...Mini-Research Essay i) Mary Rowlandson's A Narrative of the Captivity and A Restoration is a captivity narrative. Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a slave narrative. While they are considered distinctive genres, they share some characteristics. Look at the excerpts you have from them in your reading. How are they similar? How are they different? Be sure to provide evidence from the texts to support your conclusions. Answer the above questions in a 1,000-1,250-word essay. ii) Prepare this assignment according to the MLA guidelines found in the GCU MLA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. iii) Include three outside sources. These sources may be printed work or you can make use of the Grand Canyon University online library. You might find these databases helpful: EBSCO Host's Literary Reference Center and LION. Both are available through GCU's online library. Comparing Rowlandson’s Captivity Narrative with Jacobs’ Slave Narrative The fugitive slave narrative and the Indian captivity narrative are distinctive genres in the American literature; however, they share some characteristics and frequently are subject to comparison. The first captivity narrative in the American literature was Mary Rowlandson's A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration in 1682, in which she wrote about her awful captivity experience by the Indians. Over sixteen decades later, Harriet...
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...The narrative of Venture and the database of slave voyage illustrates different parts of the slave trade. The narrative of Venture Smith tells of his journey before reaching the slave ship in more detail and with more passion and emotion, although it is based of memory and could have distortions. On the other, the slave voyages database give us reliably general data on the journey itself, and it can be used as a reference to check the validity of a narrative but also to see what was left out or excluded and for what reason. By putting Venture’s narrative and the voyage database information together, we can see the general journey that the overall slave population took, and how the ship started in north America, then went to Africa, followed...
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...Comparison Approaching the end of forced slavery, birth was given to the new genre of literature. Fugitive Slave Narratives, the new genre, have become highly recognized in the literary world. These narratives have been analyzed thoroughly by scholars, as well as influenced the enhancement of learning today. Well-known author, Frederick Douglass, was able to recollect and share his childhood through his book entitled “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Slave Narrative author, Harriet Jacobs, also shared her slave childhood through her book “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Both authors take out a piece of them and put it down on paper for the public to be aware of the things they suffered through. However, the contrast in their gender influences the differences in their experiences. Although it would be coming to an end, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs were born into slavery. Together, they suffered pain and agony of seeing things that children should see. In recalling their childhood, both authors can remember pain. Douglass watched African-American men and women beaten by their masters for any or no reason at all. Jacobs had her family torn apart from her every time one of her masters died. The two wrote explaining not only their suffering and agony, but also their excitement. Douglass was being taught to read and write by his mistress and even when she was instructed to discontinue his teachings, he continued to learn any way he saw fit. When...
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...Frederick Douglass said, “I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do things I wanted.” He was trying to say he didn’t know what was going on in the beginning of his life. After his experience as a slave, he made a slave narrative. A slave narrative is a type of literacy work that is made up of written accounts of enslaved Africans. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery around 1818. He escaped when he was in his 20s and after going to a black church he became an abolitionist. He was asked to tell his story at the abolitionist meetings and he became an anti-slavery lecturer. Frederick Douglass is first person point of view in his novel Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave. Frederick Douglass uses a lot of literary terms such as ethos, pathos, and logos for his slave narrative to be a strong and persuasive piece....
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...April 2014 The Contribution of Slave Narratives to American Identity Literature as a whole has contributed to the totality that constitutes American identity. It is a powerful tool because of its ability to create conceptions that shape the thoughts and ideas of its readers. It gives glimpses into history by the experiences of its characters; the power of suggestion and information implants ideas into the minds of those who care to explore its pages. From the literature of Native Americans to that of modern day authors, each category has developed a different facet of the definition of an American, and each is needed in its own unique way. The same is true of the writings of those who were forced into slavery in America, who came against their will and suffered under horrific circumstances. Their stories expand the definition of an American into broader territories and reveal the difficult journey that many faced as they endeavored to find their place in a country that championed liberty yet enslaved them. Writers like Harriet Jacobs helped jump-start a new genre in American literature that came to be known as the North American slave narrative which greatly contributed to the defining of American identity. The North American slave narrative was unique in that its authors went to great lengths to present their own personal narrative of their experiences while remaining in the confines of the genre expectations. The goal of these narratives was of course to end slavery; ironically...
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...When one ask themselves what violence is in literature, do they think of abuse, revenge, romantic, or even thematic? Violence can portrayed in several ways more than most people think. One can think of violence as meaningless in some situations but usually in literature violence always has a meaning behind it. This essay is going to compare how the titles The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass , an American Slave and The Crucible can relate to violence on how it is described in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas E. Foster, he explains how violence has a variety of ways to be expressed as well as many meanings to be understood. He states , “ It can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, transcendent.” These describe in literature why violence is a key part of the story. Violence in literature always has a meaning never usually you will find it meaningless. Foster states , “Violence in literature, though, while it is literal, is...
