Nonfiction+for+African+American+Literature+Unit

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 * “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” ** [[file:HowItFeelstoBeColored Me.doc]]

Build Background: Mark True or False for each statement. False Zora Neale Hurston lived most of her life in Boston. True She was the most prolific (producing a lot of works) of African American women writers. False She had a reputation for being shy and quiet. True She didn’t accept the stereotypical role that people at that time expected of blacks.

Read her story. It begins with her life in Eatonville, FL.

Great Stuffer of Bags, Its like a race and she has to keep running. ||
 * **Question** || **Answer** ||
 * What might she mean in the first paragraph? What is she saying about black people? || a common stereotype is that all black people are related to an Indian cheif; she is saying how this stereotype is wrong. ||
 * How often did she wish she wasn’t black? || Never ||
 * What did people always remind her of that was meant to depress her, but didn’t? || She was the grandaughter of slaves. ||
 * How did she feel about slavery? What two metaphors does she use to describe the end of slavery? || does not like slavery
 * She says that, “No one on earth ever had a greater chance for glory (than blacks). The world to be won and nothing to be lost.” What does she mean? || Zora means that since African Americans had nothing in the world due to racism, slavery, etc., they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. ||
 * Where did she go to college? || Barnard ||
 * What happens at the New World Cabaret that makes her feel very different and removed from the white culture? || Zora can "feel" the Jazz inside her, and she jumps about with her "assegai" or spear. The white man in the club simply hears the music, he feels nothing, and he says "Thats good music." ||
 * How does she feel about the U.S.? || She likes living there. ||
 * In the last paragraph, with her simile about the brown bag, what does she seem to be saying about people in general? || She is saying that everyone may seem different on the outside, but when you pour out the inside of the bag, everyone is the same. ||
 * Who is the “Great Stuffer of Bags”? || God ||
 * How would describe the tone of her story? || I would describe her tone as being proud and confident. ||
 * Would you have liked her for a friend? Why or why not? || I would because she feels confident in her personality so much as to quesetion "How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company?" ||
 * Read the Literary Link by Alice Walker about Zora Neale Hurston. In it, Walker identifies qualities she feels are characteristic of Hurston’s writing. Which, if any, of these qualities do you detect in Hurston’s story? Explain. || Answer 1: Hurston's "Racial Health" is characteristic in her writing, according to Walker. Hurston writes about her blackness and her pride in being black. ||
 * || Answer 2: ||

still have to keep fighting to gain equality. || sarcastic at times || Frustrated ||
 * Douglass and Dubois**
 * Main Idea || Douglass || Dubois ||
 * Topic || The topic of the writing is asking what does the fourth of July mean to blacks because they are definetly not getting their equality. || Black Americans that fought so hard in the war for their country come and they
 * Tone || Angry, mad
 * Purpose || To inform people of the way that many African American fought back in order to get what they deserved. || Inform people of how the black Americans feel and saying what they deserve ||
 * Audience ||  || America ||
 * Patterns Developed/Demonstrated ||  || Equality & Civil Liberty ||

What do these pieces have in common?

Both have the common theme of equal rights for African Americans even after they hae proven themselves.

Why did we read these together?

Because both have a common theme and had to do with African Americans post war.