Hurston's Essay 'The Negro Artist And The Racial Mountain'

Zora Hurston uses vivid imagery, natural diction, and several literary tools in her essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”. Hurston’s use of imagery, diction, and literary tools in “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” contributes to, and also compliments, the essay’s theme which is her view on life as a “colored” person. Throughout “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” Hurston carefully incorporates aspects of her African American culture in an effort to recapture her ancestral past. Hurston’s use of imagery, diction, and use of literary tools shape her essay into a piece of Harlem Renaissance work. Imagery in “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is quite abundant.

Hurston tells the story of Janie, a black woman who because of her grandmother experiences and beliefs was forced to marry into a loveless marriage with Logan Killicks, a hard-working farmer who had 60 acres of land and could provide for Janie. This marriage ended when Janie ran away with Joe Stark, a man that she fell in love with and thought could give her the love absent between her and Logan. But Janie soon realized that her second marriage wouldn’t turn out better than her first. Joe was just as controlling and degrading as Logan. He hardly expressed his love for Janie and spoke to her like an incompetent child.

Zora Neale Hurston’s writing in Their Eyes Were Watching God, reflects the Harlem Renaissance through Janie 's individuality, and departs from the Harlem Renaissance with the common recurrence of black woman empowerment. In the novel, Hurston reflects the ideas of the Harlem renaissance with the ways in which Janie rebels and goes against norms for women.

By not having a set audience and Hurston is able to reach more people with her essay. Her goal is that her readers do not pity her, to do this she mentions her friend in this way, “ Music! The great blobs of purple and red emotion have not touched him. He has only heard what I felt.” (How It Feels to be Colored Me).

Hurston narrates belief to motivate African American women to conquer and be strong. (49) The story finally tells that Janie found liberty and tranquility in her life. Her experience reflects on promoting women’s

Hurston’s metaphors help the reader to understand the great deal of oppression that the handkerchief symbolizes. The author’s metaphors such as “girl was gone”, “woman had taken her place”, and “the glory was there” emphasize that Janie is able to reveal her true beauty in overcoming her struggles. The author implies that by Janie uncovering her hair, she is revealing the constant shadow that has prevented her from her self-examination and in finding her true identity. The author’s metaphors are used to help the reader understand that the moment for an individual to overcome a struggle is profoundly beautiful and

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the long-lasting effects of slavery have taken a toll on Janie Crawford. Janie’s grandmother was raped by her master and had a child named Leafy. Leafy, although not born into slavery, endured a similar fate, which led her to run away, leaving her mother to raise her child, Janie. Janie’s appearance, showing strong European features, was both praised and shamed by society. This double standard was created by racism and was able to remain present due to segregation.

During this time period, Whites did not see African Americans intellectually equal. Hurston demonstrates this by stating how blacks lack confidence, until night time when their master is gone, they be themselves. In the book it states, “The sun

Throughout the text, Hurston infers that she's optimistic about being colored. “How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company”(67)? Hurston writes that she feels discriminated against but also feels how could anyone not want to be in her presence therefor She feels optimistic about the future. Hurston recalls that “Slavery is sixty years in the past” (65).

When describing her, Hurston states that, “Mrs. Turner’s shape and features were entirely approved by Mrs. Turner. Her nose was slightly pointed and she was proud. Her thin lips were ever a source of pride. To her way of thinking all these things set her aside from Negros,” (16, 140). Despite being black, Mrs. Turner has a negative view of darker African Americans, showing that the hatred towards other is a learned aspect in people’s lives and can even effect those in the same

In Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, she presents the idea of love told through protagonist Janie Crawford’s point of view. Janie is an African American girl who lives with her grandmother in the backyard of the Washburn's home. Janie isn't like most African American children, she is more privileged in the sense that she dresses nicer than the other children in her school and also lives in better conditions. She gets ridiculed for this by Mayrella and the other kids at school for living in the backyard of a white person’s home. Hurston conveys the idea that in order to conquer true love, a person must go through trials and tribulations.

Hurston used the stylistic techniques of figurative language and point of view to strengthen the tone of wanting more out of a lonely life. A major factor Hurston used to enhance the tone was figurative language. For example, when she included the fact that Janie, the main character, had a starched ironed face and set in the funeral behind her veil there wasn’t really a veil it was just her face but, it was portrayed in such a way so that one would notice it was just a cover up.

Hurston’s autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road marks the popularity of her career as a writer in the Harlem Renaissance. It is an autobiography intertwined with reality, mystery, imagination, creation, humor and wisdom, celebrating Hurston’s struggle from an isolated southern child to a recognized black female writer. It is an autobiography contains a controversial work evoking both recognition and discrete criticism. Starting with the history of Eatonville, the founding of the pure Negro town, Hurston in Dust Tracks locates herself as a carefree black girl in a harmless place immune from threats of the racial segregation, then delineates her life as a wander after her mother’s death. Aside from her journey in life, the alienation of the narrator

As much as a reader might agree with Sherley Anne Williams’ ideas of Hurston’s writing, there are some concepts a reader may question. Although the author, Sherley Anne Williams, was correct in suggesting Hurston including the shield of protection for Janie from her grandmother, Nanny, was not creating a picture of life looking like reality; however, her idea that Janie had an insufficient amount of wisdom about herself as a whole is inaccurate because Janie does have self-awareness as she chose who she wanted to be, even if the ideas were pushed away by others. Sherley Anne Williams includes a quick understanding of how Janie sees herself. Discussing how Janie saw her self for the first time in a picture, notiving she was black. Because Janie

Zora Neale Hurston’s book, “The Gilded Six-Bits” is an important piece of literature due to its impact on the world during the Harlem Renaissance era. It is considered a brilliant piece of modernist literature due to Hurston staying true to her background and roots as a black woman from the south, in which segregation was still a huge issue. The reason why it is considered a piece of modernist literature is because she wasn’t afraid to write in the black vernacular which was considered uneducated as blacks were progressing in arts, literature, and the music was alive. The story is filled with many different themes and issues that people can relate to such as money, deceit, and for people who have a big heart forgiveness and reconciliation.