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...Finding the sources turned out to be pretty easy because I used the sources that had been provided. I chose to do my rhetorical analysis on the narrative by Sarah Louise Augustus, so that will be my primary source and then the articles titled "General Structure of Slave Narratives", "An introduction to the Slave Narrative", and "What is Literature?" will be the remaining sources. Summarizing each source proved to be slightly more difficult as some of them were quite lengthy, which made it a challenge to adequately encompass the message of the source in only a small paragraph. Originally I found it difficult to decide what style I should use when writing the summaries, but reading through the examples provided helped me determine the proper...
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...time of human progression byway of revolution, sexuality, and violence. Spartacus launched the trajectory of Kubrick's career as well as sparked his creative style, which he then perfected in 2001. Both of these films, the largest productions Kubrick worked on during the 1960s, are therefore exemplary in understanding the evolution of Kubrick's style. There are certain key traits that can be found throughout Kubrick's work, regardless of when said work was filmed or produced. These traits begin as subtle, fostered notions in Spartacus, culminating to a unique method of entirely visual storytelling in 2001. The first of which is Kubrick's use of color. Kubrick uses color intentionally, to reflect the mood or convention of the cinematic narrative. Examples of this will be given in accordance with examining both Spartacus and 2001, but it should be noted that Kubrick's use of color is not simply for aesthetics. Second is Kubrick's use of extended tracking-shots or extended stationary shots, the subject of which is often complex and intricate. Both the symbolic use of color and the style of shooting might appear merely as stylistic markers, but Kubrick uses them to further convey his theme. The theme, to which Kubrick adheres through most if not all is work is simple: man's attempt to control chaos, however militaristically strategic or technologically advanced, is eventually laid to waste via human error or chance. These aspects--the use of color, the extended camera shots, and the...
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...The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave Written by himself Throughout its autobiography, Douglass narrates his life as a slave, from his birth, in 1818, in a plantation of Maryland, to his evasion in 1838, which allowed him to take refuge in the North of the United States. He quickly became there a figure eminent and respected by the abolitionist movement to which he dedicated then all his energies. At first, we shall focus on the inhuman conditions from which Douglass suffered. Then we shall redraw the road he took towards freedom. We shall finally analyze how Douglass criticizes various institutions. The author makes us go right to the heart of the absolute horror of the institution of slavery. Throughout his personal experience, Frederick Douglass counts us the story of thousands of other slaves who were subjected to the same conditions under the influence of the white slaveholders in the southern plantations. Thus, this account illustrates how these human beings were condemned to a terrible tragedy that was inherent to their color. Being black justified their entrance to a process of dehumanization. From his youngest age, Douglass suffered from identity issue. He expressed his disorientation due to not knowing his father or his date of birth[1]. He was also deprived from experiencing the protection and the love that a family should bring. Indeed, he was separated from his mother at the age of one and in spite of his blood relationship...
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...third-person-limited point of view, the story uses the narrative device of the trickster, the setting of the pre–Civil War plantation, and a two-part plot for the larger purpose of questioning and mocking the organization of slavery. When it is said that it was done to fulfill a woman, there ought to perhaps to be enough said to clear up anything; for what a man won't do to fulfill a woman is yet to be found. Of course, it might be well to express several opening stuffs to make it clear why pre-adult Dick Owens attempted to run one of his father's negro men off to Canada. Dick Owens, the spoiled son of a plantation owner, attempting to persuade a young woman, Charity Lomax, to marry him. The second and more leading part of the plot concerns Dick trying to accomplish this by taking a slave north and giving him the opportunity to escape. Charity found a similar account of a man—a man who was held and executed as a result—to be rather romantic. Not aware of his son’s goals, plantation owner Colonel Owens selects a slave named Grandison to go north with Dick, for Grandison convinces the colonel that being a slave is a blessing, confirming the colonel’s warmest opinions of slavery. Both ironic and sarcastic Owens imagines that it is not Tom—whom Dick may need to run with him—yet Grandison who would be the best "bondsman" for the calling. Why? Since Grandison adjusts and challenges that nothing makes him more fulfilled than being a slave on the colonel's estate. But later he just got tired...
