Art Emitates Life : Frederick Douglass And Fanny Fern

In this paper I will compare the writings of Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. I will touch on their genre, purpose, content, and style. Both authors were born into slavery. Both escaped to freedom and fought to bring an end to slavery, each in their own way. Both Jacobs and Douglass have a different purpose for their writings.

In a Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by himself, the author argues that no one can be enslaved if he or she has the ability to read, write, and think. Douglass supports his claim by first providing details of his attempts to earn an education, and secondly by explaining the conversion of a single slaveholder. The author’s purpose is to reveal the evils of slavery to the wider public in order to gain support for the abolition of his terrifying practice. Based on the purpose of writing the book and the graphic detail of his stories, Douglass is writing to influence people of higher power, such as abolitionists, to abolish the appalling reality of slavery; developing a sympathetic relationship with the

Writing in the favor of black people has always remained controversial from the very beginning. Critics regard such writing as “a highly conventionalized genre” indicating that “its status as literature was long disputed but the literary merits of its most famous example such as Frederick Douglass 's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass…are widely recognized today.” (Ryan:537) Despite of such severe resistance, writers like Douglass have penned down their autobiography to present the misery of their fellow beings.

Today, many people look at slavery as an abomination and as a dark period of our nation’s history. However, when slavery was legal, many thought of it as necessary, even the slaves, and even believed it was a good thing, as to whites, Africans were intellectually inferior. However, Frederick Douglass, in his autobiography The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, debunks the mythology of slavery. Through the use of his experiences and words, he rebukes the romantic image of slavery, testifies against the belief of black intellectual inferiority, and shows how the system was designed to make slaves believe that they were better off as slaves. Through Douglass’s testimonies of his personal experiences, he shows the falsehood of the romantic

Authors often exaggerate or revise small details of their own books in order to produce an emotion in the reader instead of a factual representation. However, this does not make authors to be liers, only fabricators. In times or social unjust it is necessary for the oppressed to voice their opinions for the purpose of gaining equality. As it may seem immoral to twist truths, if done correctly it will strengthen the author's message, without compromising the authenticity of the plot. One can see this in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, along with his, My Bondage and My Freedom. Both novels are accounts of Douglass’ troublesome journey from a slave to a freeman. These heroic accounts served as prominent and respected

   Frederick Douglass was arguably the most prominent African American abolitionist during the mid-19th century. He established his notoriety through his narrative entitled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave published in 1845. Frederick Douglass also produced an African American newspaper, Frederick Douglass' Paper, which highlighted the reception and critiques of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Frederick Douglass praised Uncle Tom's Cabin through not only his writing but in the critiques and letters contained in his newspaper. It is important to look at these reviews to understand Douglass' intentions. However, C.V.S. from the Provincial

During the final years of legal slave ownership in the United States, the slave narrative became a popular way for literate enslaved people to express their anti-slavery stance through their own testimony. Two of the most influential writers on the slave narrative topic were the autobiographical authors Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. Since Douglas and Jacobs were both born in a similar time period, there are many similarities found in their works. Douglass’s Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave is closely comparable to Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl when analyzing how they represented their enslavement in their autobiographies. The two authors have similar ideas when portraying their struggles with forced ignorance. Their writing also contains parallels with the corrupting power of slavery for the slave owners, as well as the parallels in pointing out the hypocrisies of using the bible to defend slavery. These similarities can be explained in part due to Douglass and Jacobs following the same basic slave narrative outline to maintain the shared goal of abolishing slavery in the United States.

Within a slave narrative, the identity of the writer greatly affects the perspective of the story and the message that the author wishes to convey. For a narrative of this nature, to send its meaning directly and efficiently it must be able to illustrate the individual struggle of the writer as well as create a clear line between what it means to be a slave and what it means to be free. These identities of the author not only conflict with the image of self but also help to illuminate the struggles of the author. Each identity plays a part in constructing the narrative to depict both the hardships of slaves as well as the capabilities of those freed from enslavement to achieve more. Within Frederick Douglass’ narrative, he depicts both his

(Intro)The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave is an account of Frederick Douglass’ life of hardship as a slave who suffered due to a cruel institution which during his life was legal, but eventually found his freedom by fleeing to a free state. Frederick Douglass shows the reader what life was like during the antebellum period of the United States and how harshly some treated the enslaved, which not only bonded their bodies but also their minds. Within his narrative we see the detrimental consequences of African slavery towards individuals and the African family as a whole. He also exposes how the institution of slavery corrupts not only the enslaved but also those who willingly choose to participate in this foul practice, turning once kind hearted individuals into cold, cruel, hollow shells of whom they use to be. Douglass not only used his narrative to tell the story of his life, but also as a tool of propaganda to inform others of the horrors of slavery, and to dismiss the claims of others as to the need of slavery in the United States of America. (Thesis)Frederick Douglass’ narrative shows the reader what life was like for a slave in the antebellum period of America and how the harsh treatment of the enslaved not only effected their bodies but also the minds of the captives. Within Douglass’ narrative we also see how slavery effected the African American family, how slavery corrupts not only the enslaved but also the slaveholders involved

