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An Occurrence In The Life Of A Slave Girl Analysis

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After the victory of the Union on the Civil War, African Americans were emancipated from the slavery. There was dramatic increase in slave narrative during the post-Civil War era, and in response to Romanticism, literatures reflecting realism spread out. "Incidence in the Life of a Slave Girl" is one of the examples of African American literary works during that era, and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is an example reflecting the characteristics of Realism. To begin with, the common theme of both works is real lives during the Civil War. The only difference between those works is that "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" deals with the lives of civilians, while "Incidence in the Life of a Slave Girl" is about the lives of African American …show more content…

For example, in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", the quote "The man's hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the slack fell to the level of his knees" (Bierce 604) provides thorough descriptions on the states of the protagonist. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" also shows detailed depictions, especially for the emotions of Linda, the protagonist. For instance, "I was encountering dangers for the sake of freeing them, and must I be the cause of their death? The thought was agonizing …… But it added to my pain to think that the good old aunt, who had always been so kind to her sister's orphan children, should be shut up in prison for no other crime than loving them" (Harriet 579) well reflects the inner conflict, and guiltiness created by her escape. Nevertheless, there is a difference in a way each writing addresses those characteristics. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" uses third person limited point of view, which is a common characteristic found in literatures of realism. There is no "I" used in it, but the author uses "he" or "Peyton Farquhar" when indicates the protagonist. However, the narrator of "Incidence in the Life of Slave Girl" uses "I" instead of Linda when indicating the protagonist. Despite first person point of view is not a common characteristic found in realism, the usage of "I" makes the writing more personal, increasing the reality of the writings by connecting readers to the

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“The catholic church is the only thing that frees a man from degrading slavery of being a child of his age(G.K. Chesterton).” The slaves in Harriet Jacobs book “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Harriet Jacobs described the relationship between the slaves and the church, and how religion tries to convince them that if you don’t obey your master God will get you. The church is trying to cover the truth about religion and trying to pressure the slaves to do what they supposed to do. Slaves and the church had a strong bond to find joy and depict to deal with the pain of slavery.

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Harriet Ann Jacobs known to the public as Linda Brent and Frederick Douglass both were the victims of slavery and succeed to escape its clutches. As they possessed the skill of literateness, after becoming free members of the American society, they decided to write down their experiences of living as slaves to share what they had witnessed. Consequently, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” is the fruit of Linda Brent’s labor, and Frederic Douglass delivered his testimony in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”. Additionally, this is not the point where their similarities diminish. They were also involved into abolitionist movement and work as social reformers which gained them recognition and esteem amid Northerners.

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Ambrose Bierce wrote “ An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” to show how precious time is. This story is showing a guy being hung, but while he was being hung, he was having flashbacks that he escaped the hanging and lived. But then at the end of the story everything went back and it showed that he was just having flashbacks and he was dead. The thesis about the motif of time will focus on how the story is laid out, the way how after he is being hung he goes to a flashback, and in part one the main character is barely known.

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An Occurrence of Literary Elements Ambrose Bierce’s use of dramatic irony, 3rd person limited point of view, and syntax and diction creates suspense for the reader about the fate of Peyton Farquhar, the protagonist of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. While flashbacking the events of Peyton Farquhar, Bierce utilizes dramatic irony to initiate the suspense that makes the reader question Peyton’s fate. Bierce intentionally states, “An hour later, after nightfall, he repassed the plantation, going northward in the direction from which he had came. He was a Federal scout.” (Bierce 3) Bierce blatantly reveals that the soldier is indeed an Union soldier in contrast of Peyton Farquhar, a Confederate (assumingly) slave owner from Alabama.

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The documentary “Slavery By Another Name” Connects to the book of “ The Piano Lesson” written by August Wilson very clearly. The documentary discusses about, how thousands of african americans were pulled into forced labor with shocking force and brutality. The book describes the Characteristics of these people who had to experience what the documentary discusses about. “ Lymon bought that truck so he have him a place to sleep and to avoid his sheriff ; the sheriff looking for him” - Boy Willee. Lymon Answers, “ it 's just misunderstanding” In this book of Piano lesson,

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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs is a story about a young slave named Linda and her personal experience trying to escape alive. Linda is a brilliant black slave that is constantly tormented mentally and physically by her master, Dr. Flint. For the sake of Linda’s two young children she had with a white man out of wedlock, Linda decides to escape until she or her children are bought by close friends or family, so that they may never experience the tribulations of slavery. While the South tried to convince northerners that the master-slave relationship was a good one, Jacobs goes on to convincingly prove that is not the case.

