ipl-logo

Voodoo Queen Chapter Summary

971 Words4 Pages

Martha Ward’s book “Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau” aims to dissect the complicated identity of the 19th-century voodoo priestess and her daughter of the same name. This book is the first study of the powerful religious leaders in a way that dismantles the common narrative of voodoo equating evil. During her examination of the Laveau legacy, Ward skillfully presents primary and secondary sources, as well as oral testimonies (1935-1943) from the Federal Writers’ Project of the Works Progress Administration. With a combination of archives that has considerable depth and breadth, Ward is able to analyze one of the most dynamic heritages in American Voodoo. One of the most important factors to consider while reading this book …show more content…

Ward’s intention for creating such a book to not only explain the significance of the Laveau’s in New Orleans Voodoo History but to also educate the mainstream American audience about the alternative narrative regarding this religion. Because of the author’s personal admiration for the city of New Orleans, by way of the Laveau’s biographies, she is able to convey the rich culture that has been built on and around creole culture. In the introduction specifically, Ward explains she has been confronted with questions by her peers that discuss voodoo in a negative light, such as: “Isn’t Voodoo dangerous? What happens to you if you tell its secrets?” Ward accomplished her goal demystifying the religion by explaining the significance behind its rituals and traditions that have often been misinterpreted by popular culture and used to demonize voodoo as a whole. Specially, Ward chose to highlight how the Laveaus were heroines of New Orlean’s for saving countless lives from the diseases rapturing the city as well as spearheading anti-slavery movements. Together they treated the lowest classes of society (death-row inmates, prisoners..etc) from ills such as malaria, cholera and yellow fever. They not only allocated their healing mixes and homemade medicines, but they were also great sources of spiritual comfort for those

Show More
Related
529 Words | 3 Pages

“The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England,” written by Carol Karlsen, is a nonfiction book about the roles women played in colonial New England and why they were targeted solely in the witchcraft madness that plagued Massachusetts and Connecticut from 1630 to the 18th century. Karlsen states that most women who were accused of witchcraft were most likely seen as a threat to the social, economic, hierarchy, and demographic states of New England. Karlsen mainly wrote the book to explain the social structure of society during this time and how and why women were targeted as witches. The book is also divided into three different sections that focus on different reasons as to why women were harassed as witches.

Read More
792 Words | 4 Pages

Louise Erdrich has a certain tone in the novel The Painted Drum, Jean Wyatt argued that the transformation of the protagonists’ process central to this novel is not described at all (Wyatt par. 1). Rather, the narrative

Read More
852 Words | 4 Pages

The novel clearly stresses the importance of understanding someone’s life before we judge their

Read More
1806 Words | 8 Pages

Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, explicitly illustrates the cultural divide between a Hmong family, the Lees, and the physicians treating their daughter, Lia Lee, at the Merced Community Medical Center. Lia first begins to experience seizures when she is about three months old. This is initially when the conflict arises between the physicians and the Lees. In contrast to Lia’s Western medicine diagnosis of epilepsy, her parents interpret epilepsy, or quag deb peg in the Hmong language, as both a serious and dangerous disease and a sign of distinction, indicating that she could potentially become a shaman (Fadiman 20-21). On the other hand, the physicians are continuously trying to prevent and treat Lia’s seizures,

Read More
1789 Words | 8 Pages

Beginning with the first chapter it stresses how the author

Read More
702 Words | 3 Pages

As an effect of the fever intruding on Philadelphia, many are sick, dying or dead. In Fever 1793, there are many instances where it is clear to see, that characters put others before themselves. For example, when Grandfather is not feeling his best,

Read More
302 Words | 2 Pages

Chapter two is called "Madre, Mujer, Bruja" which means mother, women, and witch in Spanish. The name of the chapter set up with what Ms. Glass-Coffin talks about in this chapter. She looks at how the history of healings and rituals and how it has contributed to the contemporary perception of what healers do. When situations like the story of Maria de la O and her daughter Manuela the church would become involved and they would put these perceptions of witchcraft on the women. In contemporary times shamanic healers are mostly men, this is because the churches ideologies which were European made their way to Peru.

