...African American Literature ENG/301 Kristina Brooks March 12, 2012 The African American Literature and its history was an interesting subject or ethnic literary to learn about. This literature’s readings showed a great deal of different moments or life events that the different authors experienced as well as tragic events, and heart felt pain they endured over their lifetime. Some authors talked about the wonderful life they lived and how blessed they were to be a white man’s slave. I will be discussing the different views and relations in each of the readings along with the racist remarks and overall way they were treated as an African American over different periods of time. The first reading I want to talk about is, “White Folks Treated Us Good,” by Marriah Hines. In this reading Hines talks about how life as a slave for the white folks was great, so great, that when slavery ended and African Americans were given their freedom, she stayed because of the way her master treated her and stayed loyal to him and his family until he passed away. During the time of slavery, Hines, was never treated bad, nor was she ever beaten or raped by her masters. While some people were starved, and treated like cats and dogs, Hines, was fed and clothed and kept them on a higher level (Hines, M p.34). The next reading I will be talking about is, “To my old Master,” by Jourdan Anderson. This story is a great message about how...
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...lasting literary impact of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. From its publication in 1845 to its present status in the American literary canon, the Narrative has become one of the most highly acclaimed American autobiographies ever written. Published seven years after Douglass' escape from his life as a slave in Maryland, the Narrative put into print circulation a critique of slavery that Douglass had been lecturing on around the country for many years. Yet while the Narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of being a slave, it also reveals his psychological insights into the slave/master relationship. What Douglass realizes that day is that literacy is equated with not only individual consciousness but also freedom. From that day, Douglass makes it his goal to learn as much as he can, eventually learning how to write, a skill that would provide him with his passport to freedom. What gives the book its complexity is Douglass' ability to incorporate a number of sophisticated literary devices...
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...become an influential poet. She has created many poems in her life regarding her outlook on slavery. In one particular poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, Wheatley shows her positive and uplifting stance on slavery. CARRETTA, VINCENT. "Phillis Wheatley: Researching A Life." Historical Journal Of Massachusetts 43.2 (2015): 64-89. America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 22 Mar. 2016. Vincent Carretta created an article to detail the life of Phillis Wheatley which ultimately assists readers in understanding why she was so uplifting in her poetry. He begins with a brief introduction on her early life and background. Shortly after discussing Wheatley’s early life, Carretta brings in a new perspective on her stating, “The literary quality and the political significance of her writings have been challenged since the eighteenth century” (Corretta 66). The statement he presents shows an interesting view when dealing with a poet who is so significant in literature. He later speaks of Wheatley’s husband and other trips she had taken away from Africa. The situations Carretta informs readers on brings insight on Wheatley’s life and how/why she became the type of woman she did. Frazier, Tom. "On Being Brought From Africa To America." Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition (2002): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 22 Mar. 2016. In Tom Frazier’s literary analysis, he begins by discussing Wheatley’s poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” as a whole...
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...an Irish immigrant, and her mother whom was of French descent. Although Chopin’s father died in a train wreck when she was four years old, she grew up surrounded by “loving, intelligent, and independent women” (Baym and Levine 420). At the young age of nineteen, Kate married Oscar Chopin and moved to New Orleans Louisiana. Less than a decade later, Oscar's cotton business failed and they moved to his family's plantation in the Natchitoches Parish of northwestern Louisiana, where Oscar “opened a general store and managed a family cotton plantation” (Baym and Levine 420). When Oscar passed away in 1882, the widowed Kate was left to raise her six young children on her own. Chopin chose to contribute to the local market and “fashioned a literary career out of her experience of the Creole and Cajun cultures she had come to know” (Baym and Levine 420). Chopin’s stories of Louisiana rural life earned her national recognition as a writer of local color fiction. In Desiree’s baby, Chopin’s ability to foreshadow and build up suspense allows the reader to engage in the doubtfulness and uncertainty which keeps the reader unaware. Desiree’s Baby is a story of love, mystery, and suspense. Published in 1893, Desiree’s Baby, was centered on the controversial subject of racism. The plot is centered on Desiree who was adopted as a young toddler by Madame Valmonde and her husband, and raised on their wealthy Louisiana plantation. In subsequent years, Desiree marries Armand Aubigny, a...
