Zora Neale Hurston

As You Read
Mr. Christopher Cathis

Zora Neale Hurston

As You Read

How It Feels to Be Colored Me

Summary: Hurston describes herself as a little girl growing up in the all-African-American
community of Eatonville, Florida, where she boldly interacts with white tourists, much to her
family’s chagrin. At the age of 13, Hurston goes to Jacksonville to attend school, where she
discovers that she is a colored girl. Hurston discusses the impact of this lesson on her adult
personality and her worldview, explaining that she finds race both important and irrelevant to
her identity.

Purpose: Find out how Hurston fulfills what her title proposes to tell.

1. Rhetorical Techniques Reread lines 4–12. Which lines have parallel structures? How do
these comparisons help you understand more about Hurston and her hometown?

[Lines 4–12] This passage introduces Hurston and the setting of her childhood, the all-black
community of Eatonville, Florida.

2. Where did Hurston live until she was 13 years old? (lines 4–5)

3. What was unique about this place? (lines 5–7)

4. How were Northern and Southern whites different? (lines 7–8)

5. How did the townspeople respond to Northerners differently than they did to
Southerners? (lines 8–12)

6. How does Hurston’s behavior define her personality? What role does Hurston see for
herself in her life?

[Lines 32–37] This passage explains Hurston’s change in color consciousness at age 13.

7. Where did Hurston go when she turned 13? (lines 32–33)

8. How was Hurston viewed differently in Jacksonville than in Eatonville? (lines 34–36)

9. What effect did her move have on Hurston’s sense of self? (lines 36–37)

10. Main Ideas State the main idea of lines 38–44. What criticism is implied by the author’s
statement?
Zora Neale Hurston
As You Read
Mr. Christopher Cathis

11. Rhetorical Techniques Reread lines 45–48. What important word does Hurston repeat
in these sentences? What effect does this repetition have on Hurston’s message?

[Lines 57–67] Think about a situation in which you stood apart from the group for any reason—
race, ethnicity, culture, age, gender, inexperience.

12. How does that experience help you understand Hurston’s feelings about her racial
identity?

13. What does Hurston mean by “The game of keeping what one has is never so exciting as
the game of getting”?

14. How effective is Hurston’s use of imagery to explain her sense of color consciousness?

15. Main Ideas Describe the two responses that are contrasted in lines 88–91. What does
this contrast imply about the differences between whites and blacks?

[Lines 99–105] This passage summarizes Hurston’s views on racial identity and on her place in
humanity.

16. How does Hurston feel about being an American citizen? (line 99)

17. Of what is Hurston a “fragment”? (line 100)

18. How does Hurston feel about being discriminated against? (lines 102–104)

19. Why does Hurston call herself “a brown bag of miscellany”? (line 105)

20. Grammar and Style Reread lines 105–111. Note how Hurston uses sentence fragments
to highlight specific details in her description.