In "My Name" and "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," Cisneros and Hurston both use metaphors to portray the narrator's sense of identity.  In Cisneros' piece, Esperanza is the narrator, and she uses metaphors to liken her name to concepts such as "sadness" and "waiting."  She says that she is named after her great-grandmother who was a "horse woman," and she compares herself to a wild horse in that she does not want to be tied to the life that she currently lives in Chicago.  At the end of "My Name," Esperanza says that she wishes she had a different name like "Zeze the X," which figuratively represents the freedom of identity that Esperanza wants.  Similarly, Hurston uses metaphors to describe her identity as she is the narrator of her own story.  Hurston refers to herself as a "dark rock surged upon" to suggest that she remains strong even in the face of strong racial oppression.  Hurston like Esperanza has a resilient character, and the metaphors in the two pieces reflect this character trait.