Journal #7: Abolitionist Poetry

“The Farewell” poem written by John Greenleaf Wittier is a mournful poem about the appalling experiences that await the daughters of a slave.  The mother is in anguish and already knows her daughters fate because she has lived this fate as well.  Wittier uses sound to influence the audience against the evils of slavery.  The repetition of “Gone, gone, -- sold and gone/To the rice-swamp dank and lone” at the beginning of each stanza created depressing narrative.  I imagined the yell of an auctioneer announcing this phrase each time it was said, and each time being a different slave girl.  The sound the auctioneer led me to imagine the scene of a slave auction with different slave daughters standing up on the auction blocks.  This image is simply horrifying.  The repetition of the last lines in the stanza “From Virginia's hills and waters; /Woe is me, my stolen daughters!” emphasizes the grief the mother is going through. The daughters have been stolen from their nurturing mothers.  Their mother does not know their full fate; she can only speculate the hardships they will endure. In the end she has to put her trust in God to spare her children the life that she fears they now have.  She is putting her trust in him to protect her children because has no power to help the daughters.  By saying “He, to whom alone/All their cruel wrongs are known” the mother is explaining that even though the slave-owners are getting away with this treachery, God sees what is happening and knows it is wrong.  

Bonus Blog on Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

The slave narrative was a popular genre of literature published by abolitionists.  Harriet Jacobs recounts her tales of being a slave and her journey towards freedom in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.  Her purpose as an author is to expose the reader to the treacheries and hardships of slavery.  In order for her sound trustworthy and persuade her audience, she needed to construct herself into a “true woman” of the era.   A true woman was pious, pure, and submissive to her husband.  Jacobs’ does have affairs with different men in the narrative.  She does defend her actions stating, “For years my master had done his utmost to pollute my mind with foul images, and to destroy pure principles inculcated by my grandmother” (777).  She asks the readers for understanding and explains that slavery is the cause of her sexual impurity.  Jacobs also incorporates Christianity into her narrative.  She does have her child christened, which would have made her more agreeable to the reader.  She also addresses the reader directly by crying out “O virtuous reader!”  and asking forgiveness for all of the sins she has committed(778).  She argues “slave women ought not to be judged by the same standard as others” (778).  Jacobs wanted the readers to know how genuine she felt about her immodest actions by apologizing directly to them.  Jacobs pulls the heartstrings of the reader when speaking about her children.  While in captivity, she could not see them and felt like “a tiger when a hunter tries to steal their young.” (789).  A true woman of the time would be able to relate to the pain of losing a child.  Harriet Jacobs narrative ingeniously created a true women within herself and related to northern abolitionist women at the same time, persuading them to assist in the abolition of slavery.

Blog #6

In “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” Harriet Jacobs narrates the hardships she endures due to the color of her skin.  At an early age, she “could not study the arts of reading and writing” (765).  Slaveholders kept their slaves in the dark by not allowing them to receive an education.  Slaves would not be able to read abolitionist papers, the Bible, or even write letters to others.  In this sense, they would only know their direct surroundings and be too afraid to run away. 

            Jacobs also recounts the time she first loved.  She asks the question, “Why allow the tendrils of the heart to twine around objects which may at any moment be wrenched away by the hand of violence?”(772).  Since her lover was a free black man, her Mr. Flint would not allow the marriage to be carried out.  Slaves were property and “had no right to any family ties of their own”(772).  Jacobs is definitely caught between cultures because she wants to have a free life with a free man but is still a slave.  

Blog #5: The Theme

After reading "An Indian's Looking-Glass" and “Indian Names,” I have noticed there is a theme of resistance against the dominant race, the white man.

