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The Roaring Personification

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Browning has incorporated a variety of techniques to expose the horrors of slavery. The influence of her Romantic predecessors Byron and Wordsworth have helped shape her poetry to inspire social and political judgments, which is perhaps why she is able to effectively discuss slavery and sexual prudery in her poetry. The versification of her poem has provided her with a platform in which she can explore the horrors endured by slaves. The personal perspective is considerably convincing for all readers, thus rendering her techniques effective. On the contrary, the social context of Browning’s era has limited the extent of effectiveness as the role of the Church and its doctrine has suggests that the mercy of God will not submit slaves to damnation; …show more content…

A prime example of is the ‘oceans roar’ (line 18) and the ‘roar of the hurricanes’ (line 75). Roaring is used for multiple reasons, including territorial proclamation, communication with other animals and an expression of anger. In the context of poem, the roar of the water could signify the great force of oppression that white people imposed on slaves. If we accept this interpretation, it is ironic that the speaker looks to the sea as a means of freedom and escape. However, this perspective is not uncommon as during the Victorian era, nature was a ‘respiratory feeling’ and Victorians ‘were all too eager to retrain’ it. This personification suggests that freedom is impossible and that oppression is inevitable, and nature is a harsh, constant reminder of this. The naivety of the speaker in trusting there is hope in the sky and sea is the true horror of slavery. I perceive that this is an effective tool that Browning has used as the image of entrapment is truly unnerving for all …show more content…

Within Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Hardy addresses societal views regarding female purity and rape. The societal assessment of women losing their virginity outside of marriage as unjustifiable, regardless of the circumstances, would be distorted to a modern reader. Within the poem, the slave is raped and recalls ‘it was too merciful/ to let me weep pure tears and die’ (line 105). The use of pure is suggestive she has been robbed of her virginity. To reach a point where grief, tears and death are an act of mercy implies life has been horrific. Considering the Victorian morals at the time, perhaps the rape was not as horrific as it is to a contemporary

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It was the blood- stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass. It was a most terrible spectacle. I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it.” Analysis: There is no way to convey the true feelings Douglass must have felt the first time he witnesses the terrible abuse inflicted the people he cares for. For this incident to be only the beginning is saddening.

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Frederick Douglass was an influential African American author, writing about the realities of African Americans stuck in slavery and the internal as well as external dilemmas they faced, capturing powerful messages within his works. With the sheer truth embedded in carefully written words on such a difficult topic to discuss, Douglass differentiates his work from the other African American writers of his time period. With the pursuit of the abolishment of slavery fueling Douglass’s works, his work The Heroic Slave advocates for unification and selflessness in order for slaves to successfully rebel. Examples of how poorly slaves were treated and their rights for better, much deserved conditions are displayed throughout the written piece to try

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In Frederick Douglass’ passage written in to take place in New York in 1838, he uses emotion, and literary devices to convey his state of mind. He starts with persuading the reader to imagine the complexity of being a victim to slavery and escaping. With a cheerful emersion from the deeps of slavery to the openness of freedom. “I felt like one who had escaped a den of hungry lions”. “I felt as one may imagen an unarmed mariner”.

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While learning to read and write ultimately helped him escape, it caused him suffering beforehand. More thorough understanding of slavery made him angrier with his masters, less satisfied with complacency, and more anguished at his position. What he read was liberating and crushing simultaneously, and he detailed this ironic duality in describing his anguished emotions at the time. The writings themselves also prompted discussion of the irony in hypocritically oppressive slave owners who claim to be Americans for freedom and Christians for equality but force the opposites on slaves. Describing his stressful emotions, which happened to be situationally ironic, creates an effective emotional appeal to sympathy similar to the childhood chapters.

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The free express their joy outwardly, but it is a mask that covers the co-existing ugliness of slavery that Douglass describes here. Although he is able to name this co-existence of the joy and pain, painting pictures of beauty and ugliness, it is crucial to understand that Douglass is still able to picture the Beauty he craves, much like how Plato views the Beauty of the flawed human

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Douglass describes the ships he sees on the Chesapeake Bay as moving “merrily before the gentle gale” and himself as “[sad] before the bloody whip.” By juxtaposing “merrily” and “sadly,” two completely opposing concepts, he displays that he is coming to a better understanding of how horrible his plight is in the context of the rest of society. The imagery of “the gentle gale,” a seemingly comforting concept, stands in stark contrast to “the bloody whip,” with its connotation of pain and great suffering, which further demonstrates Douglass’ recognition that his situation is different. Towards the end of the passage, Douglass contrasts his “misery in slavery” to “happiness when [he becomes] free.” By associating misery with his current state of captivity and placing it in close proximity to the happiness he would feel if he were liberated, a sense of desperation from Douglass to escape from slavery becomes evident.

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The passage basically tells the story of a slave who was essentially struggling to survive in an oppressive and unfair system, which can be viewed as a reflection of the time period that it was written in. From such a plotline, it can be inferred that the author’s life is difficult and they’re struggling to make ends meet in the poor economic climate of the Great Depression. This supports the existing evidence about the difficulties of the era, but it also shows how many people expressed their displeasure through art.

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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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Brown provided a sense of ambition and protection for the slaves in the abominable institution, which illustrated a tendency to not give up liberation. Moreover, Brown symbolized in his writing irresistible literary stylistics that were persuasive and paradoxical to mixed race individuals and to the nature of slave families. In the Narrative of William Wells Brown, an American Slave, Brown’s words in the narrative expressed an act of resoluteness, pity, remorse, and grief as he stated, “Experience has taught me that nothing can be more heart-rending than for one to see a dear and beloved mother or sister tortured, and to hear their cries, and not be able to render them assistance” (16). Brown was characterized as a tenacious man who escaped

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Dunbar’s villain, on the other hand, is racism: “For thy strong arm to guide the shivering bark / the blast-defying power of thy form”. Douglass as the “strong arm” is guiding Dunbar, “the shivering bark” through the hardship that he has already gone through. One can extrapolate that the hardship is racism because of the historical context of Frederick Douglass. The contrasting adjectives of “strong” and “shivering” provides both a sense of protection from the strong arm and emphasizes the inexperience and terror of the shivering bark. Shelley faces a tangible evil, a person, while Dunbar faces an intangible one, a social concept.

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All of the female characters suffer through it on at least one occasion. When Cunegonde describes the attack on her family’s castle and her subsequent rape she states that it is “the customary way of doing things.” (23) The narrator describes another violent scene: “Girls who had been disemboweled after having sated the natural needs of some of the heroes were breathing their last.” (9) The rape of women is viewed as “natural” and the rapists are “heroes” of the story.

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