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... Thesis: During the age of Samuel Sewall, a time where both slavery and religion were prevalent aspects of an everyday society, Sewall outlined within a three page pamphlet titled “The Selling of Joseph”, the great differences between Sewall’s views, opinions, and even contradictions of natural rights as well as slavery, where he uses scripture and his own developed worldview pertaining to racism, and the general population’s. I. Sewall’s devotion to his religion and to the Bible is what backs his opinions and his view of slavery a. public positions address specific concerns about the rights of Native Americans and of African-Americans brought as slaves to the colonies b. “The Selling of Joseph” addresses his position on some of the inhumanities of his “fellow sons of Adam” c. His somewhat literal interpretation of the Bible is what leads him to his opinion about slaves d. What sets Sewall apart from other anti-slave sympathizers is his public opinion II. His views of natural rights can be contrasted to those of the early explorer Christopher Columbus e. Both exaggerated as most did during this time f. Sewall may have exaggerated in asserting that slave resistance had caused “many” to begin thinking about the value of maintaining the institution III. Sewall was a living contradiction in his beliefs g. He wrote the first anti-slavery piece of literary but was he himself a racist h. Very biblically based opinions...
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...March 14, 2014 Intro to Poetry 116w The Role of Race in Determining the Canonicity of Phillis Wheatley’s Works Over the years, the types of literary works considered to be part of the cannon have varied greatly but the criterion for selecting a canonical work seems to have stayed the same. According to American literary critic Northrop Frye, the canonicity of a work represents the admission of the work unto a “unified scheme” that is also “in accord with a permanent structure of ideas” (Hilton, 140). While poet Phillis Wheatley certainly focused upon the “permanent structure of ideas” that is most significant in our society- religion, freedom, integrity- she was fairly unsuccessful at achieving a canonical status for most if not all of her works. Wheatley’s achievements were undoubtedly impressive, yet much attention was paid to her race rather than her talent. While a canonical work by definition creates a powerful literary legacy, after her initial fame Phillis Wheatley was “no longer a revelation, unable to successfully commodify herself again, she died penniless and forgotten” (Flanzbaum, 79). Much of the controversy surrounding Wheatley’s work was brought on by accusations made by critics that she held a misguided racial identity, in which she identifies more with her white, privileged readers than her black peers. Even decades later, many critics of Wheatley’s work are still unable to see past skin color to see her work for what it truly is. It cannot be said for certain...
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...018 The Invention of Wings Analysis Sue Monk’s novel The Invention of Wings describes both the life of a slave, Handful, and her master’s daughter, Sarah, and their relationships with each other, family, and outsiders. They relentlessly fight for their freedom in hope to alter the American society’s ideas of slavery. Monk uses narrative voice and characterization to bring her story to life. Monk uses two narrators throughout the course of the book. The first narrator is Handful, the slave, and the second narrator is Sarah, her master. The novel is written in first person point of view. The use of these literary techniques allows the reader to see this story from the perspective of a slave master and from the perspective of a slave. The audience...
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...Harriet Jacobs, to be properly identified, the work had been dismissed as fictional. Jacobs’ decision to remain anonymous came from guilt and disgrace over the way she was treated while enslaved and the actions she was forced to take to become free, particularly those pertaining to sexual acts. Wanting to be viewed as a “proper Christian” she decided to create the pseudonym name Linda Brent. It was under this name the text was published. In later years, her text has been viewed as an important text, speaking truth to the ears of sentimental novel readers in the north, and calling for action against the cruel institution of slavery. Employed as a teacher by Pace University in 1968, Jean Fagan Yellin wrote and published her dissertation. While re-reading Incidents in the 1970s as part of the project and to educate herself in the use of gender as a category of analysis, Yellin became interested in the question of the text's true authorship. Over the next six-years, Yellin found and used historical documents including the Amy Post papers at the University of Rochester (Post was a close friend of Jacobs), state and local historical societies, and the Horniblow and Norcum papers at the North Carolina state archives, to establish both that Harriet Jacobs was the true author of Incidents, and that the narrative was her autobiography. Her edition...
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...of the transformation from indentured servitude to slavery. He rejects the idea that the introduction of African slavery to Virginia came about as an "unthinking decision.” (2). He instead says that it was a calculated plan by a small emerging class of great planters with large landholdings and political connections who brought racial slavery to Virginia. He concludes that, a small but powerful planter class gave rise to slavery for their interest. Parent utilizes Marxist class analysis for his reasoning as he says it "is a heuristic method that not only unearths the relationship between the slaveholders and the enslaved but also illuminates the totality of the colonized society" (2). By using this, he focuses his focus on "the origins, behavior,...
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... | Acknowledgements Many people gave me support and help in the process of writing the paper. I’d like first to give my grate to my dear teacher, Andy, who generously gave me his kindly help and instructions during the whole process of my paper-writing. Then I’d like to give my many thanks to my classmates who helped me a lot with my information collecting and paper-polishing. Most important of all, I want to give my thanks to my mother university and all the teachers in the English Department, who educated and cultivated me to be a qualified graduate in the future. Abstract When Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, the novel was a huge success. It talked about the slavery which was a controversial issue at that time. Many critics made comments on this novel. With the passage of time, attitudes to the book changed considerably. The history of African American in US has always been considered as a bitter story. In recent years, their status...
