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Walker takes a particular fascination and has an extreme amount of respect for Zora Neale Hurston. Walker identifies with Hurston's knowledge of black heritage and the way she depicted a love story between a black couple who were not in constant fear of whites. Her tone when comparing Hurston's, Their Eyes Where Watching God and Richard Wright's Native Son, is one of some-what disappointment that other critics rank Wright's novel higher. Wright and Hurston grew up in similar environments however once Wright's works were published, he became famed and wealthy while Hurston lived an obscure life of poverty. The reader's reaction to this maybe sympathetic towards the talented woman writer who gets less recognition for work that maybe be superior to the man's. It may inspire women writers to change society so that the black female writer gets more recognition for herself and those who came before her. Walker pulls out another bag of names, Frances Harper, Anne Spencer, and Dorothy West, all early black female writers forgotten by the present. It is these women who Walker wants other women to study and memorialize. Walker discusses how she is upset over how Eldridge Cleaver is more studied than Ralph Ellison; she is upset that schools focused more on a violent black panther than a renowned black writer. The reader picks up on this tone and is disappointed that schools argue that there is not enough literature by blacks to create a full course. .
Near the end of her passage, Walker uses a very noticeable amount of metaphors and similes, which is interesting because she is describing white female writers also. This is something unexpected by the reader who has grown accustomed to hearing about black writers from Walker. Before she talks about Muriel Rukeyser and Jane Cooper, she describes her teacher, Lynd, as "a tulip. Red orange. Fragile yet sturdy." This contrast is profound, she says Lynd is fragile as a tulip but the strong and bold colors of red and orange counter this.