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In the essays How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldúa and How It Feels to be Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston, both writers are discussing their experiences when they discovered how people viewed them. Views which were seen through eyesight, as well as views of judgement on how someone speaks. They both use their experiences as lessons and remain true to their identity. With using their experiences, these ladies overcome negativity and focus on embracing who they are. In the narrative, How It Feels to Be Colored Me, Hurston introduces her writing with details about how the town where she grew up in had only colored people. She would only see someone who was white if they were passing through the town to get somewhere else. With changing …show more content…
She believes her identity is being taken away because she is looked down upon for speaking Spanish in America. Throughout her essay, she talks about how her First Amendment right was violated because society feels that if you speak American properly in America, you will live a better life. When Anzaldúa says “I will no longer be made to feel ashamed of existing” (416), she’s stating that regardless of what people continues to think of her, she’ll still remain proud and faithful to her language. When saying, “I will no longer” represents assertiveness. It’s as if she 's taking a stand against everybody that told her that she really isn 't an authentic Hispanic like them because she stands out due to her different background. The word “existing” hints that she will no longer participate in disliking herself because of other people 's opinions. It was evident that she planned to live for herself by loving who she is in spite of past incidents. One of the themes in the passage is embracing who you despite the fact that you may not be like the rest of the people around you. Self-acceptance triumphs other people 's approval. Overcoming obstacles that in past had an effect on you is an achievement anyone would be proud of. When you make it a priority to not let those obstacles to no longer trouble you in the future is even
Anzaldua grew up in the United States but spoke mostly Spanish, however, her essay discusses how the elements of language began to define her identity and culture. She was living in an English speaking environment, but was not White. She describes the difficulty of straddling the delicate changing language of Chicano Spanish. Chicano Spanish can even differ from state to state; these variations as well as and the whole Chicano language, is considered a lesser form of Spanish, which is where Anzaldua has a problem. The language a person speaks is a part...
Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong somewhere? Do you know what it feels like to be told you don’t belong in the place of your birth? People experience this quite frequently, because they may not be the stereotypical American citizen, and are told and convinced they don’t belong in the only place they see as home. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Anzaldúa gives the reader an inside look at the struggles of an American citizen who experiences this in their life, due to their heritage. She uses rhetorical appeals to help get her messages across on the subliminal level and show her perspective’s importance. These rhetorical appeals deal with the emotion, logic and credibility of the statements made by the author. Anzaldúa
Ethnic group is a settled mannerism for many people during their lives. Both Zora Neale Hurston, author of “How It Feels to Be Colored Me; and Brent Staples, author of “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” realize that their life will be influenced when they are black; however, they take it in pace and don’t reside on it. They grew up in different places which make their form differently; however, in the end, It does not matter to them as they both find ways to match the different sexes and still have productivity in their lives.. Hurston was raised in Eatonville, Florida, a quiet black town with only white passer-by from time-to-time, while Staples grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, surrounded by gang activity from the beginning. Both Hurston and Staples share similar and contrasting views about the effect of the color of their
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,
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.
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
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.
Throughout the story Hurston uses the rural black dialect of central Florida, and her own lyrical style of writing to show the reader the character instead of telling their personality and actions. Hurston’s style and background help bring her story and ethnicity to life and because of this, her story reflects back on the culture in which she grew up. The majority of Hurston’s writing is about the African American race and the many trials and tribulations it endured due to segregation during the 1950’s. Her literary work was only popular for a short time but “Spunk” has, and will be, forever famous. The theme, literary techniques, familiarity of cultural qualities, and background of the story are all key to the story’s unexpected success.
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
Hurston had a psychological motivation to present for the black culture. She had drawn the materials for her novels for the rural, and most of her southern black life she had known as a young child and recorded folklore by collecting trips during the late 1920s and 1930s (Kaplan 5).
John Laudun says “ this character of Hurston’s work explores an important dimension of the nature of identity and community and the relationship between the two, a dimension highlighted in the in the growing body of scholarship on the nature of dialogue and the dialogic nature of subjectivity. (Laudun, African American Review)
“How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is an autobiography essay which was written in 1927
Within the works of Langston Hughes the theme of prejudiceness is portrayed in many pieces (Ed 2). Growing up as an African American boy there were situations where people prejudged him just because of his skin tone, of course the situations were hurtful, but it later on helped build a powerful story or poem (Ed 2). For this reason, Langston Hughes often narrowed in on the African American working class (Williams 2). Coupled with the African American working class, an individual 's race created a separation between people (Sundquist 2). The separation of individuals for no other reason but their skin tone infuriated Hughes and he took it to pen and paper to express the differences and opposing treatment of civilians (Sundquist 2). When it came to Langston Hughes the achievement of being the best was not his goal, rather it was to get his words across and let people relate or realize what he is telling. Along with the process of seeking awareness, Hughes worked with the categories “racial insights and national attitudes” (Emanuel 119). In addition to the way African Americans were treated, the chances of working and education were also unequal. The opening for a job tended to be much easier for a white citizen to get when being compared to someone with darker skin (MacNicholas 318). White citizens also believed they were superior and that African Americans were outsiders, therefore African Americans education wasn’t taken as seriously or wasn’t available to them (MacNicholas 318). Keeping the focus of racial prejudiceness in mind, Langston Hughes’ works pinpointed mainly cities and when being interviewed about what his goal in his writings is “Hughes replied “I explain and illuminate the Negro working condition in America. This applies to 90 percent of my work” (Emanuel 68-69). Langston Hughes, being an African
The questions that these following authors have asked about Zora Neale Hurston is (1) “What drove [Hurston] to travel both physically and intellectually in search for authentic experience and knowledge?” (Staples 2006); (2) “How did Hurston eradicate the previous pervasive stereotypical image of African Americans?” (Hoffman-Jeep 2005); and (3) “Had Hurston somehow betrayed her ethnic community to work as an ethnographer?”, “In what ways did Hurston bring insight of how ethnography can serve in an ethnic community?” (Jirousek 2006).
In high school, stories of people of color were never placed on the same podium as a Shakespearean play or the writings of Emily Dickinson. It wasn't until the end of my high school experience that I realized the importance of my voice. During this period I realized the stories I wanted to see and hear were embedded within others and myself as wel...