Phillis Wheatley Poem

Frost further points out that the stretch of woods being viewed is very rural. This is made possible by the reference to the location between the woods and frozen lake. In closing the final sentence of the second stanza Frost reiterates the fact that this occurs on “the darkest evening of the year” stating the darkness of the mood.

When I think of a poet, images of scowling, mustached men whose 19th century wardrobe could use an update spring to mind—a somber Edgar Allen Poe type whose ink strokes inquire of unrequited love interests and dreary days alone in the snow. I certainly do not imagine modern, multi-ethnic women who live in the same state as me. However, as soon as I read Natasha Trethewey’s poetry, I immediately admired the way her words so effortlessly danced on the page, my mind’s eye watching the elegant choreography with each syllable read. Moreover, when I learned of her tragic history, and the strength and resilience she possessed to carry on, I could not help but to respect the way she turned pain into beautiful art. The right words carry great power

Phillis Wheatley’s first sentence, in a Letter to Samson Occom, was very long. There was at least five points she made in this sentence alone. This one sentence took up three-fourths of this letter. Phillis Wheatley’s main points are within this sentence. She is recognizing that Samson Occom observed the ‘negros’ natural rights. She is arguing that these rights are bringing hope to the African people and making like for them better, and less chaotic. Lastly, the final point she makes in the first sentence is that God will deliver them as he did the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

Wheatley is trying to subversively express that the Lord will be gracious enough to deliver the slaves from the “dark abodes”, or bad treatment as he did the Egyptians in biblical times. Throughout the first stanza of the poem, Phyllis Wheatley challenges the reader’s morals by referencing the bible right off the bat.

Phillis Wheatley drew attention in the 18thcentury for being a black slave, and a child prodigy who was able to write poems and songs. She was born in Gambia, Africa, and brought to Boston as a slave when she was a child, and became slave and companion to John Wheatley’s wife. As she grew older, John Wheatley’s wife viewed her as a feeble and brilliant girl who deserves to be educated and felt great affection toward her. Therefore, Susanna Wheatley’s daughters taught Phillis how to read and write, so she delivered her honest opinions through her writings (Baym and Levine 763). Then she became the first African American writer to publish a book of poetry while other slaves were forbidden to learn how to read and write. Her ability to write and read gave her freedom of expression and enabled her to become a free woman. Her literacy influenced her surroundings in numerous ways. She was acknowledged by many people for her great poetical talents (“Phillis Wheatley, the First” para 3). In the poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Phillis Wheatley appeals to ethos and pathos, uses suitable diction and a metaphor to demonstrate that the discrimination of Africans is barbarous, and encourages people to not judge by physical characteristics, but consider innate qualities.

The title of Natasha Trethewey’s poem, “Amateur Fighter”, is what made me curious to read it. An amateur fighter is an odd subject choice. It is more common to read poems or even stories about great fighters or champions. The title also sets the tone of the poem. Obviously, the poem will not be about a hero, but instead, it will be about a fighter. It is also interesting that the poem is titled “Amateur Fighter”, yet the poem says that the fighter won a prize. It makes me think the word ‘fighter’ could mean a boxer or someone who is fighting for life or their place in it.

……In 1845 an extraordinary piece of work by Frederick Douglass was published “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”; this was the life of a man who through many adversities stood tall with his head in the heavens. Douglass was the more proactive abolitionist as his work was to demolish slavery while detailing his life experience as a slave and expressing is deep emotions and theory on slavery. In the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” he expresses the way religion and its literature, the bible, had an effect not only on slavery but also with white Christianity. His position on slavery was strong and compelling. Douglass used powerful authoritative words from the start of his narrative to grasp our hold and attention and keep us enflamed while realizing God is embedded in the words. ……Phillis Wheatley overcame obstacles most people would quiver against. She showed us slavery and she showed us faith. In the poem, she tells us “Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand” (Wheatley, line 1-2) Right from the beginning , Wheatley shows us religion through her use of subtle but powerful words. She uses the words “Mercy, Pagan

Christianity was new to most slaves who had been abducted from their native country and taken to the Americas. Some were hesitant to abandon their old traditions for the Christ their white captors taught of, but after several generations of slavery, most black slaves had succumbed to relentless preaching. However, the Christianity that took hold within the slave community was often interpreted differently, conveying different messages to pockets of slave population. The use of Christianity in slavery was a double edged sword, creating not only a tool for control, but a weapon of discontent in slave communities. Examining the works of Richard Allen and the stories of Nat Turner, create a narrative of how Christianity was applied differently to slaves.

