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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
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
Since its founding, racial tensions have plagued the United States. Our history is one of racism and intolerance. From legal slavery in our first hundred years to fear mongering over Chinese immigrants, “No Irish Need Apply” to a presidential nominee threatening to deport 11 million illegal Latino immigrants, racism scourges our nation. How society sees a person’s race affects how they see themselves, how they see others of their own race, how they view other races, and their experiences growing up. In Zora Neale Hurston’s piece, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” she explains coming to know herself as “Zora” instead of “a little colored girl;” she explains how she is Zora of Orange County and it’s only in contrast to whites that she is colored. On the other hand, Anzaldúa’s piece “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” looks at life when no one recognizes your race, including those in it. While both Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” and Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” deal with the differences in race and racial tensions in the US, they detail vastly different struggles faced by minorities.
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,
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.
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...
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)
In Hurston’s essay, she mentions her family didn't what her to make contact with white people. It is the turning point of this essay. She had a great enlightenment when she realized: the society isn't treating us differently, it’s us who see ourselves differently. Anyhow, she has been very proud to be an African American. The entire essay is written in an encouraging way, which leads the reader to brainstorm the position of ourselves in this
“How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is an autobiography essay which was written in 1927
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).
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
Anzaldua encourages, “...we count the days the weeks the years the centuries the eons until the white laws and commerce and customs will rot in the deserts they’ve created, lie bleached.”(Anzaldua 2955) Anzaldua insinuates that she can’t wait for all the “white” cultures to fade away. How ironic that she says such a thing when she grew up in America. Anzaldua does not refer to herself as American or Mexican, but Chicana. Chicana is both. How can someone disregard one culture that they are apart of? You simply cannot, and she is every bit American as 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.
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...