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Pros And Cons Of Nightjohn

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Many U.S people don’t know the true history of Slavery in United States that they were greedy and brutal to people who were in slaves. There are disastrous things that people who were in slave had gone through but there are people who were in slaves that cares one to another no matter what are the cons. Although Gary Paulsen’s novel, Nightjohn, is considered historical fiction, the descriptions of Harsh Restrictions, Brutal punishments, and supports to one another can be corroborated with multiple sources.
There are people who were in slaves in US that most of people who were in slave have broken family structures. This is related in NightJohn because every child is separated with their mother after the child is born. According to the autobiography …show more content…

This is related in NightJohn because Sarney have to lie to her master because if they were honest and if the answer is a bad thing, they would have to take a beating. According to Mingo white’s Narrative, “When had to tell them all sorts of lies for our Master or else take a beating”. This shows that this does relate to Nightjohn because Mingo White and Sarney have the same connections that they have to tell all sorts of lies or else take a beating to teach you that you should never do this. So they have to do somethings to keep up the slaves to keep from getting any lashes. According to Solomon Northup, “In about three-fourths of an hour several of the slaves shouted and made signs for me to run”. This shows that there are people wanted to run away so they won’t have to stay with them but the dogs can smell it scents so they can find that person. This relates that John runs away from the field to be freed. Now there are people that doesn’t have to run away because there are no slavery anymore. But there are people who were in slaves that doesn’t experience that anymore that they are scared and dogs would chase after them and tear their body

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460 Words | 2 Pages

In the book Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen, an insight about life is presented through the meaningful texts. Nightjohn and Sarny both persevere through hard times. The narrator, Sarny, is an 11 year old—at the beginning of the story— girl who lives on Old Waller´s plantation in the South. Through the eyes of a child, the reader gets to understand how daily life was on a plantation for a slave. Nightjohn, an older male slave, comes in bad—which means that Old Waller brought him in with shackles around his neck, and no clothes on—and later on in the story teaches Sarny how to read and write.

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407 Words | 2 Pages

Numerous things have occurred in history that most people either believes is false, or denies that it has happened, one of which being slavery. In the realistic fiction novel NightJohn by Gary Paulsen, Paulsen describes the life of Sarny as she goes through the struggle of being slave. Information such as brutality, family seperation, and acts of kindness can be corroborated with Nightjohn through Fredrick Douglass, Mingo White, and Solomon Northup. Multiple examples of brutality can be seen in Nightjohn, the most prominent being whipping and the use of dogs to hunt down slaves. The first act of brutality to be read is whipping, where Sarny reports that slaves would be whipped for going too slow.

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1190 Words | 5 Pages

The Truth of the Enslaved Surely, slavery was the most pervasive single issue in our past. In the historical “fiction” Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen, the characters find ways to maneuver through their master’s system to learn and work together. John is a slave who started teaching Sarny, a young girl, to read and write.

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1160 Words | 5 Pages

Slave women are described in the journal to be mistreated even while expecting a baby. There are many reports of slave women losing the majority of their children due to the “effect of the [slavery] system on [the women’s] health and that of their offspring.” Kemble also records the story of a woman who suffered four miscarriages, one that was caused by being “strained up to be lashed” while pregnant. The rest of the journal contains reports of countless slaves

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525 Words | 3 Pages

In “Nightjohn” by Gary Paulsen, Nightjohn and Sarny, live difficult lives of slavery. With no freedom, and Sarny’s wish to learn, Nightjohn is in desperate need to teach Sarny to read and write, to able to write to others to teach them about the bads things of slavery. Through the story’s brave characters, description of hardships they, and a beautiful picture of their bravery they have, readers understand that Gary Paulsen is expressing the idea that helping others, is worth sacrificing yourself. Nightjohn left his Family behind, so he could teach slaves to read and write. In the movie Nightjohn, Sarny tells us how Nightjohn told her that he left his family behind.