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...survey of African American literature, introducing students to genres, trends, and major periods of African American literature, ranging from the 17th-, 18th- and 19th- century autobiographies and narratives to 20tth –century works. Authors include: Jupiter Hammon, Briton Hammon, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, Sterling Brown, Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, Toni Morrison, Haki Madhubuti, Ton Cade Bambara, and August Wilson. COURSE OBJECTIVES By the end of this course, you will: o be able to distinguish amongst genres of literature; o be familiar with various works by and about African American writers in various literary genres; o be familiar with the Black Aesthetic, as well as other literary theories; o gain...
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...ANALYZING NOVELS & SHORT STORy Good feedback is kind, thorough and timely. It’s professional and focused. It leaves the writer feeling challenged to do better but great about their strengths. Even if that just means the location they chose was cool. Give your feedback relative to the skill set of the writer. Never lie or obfuscate. Just serve it up gently. An upset writer isn’t going to hear your points anyway. But an encouraged one will. Trust me on this. — Julie Gray PRINTER FRIENDLY PAGE Literary analysis looks critically at a work of fiction in order to understand how the parts contribute to the whole. When analyzing a novel or short story, you’ll need to consider elements such as the context, setting, characters, plot, literary devices, and themes. Remember that a literary analysis isn’t merely a summary or review, but rather an interpretation of the work and an argument about it based on the text. Depending on your assignment, you might argue about the work’s meaning or why it causes certain reader reactions. This handout will help you analyze a short story or novel—use it to form a thesis, or argument, for your essay. Summary Begin by summarizing the basic plot: “Matilda by Roald Dahl is about a gifted little girl in small town America who learns to make things move with her mind and saves her teacher and school from the evil principal.” This will help ground you in the story. (When you write your paper, you probably won’t include a summary because your readers...
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...Analysis of Fredrick Douglass’s Narrative David W. Blight is a professor, who teaches as of November 2, 2015 American History at Yale University. Blight obtained his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1985 with a thesis titled “Keeping Faith in Jubilee : Fredrick Douglass and the Meaning of the Civil War.”Before Yale University, he taught at Amherst College for thirteen years. He has wrote many annotated editions on slavery and as of late, he is working on another biography of Fredrick Douglass.He has received a handful of awards, these include: Lincoln Prize,Bancroft Prize,Fredrick Douglass Prize, Merle Curti award and James A. Rawley prize. Anyhow The introduction by David Blight was very well constructed and It would’ve helped if...
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...Identifying Conflict in Two Texts Read About Journals in ENG125: Introduction to Literature for more information about the purpose and expectations for journals. This week, you continue writing your journal entries. This journal entry is designed to help you document ideas about conflicts in literature, which will contribute to the information required for the Week Three Draft and the Week Five Literary Analysis. Recognizing conflict is essential to understanding the various commentaries literature can provide. In Journal One, you identified conflict as it might appear in our everyday world and from other sources. Now, consider the following definition of conflict and how it relates to literature from the textbook or the story/poetry links provided under the requirements for the Literary Analysis: Conflict is opposing actions, ideas, and decisions that hold a plot together...the struggle that shapes the plot in a story. Chapters 1-7 of our text contain a number of stories and poems, each of which rely on at least one conflict. Choose two of this week’s assigned literary works and write about the conflicts presented in each of them. In 250 to 500 words Individual versus Society --- “Still she had come down the road toward the big white church alone. Just herself, an old forgetful woman, nearly blind with age” (para 3.1,2) --- appears to be the main conflict in Alice Walker’s narrative ironically, yet metaphorically named "The Welcome Table”. The theme coming across...
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...Birth of a Civilization An analysis of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes 5/26/2008 American Literature 2328-8448 Deah N. Mitchell The violation of the African civilization that is known as slavery is defined as “a submission to a dominating influence” by Merriam-Webster. There are many accounts of this practice, and many more attempts to rectify its toll on African-Americans and its long-standing consequences. One such effort is the rhythmical reflection of ancestry through artistry- specifically poetry. During the Harlem Renaissance era several African American writers emerged. One of the most prominent and successful authors was James Mercer Langston Hughes. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” was written by Hughes at the tender age of 19. This poem is reflective of four central topics: African-American ancestry, racial pride, slavery and spirituality. The most obvious use of literary art, symbolism, plays a tremendous role in this poem and is effortlessly laced throughout the seams of this intricate ode. “I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.” According to the most widely accepted theories on the origins of man, homo sapiens’ appear to have originated in Great Rift Valley in Africa. Above the “rivers” can be interpreted as ancient African ancestry. The writer knows from handed down accounts the story of his people’s lineage. If Africa is home to all of our births then...
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