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Slavery and american literature essay
Slavery and american literature essay
Influences of slave narrative to modern African American literature
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Not long after his father’s death and the news of war reached the Duttons plantation, Johnny, Big Missy’s only son, decided to go to war as a commander along with Kevin, Miss Lillian’s husband, who at first was reluctant to go. Not only the men showed their burning patriotism by going to war, but also the women back in the Big House who were giving their contribution for the Confederate by making uniforms and Confederate flags. As if those things weren’t enough, the Duttons were also more than willing to lend their slaves to work in the southern factories, even though many managed to run away and fought for the Union
The book, “Celia, A Slave,” is a true story written by Melton A. McLaurin and published by the University of Georgia Press in 1991. McLaurin was an educator at the University of South Alabama where he served several years as Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs before retiring. He is known for writing several articles and books about the American South and race relations. He wrote this book specifically about slavery and how women and men or blacks and whites were divided. Whites were superior in the United States.
This book became known as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. It highlighted the everyday horrors and injustices of slavery. The author Harriet Beecher Stowe took it upon herself to write this call for justice when reading a letter from her sister in Boston. Her sister had wrote of the terrible things she’d seen happen to African Americans during the time of the Fugitive Slave Act. She described “slave catchers prowling the streets, pouncing on African Americans without warning, breaking into their houses, destroying their shops and carrying them off.”
While more than 10.7 million people were enslaved throughout American history, the story of just one plantation can paint the picture of what life was like for most slaves (Gates Jr.). The Kitchen House is a book about Lavinia, an orphan who grows up as an indentured servant to the Pykes. When she is about 12 years old, she travels to Williamsburg with Mrs. Pyke and Mrs. Pyke’s sister, Miss Sarah. After Lavinia marries and divorces Mr. Boran, a widower, she marries Marshall Pyke, the son of the captain. Together, they move back to Tall Oaks, the plantation owned by the Pykes.
The book Copper Sun is a story about an African girl named Amari who is sold into slavery. The author of Copper Sun is Sharon M. Draper. The book is an dystopian novel - which is also a fictional book, based upon an enslaved African’s life. In the novel of Copper Sun, the setting of the plantation and Amari’s village have several similarities, and differences. There are several similarities between Amari’s village, “Ziavi,” and the plantation.
Katie Darling was born a slave in Texas. When she was a child she was a nurse for the six children of the house and when she grew a little bigger she was also tasked with milking the cows. She slept on a pallet on the floor in the house and she would have to in the cow pen milking the cows by five every morning. She ate peas and greens but she was not allowed to eat any of the meat.
Natural elements would not prevent the slaves from working, even during harsh winters. We grasp a connection between the harsh conditions and horrid treatment the slaves endured. The cycle of a slaves life is exemplified in this example in how their lives solely revolved around working all the time. Douglass shows an antithesis in how to Mr. Covey, “The longest days were to short for him, and the shortest nights too long for him” (38). This is used to convey how the quantity of work Mr. Covey wanted to be accomplished was never done in that day.
Her name was Celia, and she was a slave. Her master, Robert Newsom, was an old and prosperous fellow by the time he purchased her. In almost every way, Newsom embodied the ideal “yeoman farmer” that Thomas Jefferson envisioned during his presidency (Lecture, History 250, 10-7-2015): he was hardworking, self-sustaining, and self-made. Despite Newsom’s “respectability”, the young slave Celia quickly became a victim of one of the ugliest blights in American history: the systematic abuse of black women for sexual pleasure (McLaurin, 24 & 137). Like many prosperous men of the time, Newsom was not simply self-made, but slave-made.
Aunt Hester went out with another slave after her owner ordered her not to and it was after curfew. Arriving back later than intended, she came back to a common but overly aggressive reaction of her owner: “After rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor. I was so terrified and horror-stricken at the sight, that I hid myself in a closet… ” (Douglass 1942). Detailing the events of these frequent and inhumane treatments of the slaves, Douglass tunes in to the emotions of the readers, especially fellow abolitionists.
With this evidence of higher child abuse in lower socioeconomic classes, this confirms the individual level factor idea that Clayton has. With this proven, it can lead to sex trafficking in these lower classes because according to Clayton, previous abuse will more likely lead a person down the path of sexual exploitation. Lower socioeconomic status means that financially, they are struggling. With that, it all comes down to money. Along with that come where the wealthy people of this industry fit in.
Harriet Jacobs, referred to in the book as Linda Brent, was a strong, caring, Native American mother of two children Benny and Ellen. She wrote a book about her life as a slave and how she earned freedom for herself and her family. Throughout her book she also reveals countless examples of the limitations slavery can have on a mother. Her novel, also provides the readers a great amount of examples of how motherhood has been corrupted by slavery.
“I came to a clear conclusion, and it is a universal one: To live, to struggle, to be in love with life--in love with all life holds, joyful or sorrowful--is fulfillment. The fullness of life is open to all of us” (Betty Smith). Betty Smith, born as Elizabeth Lillian Wehner, grew up in Brooklyn, New York as the daughter of poor German immigrants. At the time, child labor was legal and Smith began work at the young age of fourteen to help support her family. Smith’s life in the slums and her experiences during the Great Depression greatly influenced her writing.
Flannery O’Connor uses style, tone, and character to tell the story of a family and a band of misfits as they struggle with good over evil in the Southern Gothic short story ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The style and tone of the characters are depicted in a way that makes it difficult to feel compassion or sympathy for them. The figurative language and style used by the author depicts characters with casual, informal, and extreme Southern stereotypes, diction and attitudes. The tone of the story is ironic in regard to both the characters and plot. O’Connor uses colorful language to describe the characters of the story in a way that allows the reader to vividly see the characters as cartoon like, grotesque, and exaggerated.
The poorest white families in Maycomb County were the Cunninghams and the Ewells, who were living behind the town 's garage dump. “ ' '... The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them the hardest. ' '”18 For example, Walter Cunningham and Burris Ewells ' characters are both bullied at school, since they do not have the money for lunch or clean clothes. “...Walter Cunningham was sitting there lying his head off.
This appeared to be their way of life since the community did not offer any employment opportunities after the plantations were closed. People started to engage in criminal activities which lead to their incarceration. In Lalee’s household alone, three men were in jail. Redman and Granny’s fathers were serving time and Lalee’ son was in and out of jail. They often talked about the criminal justice system because their love ones were within that system.