“An Indian’s Looking Glass” opposes the white man’s racist composition of Native Americans as an inferior race and uses examples of the Bible to prove that native people and people of color are identical to the white men in the eyes of the Lord.  William Apess develops the idea that white men are dishonorable when it comes to dealing with people of a different skin color.  He deliberately asks the reader to consider if “different skins were put together, and each skin had its national crimes written upon it, which skin do you think would have the greatest?”  Once again, he refuses to accept the white man as the most dominant, pristine race.  He states multiple quotations from the Bible as evidence against the white man.  “He who loveth God loveth his brother also” (1 John 4:21), Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two precepts hand all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).  He uses irony as a tool against the white man.  The white man reads the Bible and follows the Lord but is not applying these rules to all races.  He even mentions that Jesus himself was not a white man.  Apess directly asks the reader if Jesus ever taught one to despise another man because of the color of their skin. 

  “Indian Names” has a more naturalistic approach to oppose the white man.  Lydia Sigourney uses the natural landscapes of America to symbolize the ancient culture of the Native Americans.  She is particularly speaking about the Removal Act of 1830, which forced native tribes to give up their land to the white man.  Sigourney used a more passive voice than Apess, but she was still resisting the white man’s rule.

The role of a woman in "The Wife"

Irving’s short story “The Wife” describes how women were viewed at that time.  He describes them as “the softer sex,” full of “weakness and dependence.”  In that time period, women did not bring in any income into the family.  Irving writes that a “woman is dependent of a man” and an “ornament to a man in happy hours.”  He also describes how women sustain their men.  They must be sympathetic when their man is in trouble, “tenderly supporting the drooping head, and binding up the broken heart.”  He also mentioned that women had some kind of witchery, making them sound like sorceresses who seduce their men under a spell.  Irving’s ideal woman would be considered a trophy wife this day in age; someone to simply show off to your friends.  Irving also informed the reader on a typical marriage in early America.  The woman was just emotional support to the man and had no power in society.  In “The Wife” the main character Leslie had a reversal of fortune and attempted to hide the news from his wife.  But his wife being the tender creature that she was, accepted poverty and supported him through the tough times.  This situation does happen in America today but might be handled differently.  The woman might have had to start working, which was unheard of un America back then.

American Literature

While reading the assigned introduction, I realized I have never actually studied the history of American literature.  Yes, I have studied history and literature, but never have I studied how American Literature has transcended throughout its history.  It will be fascinating to discover what was the top genre of book or what was considered the ‘bestseller’ of the time.  The printing press was invented in the 1400’s which finally made text more readily available.  Books were handwritten and only intended for the upper class and noblemen to read.  It is difficult to grasp the concept of not being able to afford a printed book; most are under 20 dollars at any store.   Today, society does not take advantage of all of the literary resources that are in grasp.  There are infinite amounts of magazines, textbooks, novels, and newspapers, in this world today I am challenging myself immerse myself and learn more about American literature.  I am fascinated with how it has evolved throughout history.  Christopher Columbus’s letters written about his findings in America, captivity narratives, and primers were all bestsellers before the Revolution.  Now Harry Potter, Twilight, and many other fantasy novels are bestsellers, taking over popular media as well.

Journal #1: What is the definition of an American?

What is the definition of an American?  In the 1700's John de Crevecoeur, a French-American made a point to describe an American as a white, land owning man who was born in the country.  As time has passed, the definition has unquestionably broadened.  During the Civil Rights Act, Langston Hughes expressed his feelings on America through poetry.  His poems depict a life of hard work and little freedom, something African Americans fought and changed.  My personal definition of being American has not been altered; the definitions presented in class explained how Americans were defined in the past.

            Anyone who is a citizen of the United States technically is an American, but is that the only requirement?  Does a person simply have to be born in the United States to be an American?  ‘True’ Americans use their freedom as a tool to succeed in their everyday lives.  They are grateful they live in a country that is not ruled by gluttonous dictators and actively participate in elections to decide members of the government. The key about being an American is to pursue a dream; reach a goal that was not made for you but made by you, and to always remember the men and women fighting for our country who have made it that way.