Literary Reflection

The understanding of the life of a slave woman is far beyond the knowledge of you or I, unless you have actually been an enslaved woman. These literary elements depicting the passage from this story are the only

Narratives by fugitive slaves before the Civil war are necessary to help our understanding of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries of American history and literature. These slave narratives acted as sources, telling of the experiences from the point of view of those who lived through slavery as slaves themselves. Written primarily in the 1840s and 1850s, slave narratives revealed the struggles that southern slaves faced such as poor living conditions, working conditions, and excessive punishment and abuse. Two former slaves that addressed these concerns in their narratives were Frederick Douglass and Mary Prince. In their narratives, they share the hardships faced as well as the effect they had on their physical and emotional well-beings.

Nowadays there is no doubt that slavery is a terrible thing. However, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was written during a time where slavery was accepted by half of the country. Though those who were against slavery had very strong opinions, it had been such a staple in American life that many believed that resisting was ineffective. Abolitionist literature was a cornerstone of the anti-slavery movement, giving readers insight on how slavery feels from the perspective of actual slaves. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl has multiple themes, such as the reality of slavery and family, that make it a perfect, and important, example of abolitionist literature.

Similarly, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” offers many insights into the suffering that life can sometimes offer. Her account does not have the same subtle optimism found in “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”, however, it similarly shows how many can take their luxurious lifestyles for granted, by outlining the suffering or even discussing a woman who was happy her child was dying and would be removed from a life of pain (23). Both of these texts clearly outline how resilient human nature can be – they both tell the stories of women who are put into incredibly challenging situations and yet they both continue to survive. This survival mechanism of humans is an intriguing recurring theme in both texts and is a similarity that links them both together.

In the book Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl, the author, Harriet Jacobs takes us into American history of the nineteenth century of unjust slavery and cruelty, with which individuals of both genders had to struggle with. The story is told through a voice of a young African-American woman, a strong and a devoted mother, a faithful Christian soul, and a slave. Her early struggles to survive, to endure years of psychological abuse from her master, and later escape from bondage to freedom. Through this narrative, the author exemplifies the strongest of wills, the enduring and caring love for her two children, and the perseverance to achieve personal freedom.

I have been practicing on how to improve my writing over the past few weeks, which has taught me a great deal about writing. My teacher would like me to evaluate and explain my strengths and weaknesses in my own writing. This evaluation is in between my two essays. One on my own and another with my teacher's help. I have strengths and weakness in my introduction, body paragraphs ,and my conclusion.

English is a hard language to learn, for there are numerous elements of effective usage and writing. Many people, including me, struggle in writing because of a lack of knowledge. Since middle school, English was not a strong suit of mine. I struggled with the simplest of tasks often taking a considerably longer time to complete a task than the other students. Unmotivated teachers and a lack of interest resulted in remedial writing skills. To put it simply, I had little confidence in my writing and I dreaded taking the class because of the writing involved. In spite of my fears, I took the course and I was able to perfect and challenge my mediocre writing skills.

When I look back at my writing before having any college experience, I can see that I had a lot to work on. I can say that I was never really a big fan of writing anything much less essays. Even when I was younger, I just did not have a great big interest in writing. This was because I felt that I could not elaborate as well as others. I was not use to having to write anything really, but I now feel that I have a better grasp on the steps that I need to take to get my writing on the level that it needs to be.

We are already midway through the first quarter of my last year as a high school student. I find it hard to completely grasp how quickly this year is passing and yet I feel like we've already accomplished so much.

I have many talents but I would have to say writing is not at the top of that list. I am not a terrible writer, actually I have been told I am pretty good. It is the fact that I am not confident in my writing abilities. When I am given a writing assignment it takes me awhile to fully know what I am writing about, I take forever to start a essay but once I get my ideas on paper it turns into a piece of cake. I guess it is because I have so many thoughts and opinions running rampant and I have a hard time taming them all. Because of this I can take longer on a a essay than needs be. When I took AP Literature last year I would always have trouble finishing my essays, they would start off well but towards the end, they would not make any since. Tell me to

I feel strongly and I am convince that the fact that I had a headache and blocked sinuses affected my learning during the course time.

Slave narratives were the dominant literary mode in the early African-American literature. Thousands of accounts and writings, some legitimate and some fiction of white abolitionists, were published in the years between 1800 and the Civil War. These documents were written to promote the antislavery cause and to describe in detail how slaves were typically treated in the south. Most slave narratives in this time period attempted to appeal to the emotions of the white readers and often described of the severe whippings and injuries inflicted on black slaves. Like most all slave narratives, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by slave Harriet Jacob’s, intends to make white Americans aware of the sexual victimization that slave woman faced as well as to share her experience with abuse of slavery, her daily struggles to gain respect, and the details of her escape. Jacob’s story strongly emphasizes the problems faced by female slaves involving sexual abuse and separation of family. Due to the skilled, honest, and complete way she tells her story, it has become one of the most popular and most read slave narratives of all time. This primary source supports many themes from secondary sources pertaining to slavery. Brenda E. Stevenson’s “Slave Marriage and Family Relations” and Nell Painter’s “Soul Murder and Slavery” are two readings which specifically connect to Jacob’s story. Jacob’s supports the interpretations of gender and sexuality themes from these readings in

As a student entering the 10th grade my essay writing abilities were questionable at best. However over the course of my sophomore year I acquired new skills and techniques to construct and write essays. In some cases this class broadened my abilities already in place and in others it constructed new abilities to help strengthen others. All in all I am a better writer than when I entered my sophomore year. Despite all the positive changes to my writing style that have occurred over the past year some parts of my writing style require more effort to come to par with other parts of my writing style. As a writer over the past year I have reinforced my arguments well, and learned to develop a thesis better than I had, however I require more work

Writing has always been something I dread. It’s weird because I love talking and telling stories, but the moment I have to write it all down on paper, I become frantic. It’s almost as if a horse race just begun in my mind, with hundreds of horses, or words, running through my mind, unable to place them in chronological order. Because I struggle to form satisfying sentence structure, it takes me hours, sometimes even days, to write one paper. It’s not that I think I’m a “bad writer,” I just get discouraged easily. Needless to say, I don’t think highly of my writing skills. When I was little I loved to both read and write. I read just about any book I could get my hands on, and my journal was my go to for my daily adventures. Although it’s

What concepts, principles, or ideas that you have learned, do you think you will remember the most after you leave this class?