their work. In her writing she has many different subsections where she rebuttals the ideas pushed onto the African American race. She proves the stereotypes wrong using the truth. The first example is, under the section titled “originality” she wrote, “it has been said so often that the negro is lacking in originality that has almost become a gospel. Outward signs seem to bear this out. But if one looks closely its falsity is immediately evident.” and , “So if we look at it squarely, the Negro is a very original being. While he lives and moves in the midst of a white civilian, everything that he touches is re-interpreted for his own use. He has modified the language, mode of food preparation, practice of medicine, and most certainly the religion of his new country, just as he adapted to suit himself the sheik haircut made famous by Rudolph Valentino.” this passage shows how much she believes in her race. She isn’t asking for anything from anyone. She doesn’t beg for respect, acceptance, or freedom, she is telling them to treat them like they are free. This passage really exemplifies the theme of accepting themselves and their culture during this time period. The African Americans were able to begin to stand up for themselves and up against the falsely acclaimed stereotypes that have been made against them. During this time period they were recreating the culture that had been taken away from them. They were finding their voice through