Title: How It Feels to Be Colored Me Summary - eNotes.com
Headings: How It Feels to Be Colored Me
How It Feels to Be Colored Me
How It Feels to Be Colored Me Summary
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Content: If one were to dump these bags out, everyone would be more or less the same, regardless of their color. Summary
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Last Updated on July 24, 2020, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 448
“How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is a widely anthologized descriptive essay in which Zora Neale Hurston explores the discovery of her identity and self-pride. Following the conventions of description, Hurston employs colorful diction, imagery, and figurative language to take the reader on this journey. Download How It Feels to Be Colored Me Study Guide
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Using a conversational tone and multiple colloquialisms, Hurston begins the essay by delving into her childhood in Eatonville, Florida, through anecdotes describing moments when she greeted neighbors, sang and danced in the streets, and viewed her surroundings from a comfortable spot on her front porch. Back then, she was “everybody’s Zora,” free from the alienating feeling of difference. However, when she was thirteen, her mother passed away, and Hurston left home to attend a boarding school in Jacksonville. There, she immediately became “colored.” Hurston says she does not consider herself “tragically colored” and begins weaving together extended metaphors that suggest her self-pride.