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Incidents in the Life of a slave girl by Harriet Jacobs is an autobiography of a fugitive slave girl during the 1800s. The unwanted pain of seeing her children become slaves encourages to take a run for freedom. Having to overcome many obstacles during her search for freedom keeps her strong to become free so she will never have to face her past experiences again. Linda Brent is the main character in the book who is searching for freedom. She works for her master who thinks he treats her fairly well compared to how slaves are normally treated.

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In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs argues that slavery is a horrific crime against humanity and slavery should be ended. Jacobs wrote that the reason for her writing down her experiences was not so the reader would pity her but to spark compassion for the people who were still enslaved (Jacobs, 54). In this moment, the reader is presented with a direction to read this book. The direction being to open one’s mind and hearts to the real life struggles that the African American people were suffering through and to inspire the reader to do something about the injustices brought down on them. Jacobs also shows humility here because she told the read not to feel bad or worry about the things that happened to her but to help

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Harriet Jacobs Incidence In The Life of A Slave Girl is Harriet’s very own autobiography, written to highlight impactful moments of her life as a child in slavery, moments during mother hood and eventually to her quest North to gain both the freedom of herself and her children as well. Episodes in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriett Jacobs, who took the pseudonym Linda Brent, is a convincing novel intended to bring out a women's activist voice in its perusers. Jacobs utilizes the force of her words and encounters as a slave to draw out the women's activist in men and ladies, however particularly in the white, Northern lady. She hopes to draw out "an abolitionist voice [that she, a] slave mother is relying upon her white, Northern, female

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Frederick wastes no time in his narrative to explain how slavery is more of a mental battle than a physical battle. He tells the reader “I was born in Tuckahoe.. I have no accurate knowledge of my age.” and “a want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness” illustrating that he was deprived of his self-worth and self-identity at an early age. In chapter 6, Douglass overhears his master say “learning would spoil the best nigger in the world” although harsh, this is my favorite part of the text because this triggers Douglass to begin his transition into a free man.

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Harriet Jacobs was born on 1813. She died on 1897. He married free black carpenter. They had _2_ children. He went to Boston, and earned a degree in 1813.she is most famous for being an African-American writer.

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Many slaves would run away to avoid punishment. The slaves would hide in swamps or woods which were known as lying out. Most slaves that ran away from their slave owners would be caught and be resold as a runaway. Slaves that were labeled as a runaway would be valued less to nothing. Slave catcher would take limbs and body parts off the slave.

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Slave narratives were a key piece to abolishing slavery some of these stories include slave narratives by Harriet Jacobs and Solomon Northup. Jacobs and Northup's narratives are two very different stories, but all have the same underlying theme of slavery. Each one of these narratives show a different level of slavery based on the audience they were wanting to connect with. While these narratives have very different purposes they all tend to share the same aspects of hard physical labor, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. These authors both tell their story, but each author has tweaked their writing style to fit the audience and their overall purpose.

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In “An Occurrence of Owl Creek Bridge” Ambrose Bierce uses stream of consciousness narration to reveals the thoughts of Peyton Farquhar with heightened realism and drama. He tells a story during the Civil War in which the protagonist, Peyton Farquhar, experiences a continuous flow of thoughts in his mind as he is about to be hanged on a railway bride for attempting to sabotage the Owl Creek Bridge seized by Union troops . In section one he highlight a sense of realism by describing Peyton Farquhar physical attributes, the setting, and the situation Peyton is experiencing. During this time Peyton is standing on a railroad bridge with his wrists bounded behind his back, and around his neck is a noose that is tied to a beam overhead.

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evaluate their understanding of the story's events, which contributes to the story's meaning by highlighting the subjective nature of reality and the power of the mind. In conclusion, Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" uses

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