ESOL K-12 Research and Best Practices: 9-12

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How It Feels to Be Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston

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Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an African American novelist, short story writer, folklorist, anthropologist, and one of the most important figures of the Harlem Renaissance. In this personal essay, Hurston explores her identity as a Black woman in the early 1900s. Note: Throughout this work, Hurston uses the term "colored" as a racial descriptor. The term "colored" was introduced in the United States in the early 19th century and while it was initially accepted by Black Americans it has since become an offensive and outdated term.

Material Type: Reading

Author: Zora Neale Hurston

Excerpt from "Our America" by José Martí

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José Martí (1853-1895) was a poet, essayist, journalist, and political theorist who wrote about the newly independent nations that arose as a result of the Latin American Wars of Independence in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is considered a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In this excerpt from Martí's essay "Our America," he discusses the evolution of leadership in Latin American countries and his hopes for the future. Written originally in Spanish, the essay uses the word "America" to refer to all of the Latin American nations.

Material Type: Reading

Author: José Martí

In Spanish by Julia Alvarez

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Julia Alvarez is a Dominican American poet, novelist, and essayist. Alvarez was born in New York but spent the first ten years of her childhood in the Dominican Republic. Much of Alvarez's work focuses on her experiences as a Dominican in the United States. Her poem, "In Spanish," is included in the collection The Woman I Kept to Myself and explores how language helps to shape the speaker's identity.

Material Type: Reading

Author: Julia Alvarez