How it Feels to be Colored Me
by Zora Neale Hurston

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How it Feels to be Colored Me: Mood 1 key example

Definition of Mood

The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition

Key Examples in How it Feels to be Colored Me

Mood
Explanation and Analysis:

The mood of "How it Feels to be Colored Me" shifts between hopeful and defiant throughout the essay. As the essay itself is a recollection of multiple memories from her younger years that produce a diverse array of emotions, Hurston's mood is far from static. Although she details negative experiences about "realizing" her race amidst a sea of Whiteness and White power—whether in Jacksonville or New York—Hurston's mood throughout the essay remains largely hopeful: 

The cosmic Zora emerges. I belong to no race nor time. I am the eternal feminine with its string of beads. I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored. I am merely a fragment of the Great Soul that surges within the boundaries. My country, right or wrong.