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The Massey Lecture By Thomas King Summary

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The Truth About Stories In the Massey Lecture by Thomas King, King discusses the differences between various stories of creation. He believes that because each of the stories are each structured distinctively, it leads believers to look at life from a different perspective. He then makes an interesting comment, "But don’t say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story, you've heard it now.". But why would someone live their life differently after hearing a story? There could be many different reasons. Stories where there is a cause and effect can influence listeners to make decisions to achieve an outcome. This can be used to either inspire and enlighten, or to teach lessons to keep …show more content…

On the contrary, stories can impact life in an inspirational way. Hearing about someone who started from the bottom but rose up to the top to make millions, and gain popularity, can motivate listeners to work harder so they can reach a similar outcome. This often requires a change in lifestyle to focus on the goals they want to achieve. Another impact stories can make is that stories can not only affect a small group of people, but can make a great societal change as well. An example of this, is the story written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Tom’s Cabin. This story was written in 1852, and was the second-best selling book of the 19th century. The reason why this book was so popular was because it influenced the end of slavery in the United States. Not only did this book convince President Abraham Lincoln to ban slavery, it also induced more contradiction towards slavery. This example proves how one story created a massive change in history, influencing a great portion of the population to oppose slavery. This is just one example of a story that changed societal standards, there are many more examples that are less drastic. This idea can also carry through to smaller and

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It brought a feeling of pity and outrage onto whites, whose experiences had never fell close to those of slaves. On the contrary, southerners were deeply offended by how slavery was depicted in the book. “They feared that the novel could lead to slave rebellions.” (Reynolds 151) They even went as far as attempting to have it banned. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was an important event in history leading up to the Civil War.

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More controversy was made in the US. Uncle Tom’s Cabin Changed how Americans viewed slavery for those who were being closed minded and enhanced the ideas of those who were already aware of the situation. Harriet B. Stowe had experienced the effect of slavery herself. Her novel was based on the experience and how it was seen from another perspective. Many viewers could now look at slavery from a different point of

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608 Words | 3 Pages

1849 things were really tough for african american slaves working till late hours and not getting a decient amont of food. life for them was really bad and sometimes you had to make choices that you really didnt want to have to pick from and choosing to leave her family and spouce was one of them for example just imagine what it would be like to have to pick between leaving ur husband or wife  or getting a chance of freedom .

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The Effect of the Single Story Single stories can have a significant effect on how we view a certain culture or race. It can both break their dignity and empower at the same time. I the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, his struggle throughout his sufferable journey in slavery illustrates the theme in which Adichie represents, the theme regarding how a single story can control how we view a certain group of people. Throughout his life, Douglass experiences the harsh means of slavery and encounters each moment an African slave had to confront.

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Throughout the narrative, the author includes his personal stories about experiencing the violence of slavery first-hand. For example, on page 20, he writes about the first time he witnessed a slave, his own aunt, getting the whip. “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest…I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition… It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery…” The author including his experience of his aunts whipping, in detail, appeals to the emotions of the reader.

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The passage of this act disrupted the balance between free and slave states, which set in motion many of the other events to come that would lead to the Civil War. 5. Why did the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin have such an impact? Uncle Tom’s Cabin had such an impact on the United States because of the way it depicted slavery’s effect on families. This had a huge emotional impact on northerners especially because many of them did not necessarily know what was going on in the south.

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819 Words | 4 Pages

It also was significant to American History because it shows that some of the biggest people in a America at the time wanted people of color to be enslaved. They didn’t believe that people of color are actual people which would lead to more racism. And with more racism it would be more of a norm in America and it would spread fasterthen a cancer cell. It made people think that colored people are not people and should deserve to be

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Many African American authors and critics very strongly disagreed with how the white plantation owners and the slaves were portrayed in the book. For example Nat Turner’s first slave owner, Samuel Turner, was presented in very high light. This was probably not the case, and that is the reason it enraged so many readers. The book was also banned in some places because of the sexual violence that was portrayed in the novel. Before I get into the book itself it is important to know about the actual person who was Nat Turner and the rebellion that he led in 1831.

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It gave them an accurate account of slave trade during that time. This was evident throughout the narrative. An example was when he mentions “I was soon put down under the decks, and then I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced…” He described a personal rendition of the conditions and treatments he faced on the ship.

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816 Words | 4 Pages

The Narrative written by Fredrick Douglass was an important book and was a big part of contributing to what we know about the history of slavery. The narrative involved the troubles slaves and Fredrick would go through and how they felt in those horrible moments of their lives. For Fredrick to be free he needed to disguise himself as a sailor and he boarded a northbound train. Sometimes we don’t realize how good freedom really is until we lose it. The book talks about the struggle for freedom, and the horrors of slavery both country and city slaves.

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685 Words | 3 Pages

In the 1850s, the debate over slavery was a huge issue in the United States. Slaves were treated unfairly and were given unfair punishments, even when they were not doing anything wrong. One recognizable slave is Frederick Douglass. He told his story through an emotional narrative, describing his struggles with his life as a slave. The Narrative of Frederick Douglass shows the terrible impacts of slavery through the daily lives of slaves, the way slaves were treated, and the cultural expression of African Americans.

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This book was a bestseller and this book changed a lot of peoples view on slavery. Douglass in the “Narrative of the The LIfe on Frederick Douglass” tries to change what it means to be dedicated to the American idea of “all men are created equal.” Douglass was treated very poorly as a slave.

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In everyone's lives, there is an eye opening experience that changes their perspective on life. The slave narrative, Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, tells a story about the struggles the author goes through during his grueling life during and after being enslaved. During the book, Douglass goes through so much during his life, including hardships such as beatings, starvation, and depression. Along with the bad things, he also experiences some good things including escaping, discovering literacy and enlightening himself and others about the awful aspects of slavery. Frederick Douglass manages to free himself not only physically, but also mentally from the hardships of slavery.

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Interesting Narrative by O. Equiano gives his view as a free man, and then growing up in slave trade during this time in the European and African cultures. Equiano had hoped to give hope with his narrative, and show the reality to everyone not only his fellow Negros. Giving explicit, in-depth detail of how everything happened and how his world changed rapidly as well as everyone else involved in the Slave trade, whether being an owner, buyer, seller, or "item", everyone changed for the worse. Nothing was being done about these matters, so Equiano learned to read and write, and wrote his narrative to give a piece of history to his people and give them a meaning for all their hardships and tremendous pain while during the sixteenth and nineteenth

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677 Words | 3 Pages

This book made the northerners mad,but why? They were mad Because people should not be treated like this for no reason at all, just because they are a Negro does not mean they can be treated differently, didn't the constitution say all men are created equal. This made the southerners mad also because the southerners did not want people thinking that slaves are treated like that they wanted them to believe that slaves were treated equally, but then Uncle Tom's Cabin came along and changed everything for the slaves and their way of life. This is one example of how things changed the

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