Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me"

Zora Neale Hurston (1891?-1960),novelist, short story writer, journalist, and folklorist, was born in Eatonville, Florida. She attended Howard University and earned a B.A. from Barnard College in 1928. Hurston's writing is frank and original and tends to focus on the lives of Southern blacks. Her books include the folklore collection Mules and Men (1935) and the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). Hurston's career went into eclipse in the 1940s, in part because of her conflict with eminent black literary figures, in part because of charges (apparently baseless) that she had molested a child. When she died, she had been working as a maid. In the early 1970s her reputation and her work were revived, in large part through the efforts of the writer Alice Walker. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" first appeared in 1928 in Negro Digest and was collected in a book of the same name that same year.

CONTENT

1. How does Hurston characterize the town where she was born?
2. What is the author driving at by suggesting that she wasn't related to "an Indian chief"?
3. Describe the differences between the Northerners and the Southerners that Hurston points out.
4. How does Hurston's life change when she turns thirteen?
5. In what ways do the author and her white friend react differently to the music at the New World Cabaret.
6. How does Hurston feel when she's discriminated against?
7. Describe the author's perspective of contrast between black and white approaches to achieving things in life.

STRATEGY AND STYLE

1. The syntax in the title is unusual. How can you relate the order and choice of the words there to the author's feeling about her racial identity?
2. "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" is a narration about a part of one specific woman's life, but it has widespread significance. What are some of the ways Hurston makes this more than just the story of a single individual? Where in the essay did you go to support your answer?
3. In paragraph ten, the author uses a metaphor to compare herself to an inanimate object. What is the comparison? What mental image does it evoke? How can you relate the use of this literary device to her feelings about being black?
4. Study paragraphs eleven, twelve, and thirteen. What content do they provide? Examine their rhythm: one very long paragraph followed by two very short ones. How can you tie in this choice to the author's feelings about the differences between blacks and whites?

1. Recall a time someone made an assumption about you based upon the color of your skin. How did it make you feel? What did you do about it? How can you relate these feelings and actions to your reading?
2. Imagine changing races. Which race did you pick? Why? What imaginary effect did the switch have on your self-identity? Can you link these thoughts with your reading? If so, how? If not, why not?

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING

1. Hurston writes, "Slavery is sixty years in the past." (Remember, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" was written in 1928.) Is she dismissing slavery merely because it's a historical event? Explain. How relevant is slavery today?
2. Write an essay about the use of color imagery in this piece. Support your main points with specific evidence from your reading.

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Look through your text and pick either Richard Rodriguez's "Aria" or Mike Rose's "I Just Wanna Be Average" to read or reread. Then, write a comparison/contrast paper about it and your reading here. Do enough research to be comfortable contrasting the relevant historical periods.

WEB CONNECTION

To put Hurston into a historical context you have to become familiar with the history of Harlem. Here is a site with photos depicting Harlem in the first half of the last century. It's a good place to start your historical journey.

LINKS

Biographical

This is a good start page from Voices From the Gaps. It contains an excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God, a biography, photos, bibliographies, and links.

Here's another start page from PAL. There, you'll find a photo of Hurston, three bibliographies, and some study questions. If you had to choose this site or the one above to use in a paper about Hurston, which one would you pick and why?

Bibliographical

Want to read more by Hurston? Here's Hurston's story "Black Death" in etext for you.

This is an exhaustive collection of links centering on Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God from the Kingwood College Library in Texas.

Cultural

Did you know that Hurston has a festival named in her honor? Here is the homepage of the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, an annual event that takes place in her hometown.

There's also a foundation named after Hurston and Richard Wright with the mission to build "the world community of writers of African descent." Learn more about it by clicking here.

Read this transcript of a conversation several college teachers had about Their Eyes Were Watching God. What kinds of things did you learn about the book from this transcript? For what information would you have to consult the book directly?