Read Zora Neale Hurston’s 1937 essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me”.
11. According to Hurston, when and why did she “become colored”?

12. Is Hurston more optimistic or more pessimistic about being a person of color? Provide examples.

13. When does Hurston “feel the most colored”?

14. How does jazz music make Hurston feel? Does she believe white people also feel this way when listening to it?

Why or why not?

15. Hurston states she is not bothered by discrimination. How does it make her feel instead? What is her reasoning?

16. Look closely at Hurston’s “bag metaphor” at the end of the essay—What does the color of the bag represent?

17. What do the contents of the bag represent?

18. What is the point of the “bag metaphor”? (Hint: What is she suggesting about race?)

19. Overall, do you think Hurston is proud to be African American? Why or why not?