In the novel, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party, by MT Anderson, follows a young boy named Octavian. This book is set in Boston in the 1700s. As a 13-year-old, Octavian’s mother is bought as a slave by Mr. Gitney, the head of the college, as a 2-for-1 deal. Mr. Gitney is conducting an experiment at his college, the College of Lucidity. He is trying to figure out if an African American could be as intelligent as white royalty if they are provided with the same education. Taught by Mr. Gitney and Dr. Trefusis, Octavian flourishes through attention and praise. However, this all changes when Mr. Sharpe begins funding the college. Octavian’s funding for education is cut back significantly because he is ‘just a slave’. Through this novel, you will explore a world of injustice, feel for Octavian as he …show more content…
The viewer can discover facts about the revolutionary war as well as the connection to our novel. The audience will discover different points of views of slavery from both sides of the story. You can see how the government sees slaves and how each class of society views them. There is a comparison between white slave owners and Octavian, our main character who’s an African slave, through a collage. Our pages, show the characters relationships throughout the book. Themes and character development, especially those of Octavian, are revealed through poetry and drawings. Slave’s rights were important, so we investigated their chances of freedom. Within this scrapbook, you’ll find many historical facts and acts, like the Somerset decision in England. There are many other events in our book like smallpox and Women’s rights. You can learn how these events reveal views of people in our society and the past. We hope that you can learn a thing or two about our history as a nation, and all about our
Quincy Fargo Economics Book Analysis 9/5/15 The POX Party Analysis The book The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The POX Party by M.T. Anderson was written and published in 2006. The story starts in 1760s and ends in the 1770s about an African Prince named Octavian Nothing who was born in America under the servitude of Mr. Gitney and was educated like European royalty as an experiment. The book is part of a series which contains two books, the second book being The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves.
Chapter 5 “The Revolutionary Era: Crossroads of Freedom,” This chapter focuses on Revolutionary era and the war between Britain and the colonies. It shed light on the lives of the African Americans during the war and the decisions they made to fight with or against the colonies they were enslaved in. The first important topic is about Thomas Peters fight to get his freedom.
The auto-biography “An American Slave” of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass is about the life of a life of a slave who eventually became free due to his advantage of education. Douglass discussed his experience of being born into slavery and escaping and becoming the symbol of strength and hero he is known as today. He, in detail, explains how contradicting the Constitution and the actual society in that time period were to each other. Douglass’ purpose of writing this novel was to not only tell his story but to also express his attitudes towards the “American Promise” and the “American Individual”. In the novel Douglass used similes, metaphors and imagery to convey his personal attitudes about the American Promise and the American Individual
Throughout the beatings, hunger, separation, depression, and constant pain of slavery, hope and humanity are lost when slaves lack defiance. With humanity in tact, slaves desire and fight for what they deserve: a necessity to life, a universal, God-given right, freedom. The fighters, the risk-takers, and the persisters, become the survivors. Resistance is the path slaves choose in the slave narratives, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs’ and, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, by Frederick Douglass’. The rebellious spirit helps slaves survive by reminding them of their humanity and rightful desire to attain their freedom.
That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord…”( 47). After the effects of slavery had an impact on her, she had changed for the worse. The author's purpose in generating this profile was to prove that the system of slavery is skewed and to give examples of those in power who were corrupted. A once kind and loving woman, turned to a monster by simply owning one
Whether or not a slave narrative is able to persuade its readers of the inhumanities of slavery, the complexities within slave narratives and the discussions they create should not be overlooked. There is power within the act of writing one’s personal journeys and hardships throughout life, and that power gives former enslaved people the opportunity to express their own thoughts while making changes for future generations. Solomon Northup’s 12 Years A Slave gives a heart-wrenching depiction of what slavery was like in America. If the cruel images of the realities of slavery do not affect readers emotionally, then there is at least hope that the logical arguments raised throughout the novel can persuade those who are unwilling to see slavery
He describes his ignorance of the cruel slave system which was hidden from him when he was still a small boy. Yet, as a victim of slavery since birth he was separated from his mother and sent to live with his grandmother in Tuckahoe, Maryland. He describes those years with his grandmother as pleasant, happy years. When Douglas was of age, he was brought to the ‘old masters’ – Col. Lloyd’s house to work. Still a child, he did not quite understand slavery completely, except that all the children were kept under the care ‘Aunt Katy’ – a highly favored slave woman.
Frederick Douglass was a slave in the 1800s who escaped captivity in Maryland and fled to Massachusetts. During his time in slavery, he learned how to read and write, which later aided him in telling his story to convince people to abolish slavery. In Douglass’s autobiography Narrative of an American Slave, Douglass argues that the knowledge of slavery transforms people in chapter six using convincing metaphors, vivid imagery, and revealing parallelism. In chapter six, Douglass uses metaphors to emphasize Sophia Auld’s change in behavior after experiencing the power of slavery.
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.
From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.
An American Slave,” Douglass discusses the horrors of being enslaved and a fugitive slave. Through Douglass’s use of figurative language, diction and repetition he emphasizes the cruelty he experiences thus allowing readers to under-stand his feelings of happiness, fear and isolation upon escaping slavery. Figurative language allocates emotions such as excitement, dread and seclusion. As a slave you have no rights, identity or home. Escaping slavery is the only hope of establishing a sense of self and humanity.
Through deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion, Frederick Douglass shows the readers what negative effects slavery has on the slaveholders themselves. Douglass successfully shows that slavery makes the slaveholder bitter and brings ultimate sadness into their lives. In addressing the harmful effects of slavery on the slaveholders, he makes one reconsider their moral righteousness and better comprehend the difference between humanity and atrocity. Though there are many other ways that slavery could have been harmful to the slaveholder, Frederick Douglass has shown that these ways given were true and has proven that they were indeed negative effects on the
Many changes occurred during the long 18th century which were highly influenced by the Enlightenment era. A written work called The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano by Olauda Equiano states the difficulties Africans went through during the 18th century that made the Enlightenment era. While writing his novel during the Age of Reason, Equiano employed logical appeal, emotional appeal, and focused on making a call for social improvements, which were typical aspects in writing from this period. The purpose of this writing is to persuade others to take action on slavery using emotional appeals.
This will get the listeners thinking about what sincerely is happening with the issue of slavery and stimulate interest in the abolitionist mindset. Additionally, the author laconically questions, “What to the American Slave is your Fourth
In the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass reveals his life as a slave and the valuable lessons he learned from his experience. Douglass wants the truth about slavery to be revealed and wants to eliminate the lies that portray slavery as beneficial. Douglass exposes the reality of slavery by criticizing the “romantic image” of slavery, showing the intellectual capabilities slaves had, and revealing the reasons why slaves were disloyal to each other. Douglass criticizes the southern, romantic image of slavery by exposing the harsh treatment and sadness that slaves endured. It was southerners who thought slavery as beneficial, because it benefited themselves and white society.