In "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," Zora Neale Hurston effectively uses rhetorical devices and techniques to convey the unique experience of being a black woman in America. Through the use of vivid imagery and personal anecdotes, Hurston paints a picture of what it feels like to be constantly aware of and shaped by one's race.
One of the most prominent rhetorical devices used in the essay is imagery. Hurston vividly describes the feeling of being a "strange flower" in a "white garden," standing out and being constantly aware of one's difference. She also uses sensory language to describe the experience of being colored, stating that it "feels like sunlight on brown skin" and "smells like neem leaves" to her. These vivid and sensory descriptions help the reader to understand and empathize with Hurston's experience of being constantly aware of her race.
Hurston also employs the use of personal anecdotes throughout the essay to illustrate her points and give the reader a more intimate understanding of her experience. She recalls her childhood memories of feeling "as separate as if [she] had spoken a different language," and how this feeling of difference continued into her adult life, even in seemingly mundane interactions such as shopping at a store. These anecdotes give the essay a sense of authenticity and allow the reader to see the impact of race on Hurston's life in a more personal and relatable way.
In addition to imagery and personal anecdotes, Hurston also employs the use of rhetorical questions to challenge the reader's preconceived notions about race and identity. She asks, "What is the color of the soul?" and "Who cares to know?" These questions invite the reader to think more deeply about the role of race in shaping one's identity and to question the societal norms that prioritize skin color.
Overall, Hurston effectively uses rhetorical devices and techniques to convey the unique experience of being a black woman in America. Through vivid imagery, personal anecdotes, and rhetorical questions, she invites the reader to empathize with and understand her experience, and to challenge their own assumptions about race and identity.
The Rhetorical Devices in "How it Feels to Be Colored Me" Book Review
When covered by the waters, I am; and the ebb but reveals me again. She accepts it and writes, primitive culture is desirable. She uses strange and odd diction, which suggest that she might be expecting to apologize for her race and heritage. It is like feeling a medical patient and recovering gradually from surgery. There are certainly times when she feels her race, but these are only occasional and also related to her own character. .
Analyze the rhetoric in “How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston.
The author, Hurston, belongs to the African American race. How It Feels To Be Colored Me Characters Analysis Zora Hurston The author paints herself in the essay as a character and gives an account of different shades of her life. She might have experienced something harsh in the riverboat. Before leaving Eatonville, Hurston suggests that she was what she meant to be. This piece appealed to me because she described her point of view through the use of anecdote. 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.
How It Feels To Be Colored Me Rhetorical Analysis
She considers herself a petty part of the Great Soul. As they rode through town. Southern whites, being closer socioeconomically to the black residents of Eatonville, can be freely be ignored, but northern whites, whose whiteness is amplified by wealth and geographic distance, are truly foreign and merit observation. Zora Neal Hurston's How It Feels To Be Colored Me 534 Words 3 Pages The author establishes her ethical appeal, by providing the reader with a vivid image of how her childhood was growing up colored. She makes it clear that race is not a significant thing about a person.
Rhetorical Analysis
But more importantly, they connect themselves to their ancestors. Brown appeals to this audience by using matters that the younger crowd has always been facing, such as the way too common issues of bullying and not. Historical leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. Many time in the essay Hurston has used descriptive language to prove her tone. It follow the story of a young lady named Janie, who was struggling to fit in the world. She was someone who could understand that she belonged to the second class of citizens because of their race.