During the Antebellum Era, slave narratives were prominent historical sources that gave great insight to the first-hand experience of slaves in America. As they signified to white America the true horrors and exploitation of the institution of slavery from the witness accounts of enslaved African Americans who actually experienced it. In the narratives, the enslaved stressed the horrors of slavery through their various life experiences in the south with their slaveholders and their great will to escape their bondage. Thus, demonstrating the immorality of such an institution to their intended audience of white America in order to not only tell their story but move their audience to see the demeaning and inhumane institution for what it is to hopefully abolish it. Through Frederick Douglass’s Narrative and the story of Harriet Jacobs documented in the documentary Slavery in the Making of America’s “Seeds of Destruction,” their struggles reveal the horror and triumph of surviving and escaping such…
Throughout our course we have learned about various authors ranging from John Smith to Edgar Allan Poe to Hannah Foster, but one of the most interesting authors that we have learned about has to be Phillis Wheatley. Throughout my essay, I will be discussing the role Phillis Wheatley had on society, the uniqueness of her situation, and the controversy of her poetry. I will also mention the content within her poetry. We had the opportunity to read her poems, On Being Brought Africa to America, To the University of Cambridge, in New England, On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, 1770, and Thoughts on the Works of Providence. Wheatley did not approve of slavery, which she mentions a little in her poetry, but she does not talk too much about the issue.…
Phoebe Wolfe Professor Neary ENGL 399.96: Race and Visual Culture 10/30/2014 Frederick Douglass’s Demolition and Reconstruction of Visual Codification The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass exemplifies the complexities and paradoxes involved in the genre of the slave narrative. While, at many points in the narrative, Douglass appears to be merely conforming to the standard requirements of the slave narrative genre, the subtleties and intricacies of his work challenge both common characterizations of slaves and the narrative conventions themselves. By appropriating the very mechanisms and tropes that readers expected of him, Douglass retools traditional techniques to illustrate his specific account of slavery and to assert his humanity.…
Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs: American Slave Narrators Being raised as slaves; both Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass devoted their professional life for telling their true story based on their own experience. As a matter of fact, their works “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” (1861) and “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” (1845) are considered the most important works in the genre of slave narrative or of enslavement. Thus, this paper will compare and contrast between Jacobs and Douglass in terms of the aforementioned works. Losing their mothers and realizing their status as slaves at about the same age; Douglass and Jacobs’s feelings are different, for example, looking at the beginning of Jacobs’s…
Redo of Rhetorical Analysis of “How to Read and Write” (Frederick Douglass) During an era of slavery, manifest destiny, and no hopes of abolition, Frederick Douglass depicts a world where slavery enters the kindest of souls, and pollutes the soul to have no kindness left, only hatred and anger. In the empowering narrative “How to Read and Write”, Douglass sheds light on the cruelty of slavery and its pervasive impact, though his journey to ultimately gain his ability to think through reading and writing. Douglass manages to pull this off by first speaking about his Mistress and their interactions, followed Mistress’ transformation, and finally, the detrimental effects of thinking. Douglass begins his narrative by discussing his case with…
Informal Essay 3 Harriet Jacob’s and Frederick Douglass both became salves in their younger years. Through their narratives we are able to get a better understanding of how they were treated and what they experienced as slaves. However, their experiences and their style of writing about their life as a slave, greatly differs. They both present us with a “literary scene”.…
Knowing the troubles African American women went through to resist rape and attempt to escape the wrath of slavery solidifies the importance of Franny Fern’s abolitionist agenda. There is no good in female slaves obtaining freedom just to be catapulted back into an oppressive culture where males dominate their wives and women could not support themselves financially. Both Fern and Jacobs knew the harm associated with complacency and instead, promoted women’s autonomy. Fern and Jacobs’ success extends to their ability to relate their lives to a common audience and represent the restrictiveness of patriarchal influences in a unique way. Both women are clever and confident in their literary and practical approaches to oppression.…
The system of slavery, which brutally exploited the labour of a large and primarily Black population, shaped the history of the United States of America for over four hundred years (Davis: African Slavery, Sept 28). A primary tactic that was implemented in the system was to eliminate any motive of forming black communities by discouraging family ties. Many slaves resorted to documenting and preserving these experiences of slave cruelty through slave narratives, a genre of literature similar to autobiographies. Slave narratives can be regarded as a source that appeals to collective humanity through the complicated and multilayered acts of resistance carried out by the protagonists against their masters. By using Harriet Jacobs’ narrative entitled…
The continual reminder that she is “the granddaughter of slaves” looms over her, but it doesn’t upset her, instead she feels that slavery is quite literally a thing of the past, and what matters…
In “Ar’n’t I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South” by Deborah Gray White goes into detail about the lives of black women in slavery. In the last four chapters of “Ar’n’t I a Woman? Female Slavery in the Plantation South” White informs the audience about the hardship black enslaved woman had to face during this time such as, the difficulties that came with pregnancies, child care, husbands and separation. The last four chapters shared a common theme of black enslaved females and their unfair treatment, characterization and opportunities.…
In Maria W. Stewart's lecture in Boston in 1832, she conveys her position on the injustices of slavery and the cruelty that slaves experiences through the use of diction, figurative language, and her own personal experience. Altogether, these create a sense of injustice and desparity for the cause of the African Americans and their freedoms and aspirations to be something more than just servile labor. Diction is a major influence in this lecture. With a variety of words, such as "chains", "ragged", "drudgery and toil", "exhausted", "death", and "cruel", Stewart appeals to the feelings of people in an attempt to make them understand the hardships and extreme injustice that encompass the life of a slave. To continue, there is also another set…
Through the use of descriptive language, Frederick Douglass explains the cruelty and harsh conditions slaves faced at various points in their live. He gives detailed accounts of different scenes that he experienced or witnessed during his life as a slave. By the end of these introductory chapters, the reader has a good visual of the daily struggles of a slave, what they were punished for and how they were punished. From Douglass’ use of descriptive language, the audience witnesses a few cases of the day-to-day hardships slaves faced. One of these cases is about the separation of a mother and her child.…
The Consequences of Gender on Freedom In antebellum America, a new genre of literature emerges as freed or escaped slaves begin to write about their experiences in bondage. In a time period of institutionalized slavery and general compliance to its role in society, people know and care little about the issues that slaves faced; but with the emergence of this new genre, general education on the lives of slaves begins to make an impact. The rise of the abolitionist movement is fueled by these accounts, and opens up discussion on many new topics about the legitimacy of slavery. One of the most notable writers of this time is Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became educated and wrote his account, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass,…
This paper uses a historical and sociological lens to examine how the ways in which the slavery experience differed based on gender. More specifically, how the experiences portrayed in primary sources and narratives highlight the struggles of female slaves against the patriarchy. Ultimately, this paper reveals how female slaves were subjected to sexual harassment and emotional distress and looks in depth at the dynamic of the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings. The extent of sexual harassment and emotional distress was experienced much worse by female slaves.…
In the poem “the Grave of the Slaves” by Sarah Louise Fortin, she describes how black people were treated and the…