Appreciating Me; An Analysis of "Colored Me"

10.20.2008

Rashad Young

Mr. Salsich

9Engilsh


Do you care what other people think about you? Would you change yourself just because someone critiqued you in a certain way that was hurtful to you? In the essay Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston, though she is looked at in many different ways throughout the essay she appreciates herself a lot more than anyone I have ever met. I appreciate myself in many different ways, even though people sometimes put me down it is only something that will make me stronger and make me feel better about myself. Hurston showed many different signs of appreciation towards herself and this made me think about what I appreciate in myself(Purposeful Repetition).

There are many different reasons why I appreciate myself in fact if I were to name them all it would be a list that goes on forever. First, I appreciate that I have a family who cares for me because some people are not as fortunate to have two parents
who give the same amount of love. Though my parents may not be together neither of them have shown a shortage in love or care, in fact they live about 10 minutes apart so traveling between each of them is fairly simple to switch between households.
Secondly, I appreciate that I was born into a world where I am able to experience wealth and knowledge. Our wealth is usually controlled by our knowledge and I am glad that my parents got the knowledge to raise me in a wealthy environment. Finally, I am thankful for my athleticism,(F.A.S.T) this enables me to have fun while participating in social sports and excel in them. Though I may be good at these sports it is also something that teaches me teamwork and also my social skills with friends. This list could go on and on but these are the ones that I find to be the most important to me.

Zora Neale Hurston is appreciative towards various moments in her life. When she was 13 she moved to a white town with a white school, she describes this as her being "a dark rock being covered by the white waves." Hurston does not think of herself as being colored and she does not think of the white people any differently, they are just people who "Drive by but do not live in her town." Though she was discriminated by many times in her life she did not look at her skin as a factor but only as an attribute(F.A.S.T.) that added to her assets. At one point in Hurston's essay she enters a Jazz lounge and while the music is flowing through her she says that she wants to scream out in joy. This makes her appreciate herself and the music for this
moment that makes her feelings just go crazy. While she is listening to this music she actually gives out a small "whoop" in excitement. The final thing that Zora Neale Hurston appreciates about herself is that she is one of the only african american women whose "Great grandfather on their mothers side was not a [Native American] cheif." You can tell that this is one of her most appreciated things because she states it very early in the essay. She appreciates that being African American is not a reason to be treated differently but to be treated the same as everyone else. Ms. Hurston seems to appreciate people from what is on the inside and not by being superficial(F.A.S.T.).

As I have grown older through my 14 years of being on this earth, I realized that it is usually harder to appreciate yourself than it is to appreciate others. Hurston does a great job of showing the world that it is a wonderful thing to appreciate you as a whole and not by what other people believe. After reading this essay I have started to believe in myself even more than I was just last week. Zora Neale Hurston is one of the greatest essay writers of all time and she should be because she believed in herself when she was writing those very words.