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885 Words | 4 Pages

Some of these stories tell of how the slaveholders managed and operated their plantations, how slaveholders separated families one from another, and what types of relationships that fit within the moral parameters of the slaveholder (a moral compass was not a part of the reality of a slaveholder), and what types of relationships were unbeknown to the slave master. Family separation was a fact of life during the enslavement period. Pension files again show many a story of these separations of families one from the other. Heartbreaking stories of family members being moved to another plantation sometimes locally, but then there were the slaves being traded away too far off places.

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918 Words | 4 Pages

Although Gary Paulsen’s novel, is considered historical fiction, the descriptions of slaves wanting to be free under circumstances, slaves learning resourcefully in this grim time, and not breaking under harsh consequences. First the harsh restrictions, the way they are depicted in Nightjohn truly shows the life of slaves during this repulsive era in American

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945 Words | 4 Pages

African Americans were often separated from their families to be put into slavery. Not only did they not get to see their loved ones, but they had to live with the idea of not being able to protect them. This applied especially to the slave men who were incapable of protecting their wives and children from slavery or abuse. John Rudd, a slave who had his mother and brother sold away, said, “If’n you wants to know what unhappiness means, jess’n you stand on the slave block and hear the auctioneer’s voice selling you away from the folk you love.”

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1019 Words | 5 Pages

Kathryn Lind Mr. Spears English 10 29 March 2023 Chapter 1 Family history shapes a person’s identity because in historical situations such as slavery, producing offspring is crucial to the environment and leaves individuals in a ruthless cycle. Douglass’ mother “was taken from [him]”, before he was even a year old (Douglass 2). Mothers were often taken from their children to break family bonds and create new ones on different plantations. The likelihood of a slave having multiple children increased with the number of owners because it increased the chance of sexual abuse.

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1314 Words | 6 Pages

The institution of slavery had been in place in the United States long before the country had even been established. By the time a war erupted over the issue, the practice had been in place for nearly 250 years, was deeply ingrained in the country’s economy and social structure, and had strongly influenced the way different regions had developed. Due to this longevity and deep-rootedness in many aspects of the country, many were unwilling to let it die. Opposition to slavery, nevertheless, developed on the basis of moral and ethical ideals. The accounts of former slaves would help to encourage the push towards abolition, as they exposed the cruelties they had experienced firsthand.

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1147 Words | 5 Pages

Slavery in America was considered to be one of the most devastating acts in history. African American people were torn from their homelands and sold at auction to the highest bidder. Men, women, and children were forced into slavery or born into it, experiencing harsh conditions such as abuse, neglect, and even death. This experience though did not always happen, some slaves were treated fairly and were never punished by their owner’s. Events such like this were recalled by two former slaves by the names of Aunt Harriet Smith and Charlie Smith.

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1377 Words | 6 Pages

Individuals can empathize and grow from learning from the past experiences of others. The pre-civil war era in United States was a time where many humans were mistreated both psychologically and physically. Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave gives readers the opportunity to understand exactly how America’s history shaped modern-day social norms and behaviors. Douglass’ personal account not only positively influenced the abolitionist movement, but raised questions of morality and human rights. The story of Frederick Douglass’ life shows exactly the repercussions of humans unjustly mistreating other humans.

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191 Words | 1 Pages

Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and freed slave, covers many appaling aspects of slavery in his narrative, especially the heartbreaking topic of slave children. As the child of a slave woman and an unknown white man, Douglass himself was an example of this unfortunate circumstance and gives a tremendous amount of insight on the issue. As a child, Douglass saw his mother less than a handful of times before she died when he was seven. In “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” Mr. Douglass explains why slave children followed in the footsteps of their mothers: “The slaveholders have … by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers; and this is done …to… make a gratification

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1085 Words | 5 Pages

Douglass manages to provide a closer look into the ways people responded to the evils of servitude. The stories of all the abuse that Douglass saw and endured shows those who follow just how enslavement can affect those involved. With the book written from Douglass’s perspective, the reader can easily feel what it was like to be dehumanized and stripped of your dignity. The graphic components of his writing have us living it with him. His words paint a moving picture in our minds, helping us visualize it as if it is a movie.

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753 Words | 4 Pages

Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

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