The separation of Elizabeth Keckley’s mother and stepfather caused so many intense feelings in me. You could tell that Elizabeth’s mother, Agnes Hobbs, and her step father, George Pleasant, were truly in love with one another until George had to move away. The separation of Agnes and George was very intense “my father cried out against the cruel separation; his last kiss; his wild straining of my mother to his bosom; the solemn prayer to Heaven; the tears and sobs—the fearful anguish of broken hearts” (312). Keckley used words like “cruel” (312), and “tears and sobs” (312) to describe the scene that unfolded in front of her. Reading this excerpt from the story was intense enough to cause the reader to feel like they were there when the scene