Documentary Film Analysis Worksheet

acutely than the slave women. One among them, Harriet Jacobs, in her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, shares the sufferings of an enslaved girl to free, female Northerners to prove that because of their circumstances, slave women should not be held to the same standard as others. Through the effective use of a variety of rhetorical devices, Jacobs crafts a narrative in which slave women are impermanent and more tightly controlled than any other demographic, then urges her audience to action to alleviate their suffering.

Answer the following questions in 100 to 200 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use.

Among many abolitionists of slavery in early America were former slaves, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs who lived to tell the stories of their quests for freedom during their time as slaves. Harriet Jacobs, known for her narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was born into slavery like many African Americans at the time. Frederick Douglass who was also born into slavery was best known for his “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.” Through these narratives both Jacobs and Douglass each portray their own experiences of slavery in contrasting ways.

Harriet Jacobs wrote, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” using the pseudonym Linda Brent, and is among the most well-read female slave narratives in American history. Jacobs faces challenges as both a slave and as a mother. She was exposed to discrimination in numerous fronts including race, gender, and intelligence. Jacobs also appeals to the audience about the sexual harassment and abuse she encountered as well as her escape. Her story also presents the effectiveness of her spirit through fighting racism and showing the importance of women in the community.

Douglass was an American abolitionist, author and orator. He was born into slavery for roughly 20 years until he gained the courage to escape to the north and gain freedom (History.com Staff). Upon gaining his freedom, he created a friendship with an abolitionist known as William Lloyd Garrison. After getting to know how strong and intelligent Douglass was after all the years he spent as a slave, William persuaded Douglass into writing one of the most eloquent slave narratives, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, that told the story about his experience good and bad as a slave (History.com Staff). Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in 1813 for 23 years when she went into hiding for

Harriet Jacobs was an African-American slave that left an impact on several people in ending slavery. Not just on how slavery was, but especially how it was for the women. She wrote a autobiography on her time in slavery to address the white women in the North who do not fully comprehend the evils of slavery. She makes direct appeals to their humanity to expand their knowledge and influence their thouhts about slavery as a institution. This autobiography was published in a newspaper in the North and was part of the beginnings on ending slavery.

Born as a slave in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813, Harriet Ann Jacobs was raised by her slave mother and father. Since Harriet’s father was very skillful in his trade of carpentry, he was allowed to pay his mistress 200 dollars a year to work at his trade and manage his own affairs. As a result, his family was able to live comfortably in their home, and Harriet was “fondly shielded that [she] never dreamed [she] was a piece of merchandise, trusted to them for safe keeping, and liable to be demanded of them at any moment,” unlike most other slave children (pp. 11-12). At age six, however, her mother died and she was sent to her mistress. Because her mother was such a faithful servant to her mistress and whiter foster sister, the mistress promised that Harriet and her younger brother William should never suffer for anything during her lifetime (pp. 14). Unfortunately, when Harriet was nearly twelve, her mistress had died, and so did her shielding from the harsh reality slaves had to face at that time. Rather than being granted her freedom, Harriet was willed to the daughter of Dr. James Norcom, who was portrayed as Dr. Flint in Harriet’s autobiography. As a result of his abusive and threatening treatment towards her, Harriet planned an elaborate escape from both him and slavery with the help of people such as her grandmother and the Sands family. Only in 1861, when Harriet was free, did she decide to write one of the most popular female antebellum slave narratives, Incidents

Harriet Jacobs: an educator. A mother. An activist. Jacobs was born into slavery in 1813 in Edenton, North Carolina. Unlike many others, she was both rebellious and smart, but mindful. Due to her being a slave, she treated very poorly. She was degraded and harassed by her owner. There were so many factors of slavery she had to endure. Her personally definition of slavery and freedom was shown throughout her life’s story. Her love life, emotions, and mental process were being held in bondage. The symbols of her story defined her character. Her views of freedom were like many others; she wanted to be treated equally. She wanted the right to her life. She wanted want freedom.

The narratives written by Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs show the lives of slaves in great detail. They describe the ways in which they were abused and dehumanized both physically and mentally. Jacobs once said “Slavery is bad for men, but is far more terrible for women,” and when you sit down and think about it, she’s right. Women in slavery suffered much more than the men for a few reasons.

As many slaves were fortunate enough to gain their liberation, they began to write out stories of their endurances in order to further encourage the abolition movement (and aid the emancipation of their fellow enslaved) or just to have their stories heard. All autobiographies from slaves had a primary focus on the aspiration and pursuit for gaining their freedom, but their stories varied between both male and female sexes. Although both were slaves, the narratives of Harriet Jacobs and Olaudah Equiano were vastly different with some similarities. In her narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs explains the difficulties that female slaves generally had to face in America while Equiano’s autobiography, Interesting Narrative

Harriet Ann Jacobs was an African-American writer who managed to evade the slavery and to become a free person. Having joined the abolitionism movement in the US, she spoke for the nullification of slavery and for the reforms, supporting the atmosphere of change at that time. In her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, through the mix of slave narrative and sentimental novel genres, the author depicted her own reality of fighting against the slavery phenomenon, in particular, the struggle of enslaved women for freedom and the issues they were facing while protecting their role as mothers. The literary works of Jacobs reflect on her whole life and its key events in connection with the changes in the social life that were occurring at

The movie main point is how Dr. Martin Luther King uses his philosophy and ideology to speak out for those blacks that are vulnerable. He utilized the organization of SNCC and the help of SCLC which letting more people getting involved, to reveal the black consciousness propagating their thoughts of equalities.

The files screened focus on skiing, mountain climbing and mountain biking, mainly highly adrenaline sports, the films are usually upcoming or promising athletes and

‘Incidents in the life of a slave girl’ written by Harriet Jacobs and published by L.Maria Child (in 1831), is an autobiography by the author herself which documents Jacobs life as a slave and therefore

In the light of, the director makes good points through the whole movie about what they went through. I like this movie because it gives me more information of the people who were involved or who were there during that time. Like, Ann Lee Coper (Oprah Winfrey), Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo), and the rest of the people who help fight for African Americans to be able to vote. The movie also shows the difficult and the happy time they went through. Even the problems with their family. No matter what’s going on, they were still focus and full invested in having freedom. What I learned from this movie was that they did not let all the obstacles of what they went through mess up their main goal because of that I am able to take those lesson for my