Read More
478 Words | 2 Pages

Spike’s decision to interview those from New Orleans and Louisiana offers a much larger quantity of information, and also can introduce the aspects of traditions and civilization of that region that were not completely destroyed by the storm, such as Mardi Gras. To fuel the interest gained from the audience, “authoritative” peers were interviewed to provide more factual and historical information aside from domestic opinion, as well as including media from political meetings, and news

Read More
903 Words | 4 Pages

In her book, Building the Devil’s Empire, Shannon Dawdy reflects on the development of New Orleans from 1718 until 1768 during the revolt against Spanish rule. She depicts imagery describing to the reader what it was like in New Orleans and even paints a picture of what it was through others point of views. Throughout the book, Dawdy explains what a rouge colony is through historical people. Their ideas and experiences serve to back up the concept of Louisiana the “rouge colony.” The examples from the people show the nature of a rouge colony and the development of not only New Orleans but also Louisiana.

Read More
1922 Words | 8 Pages

In Jewell Parker Rhodes novel Voodoo Season, we meet our protagonist Marie Levant, she is a medical resident at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Marie is originally from Chicago but she is lured into the residency New Orleans program for reasons she cannot explain, and for some reason it just feels right to be there. However, from the moment that she arrives to her new home she begins have unexplainable, strange and vivid dreams. Her dreams consist of ritual ceremonies, childbirth, woman being persecuted and seeing herself in an all-white dress with people surrounding her and begging her to heal them. Marie was brought up in the foster care system after finding her dead mothers body on the kitchen floor when she was eight years old.

Read More
589 Words | 3 Pages

During the war, “She made sure that the leaves were replaced by clean linen dressings from out of her wagon.” (LaFantasie 34). Infection and disease was a leading killer of the Civil War. She pushed this level of sanitation before such a concept was anywhere near common practice. The practice of saving lives has been furthered by miles thanks to

Read More
867 Words | 4 Pages

Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a text that describes the experiences of Mary Rowlandson during her captivity by the Native Americans in the King Phillips war. The details about the capture which took place in 1676 are recorded in her diary accounts which were written a few years after she was released. The captivity lasted about eleven weeks and is accounted in the diaries. Rowlandson specifically believes that her experiences were related to the Bible and that the capture was a trial from God which she had to endure in order to survive and remain a true Christian woman who is suitable for the then puritan society (Harris 12).

Read More
2321 Words | 10 Pages

In 1971, Alvin Ailey choreographed Cry, a three part work solo dance set to gospel music that describes an emotional journey filled with struggle, hardships, defeat, survival and joy. It was intended as a birthday present to Alvin’s mother and a dedication to all black women everywhere. The first part of the dance is the struggle of trying to maintain pride irrespective of the opposition faced from outside. The second part reveals the sorrow within after the woman’s pride has been shattered into pieces and finally the third part is a spirited celebration of finding strength and joy in God. Even though cry was dedicated to only black women, i argue the notion that all women both black and white of the nineteenth century could relate

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

Mali is illustrated as a polytheistic society which comprises of African indigenous traditions rooted in voodoo, and Islam. Throughout the epic characters are seen dabbling in sorcerery or black magic. Some of the characters are referred to as soothsayers. Soumaoro Kanté’s character is a perfect example of voodoo in the text. His character is notorious for his disappearing acts during a battle, this added a mythical element as well as took away from the epic’s credibility.

Read More
2294 Words | 10 Pages

Also, there can be several opinions to one aspect. Thus, when reading and analysing a novel, students should have the opportunity to develop ideas and concepts of their own. Aside from that, a novel makes the reader aware of the aspect of subjectivity. The characters in a novel have their own subjective way of looking at the world surrounding them. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, in particular, shows the view of a disabled person and his aims in life, which makes students think of their own

Read More

More about Voodoo Queen Chapter Summary

Open Document