Throughout the abolition movement, both men and women slaves were trying to escape from slavery, and find their way to freedom in the North. Many of wrote their stories down. Some with the aid of ghost writers, and often under pseudonyms to protect their safety. These slave narratives spoke of the sufferings of the slave experience in America (Campbell 1). Because black men and black woman experienced slavery differently, they wrote about them differently. Those differences can be seen in a comparison of Frederick Douglass’s, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845), and of Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861).

       This essay examines Cora from The Last of the Mohicans, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Ann Jacobs.     The American Renaissance marks a period of social injustice and the fight of the minority to bring about social change. Women and African-Americans (who were freed or escaped from slavery) begin to gain a voice through literacy, and use that voice to start the movement to abolish slavery and gain women rights. The development of literacy makes it impossible to ignore women and African-Americans because their writing provides a permanent record of the horrors of slavery and injustice of oppressing the minority groups. Furthermore, the gain in literacy by these groups makes

Author C.S. Lewis in the Horse and the Boy provided the perfect statement about slavery, “But one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself”. One of the most important aspects of anybody’s life and also thought to be the meaning of life is, for everybody to what they want when they want as long as they are not hurting anybody else. A life spent playing by somebody else’s rules is simply a life not worth living. Slavery is one of the most disgusting parts of many parts of history and violates the right that every person on this earth is entitled to, the freedom of choice. Two of the most seminal and timeless pieces of literature written about slavery, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl written by Harriet Jacobs and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass both do a tremendous job of showing the harrowing effects of slavery. Jacobs and Douglass had to endure the hate of a society that despised their race and mistakenly encouraged the existence of slavery in society. These two stories present two different perspectives of people from the most oppressed groups in one of if not the darkest time in American history. Both stories while being incredibly dark and true to life, called for a change of the treatment of slaves and the black community and were able to show the true colors of slave owner’s warts and all. Slave owners had never been

After watching the video “Slavery and Freedom” I learned that in the nineteen-century the economy and culture of the southern states depended on the slavery industry. I learned that the slave owners sought to make their slaves completely dependent on them by prohibited them from learning to read and write. Also, many masters took sexual liberties with slave women such as Harriet Jacobs’s case. Black and white writers such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Harriet Beecher Stowe responded to the cruelty of slavery by creating a revolutionary literature committed to the overthrow of slavery. All of these abolitionist texts written by these writers participate in the effort to convince readers that slavery is unjust by appealing to their

    During the 18th, and 19th centuries of American history, African Americans, and women, have made tremendous strides, in the fight for equality. Without protest demonstrations, collegial debates, persuasive essays, and literature, there are very few methods of getting a point across effectively, and creating progress. When it comes to establishing momentous change during their respective eras, Judith Sargent Murray, (1751-1820) and Frederick Douglass, (1818-1895) can be considered key figures of their time. Judith Sargent Murray, who wrote On The Equality Of The Sexes, published in 1790, and Frederick Douglass’ autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, published in 1845, were crucial works of literature that inspired open minded groups, and later generations, to speak out against an unjust society. Murray’s essay elaborates problems of Institutional discriminations for women, and states that society is to blame for hindering women’s development.  She makes a strong claim that women are equal, (no less inferior) and if provided the same resources to succeed, they would be just as capable as men at performing day to day tasks. Douglass’ piece documents his own life with little filter, and shows to his audience the atrocities, and hardships, of being black, and a slave. He makes the convincing assertion that slavery is cruel, wrong, and must be stopped in order to promote a humane, and freer

Body of works authored by African Americans fluctuate with the social stratification of its people. The writing is not stagnant bound by time constraints, but fluid with time, as generally as any other form of literature. In other words, African American writing tends to reflect that of the current society they are subjected to, among other things. In the 1800’s, prior to the dawning of the Civil War, Black publication consisted roughly of memoirs, of which recounted the perils of slavery and the bliss circumvention, in turn, creating the earliest of Black literature, slave narratives. In their own time and thereafter, said narratives have been the object of much scrutiny of damning and plauditory natures. The authors of the works serving as no exception to such, as they have received perlustration from their kinsmen and their counterparts, alike. Phillis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglass are examples of said Black writers being that all have been accused of spiritually fleeing their race and relinquishing their Black identity.