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...society. D’Aguair has used Whitechapel and his recollections of the past to encapsulate the brutality and cold-heartedness of slavery. His narrative focuses on the phrase ‘…eyes that see without seeing’ to give the reader a cue of the extent to which society enforces its beliefs within people and its effects. Whitechapels response “eyes that see all, mouth that has said nothing but kept silence” indicates that over his lived long time he has finally realized the truth about his enslavement and the extent to which he has been dehumanized which is emphasised in a disgusted tone …”there is blood on my conscience…I don’t want to see any more” and subsequently “I answer to dog”. Whitechapels impression that “a slave can live a good , long life if he worked hard” in order to reciprocate” fairness and kindness from the master” provides reason that white chapel had been misslead all his life due to false hope from the society that surrounds him as he is not treated in the same way where he witnesses the whipping of his own adopted son chapel. Not only has D’auguir used the term ‘seeing’ to implicate society’s misleading openings on characters under the scheme of slavery but he has also used an overwhelming tone of sadness and despair to emphasise the negatives that society has created described through the consequent narratives of individulas who account their own stories with open honesty. Cooks open honesty about her rape, in her personal account...
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...Sun Poisoning Sun Poisoning is a short story of the collection Slaves of New York, written by Tama Janowits and was published in 1986. Janowits is known for her use of sarcasm and irony as a way of describing issues and circumstances of which she is critical and Sun Poisoning is a prime example of this. The story criticizes a homogenous society and the superficial relationships between people, and is heavily influenced by postmodernism. Notably the narration and the characterization have postmodern traits. It is very common for postmodern texts to utilize an unconventional narrative form. The narrator in Sun Poisoning is a 2nd person narrator, which is rarely seen in literary work. The effect of this is that it feels as if someone is bossing you around and constantly telling you what to do and feel. This is really how the life of the protagonist works. She doesn’t have much of a say in her life, for example she would rather stay home than go to Haiti but her boyfriend decides for them both that they need to get away. Additionally, the use of the 2nd person narrator engages the reader in a way that is untraditional for literary work. In this story it adds to the ironic and sarcastic tone of the story. As an example we as readers can identify with the sarcastic thoughts of the protagonist after the conversation with the other couple: “Here you manage to interrupt the conversation by saying it’s time for the barbecue dinner and time to get on line. By dragging your boyfriend...
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...The Gift of the Magi Themes Love "Gift of the Magi" is the story of a poor, young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives. Such is their love that they're led to sacrifice their most valuable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other. The warm home they make together contrasts with the drabness of their poverty and the dreary world outside. Their love seems to know no bounds, though Della (the wife) worries about how her sacrifice will affect her husband because of how it affects her looks. If ever there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is love, this is it. Sacrifice The two main characters in "Gift of the Magi" are a husband and wife who give up their most precious possessions to be able to afford gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. We watch Della go through the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to discover that her husband has made the same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have, they have proven themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. It might remain unclear, though, exactly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or how it has affected them. Wealth In many ways, "Gift of the Magi" is a story about what it means for something to be valuable. Does something's value lie in how much money it is worth? Or are other things more valuable than money? The main characters...
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...tea. The water slowly turned brown like waiting for the sun to rise. She looked at her dark brown skin If only she were white. She would have her own personal slave a big white house, get to eat real food and get to taste tea! As the water finally turned dark brown she poured it into the teapot. She set out the teacups the sugar on one tray and brought it out as her owner Sarah and her master Sir John sat down. They both took a teacup and put sugar in the tea. Rachel looked into the deep brown of the tea in sir john’s cup. Rachel smelled the delicious taste that was longing to be brought to her lips. Her hands went out to take the cup but snapped back in when Mistress Sarah yelled, “Stop at once! You fool! Tea is only for civilized human beings! Not a negro like you!” Rachel set the pot of tea by Sir John and ran out into the fields where her mother was picking cotton with a few other Africans. She spotted her mother and hugged her. “What’s happened?” asked her mother stroking her braids. “Oh Mother!” said Rachel wrapping her arms even tighter around her. “Rachel!” yelled Sir John. “Go child” said her mother. “I’ll be right here” Rachel ran toward the front door. “A slave owner is here to have a look at you” said Sir John pushing her into the house. Rachel’s heart skipped a beat. She held back her tears The slave owner was sure to take her away from her mother and papa and little Noel who was only eight months old. She would be thrown on a ship and would be taken somewhere...
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...The narrative voice often means everything for a story. Some stories want to be very personal, while others want you to see a much broader picture than just one character's feelings. Many authors use different narrative voices to take advantage of their effects. There is not an exception in Ambrose Bierce’s story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, where the author varies the point of view multiple times. Bierce is consistent in the way that he uses third-person, yet it’s form switches throughout the story. The effects of Ambrose Bierce’s variety of narrative voice in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” are many diverse thoughts, sometimes causing very little feeling toward the main character, Farquhar, while other times the voice causes...
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