In referencing the Bible, Douglass entered an intimate, significant, and yet ironically similar importance in the eyes of all men, colored or not. Douglass illustrated that slaves are in no way different than their white counterparts, doing the same activities for their community by "Confessing and worshipping the Christian’s God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men”. Douglass indeed hits home the point that these men are created equal because they both prayed and worshiped the same god that gave their life meaning. Though Douglass does go on to distance himself from the events of the Fourth of July by differentiating it as the white day of privilege, while in comparison, the African-American population is still searching for their liberty. Douglass again, exposed the downright hypocrisy and blunt silliness of the nation. BETTER ELABORATION?

Wheatley grew up as a slave in a white household, where she learned how to read and write and about God. Her masters helped her publish her books and poems, which launched her career as a well-developed writer. Her works display her thankfulness to learning about God from the white Americans. She states, “Taught my benighted soul to understand/That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too/Once I redemption neither sought nor knew” (Wheatley, lines 1-3). In Africa, she did not know of God or Christianity, so once she learned about him she was thankful in ‘being brought from Africa to America.’ Similar to Wheatley, Douglass grew up as a slave, where he learned of the cruelties brought upon innocent African Americans. He experienced many “life-altering events as a slave, where he saw murders, hangings, and beatings of the colored people”. After experiencing all of these tragedies, he began to write narrative detailing his life and poems influenced by these events. “A Parody” was written from the viewpoint of a colored man observing the hypocritical white

Phillis Wheatley was a slave from West Africa who was kidnapped by human traffickers and brought to Boston at the young age of seven. Later she became the servant of Susanna Wheatley. Being a house slave meant that Wheatley was exposed to western ideology like the bible which caused her to leave paganism and become a born again Christian. Phillis truly did believe that the bible was a guide for life like the revolutionaries did. It could reasoned that she could have chronic Stockholm syndrome because she says “Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train”( Wheatly,55) though her race are the evil seeds of Cain, the first murderer in bible. She thought black people could be saved if they believe in

Tammi, a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, works as the coordinator of an afterschool enrichment program at a local elementary school and as a Connections program facilitator for the NH Humanities Council teaching new adult readers. She has lived and worked in New Hampshire, Maine and Germany, and has taught in a variety of nontraditional settings from preschool to prison. In 2008, with NH poet Kyle Potvin, Tammi founded the non-profit The Prickly Pear Poetry Project: Processing the Cancer Experience Through Poetry. The project is a two hour workshop based on the profound healing power of reading and writing poetry for people whose lives have been impacted by cancer that the two deliver at hospitals, oncology centers and churches

Both female poets choose to use the first person, implying that the “I” connotates a personal sentiment for the author and reader. In Wheatley’s case, it is made clear to the reader through a footnote that the poem is in fact about her as it states, “[it] commemorates Wheatley’s transatlantic voyage to London” (Wheatley 1020). In this poem, the reader is given a direct image of departure. Wheatley travels from Boston to London in order to publish her poems as well as maintain her health. Moreover, to further point out Wheatley is the intended ‘I’, the poem is dedicated to her mistress Susanna Wheatley who is mentioned in the poem. Her poem uses the first person to not only show she is the subject of the poem, but to narrate her feelings on her travel experience.

Wheatley’s criticisms steam mostly form the figurative language in the poem. The speaker uses metaphors, when reading in a superficial manner, causes the reader to think the speaker is self-deprecating. The speaker says, “Taught my benighted soul to understand” (2) The metaphor benighted to describe her soul as spiritually unaware into religiously enlightened. Wheatley continues to use a hyperbole saying, "Their color is a diabolic die."(6) The language use could be viewed as if the speaker is belittling African natives. This was a rhetorical device helps the American colonists compare their Christian teaching to their behaviors. The author, Wheatley, “oppositional discourse on Christianity, she anticipated the moral arguments of pro-slavers, especially in her characterizations of the Christian God.” (McBride) the speaker draws the reader in with the dialectal that appears to be gracious for their intervention while reminding them of their deceit with

The poem and the narrative both reveal that there is a lot of religious hypocrisy within child labor and slavery. Christians are supposed to be kind to one another and help those who have less than them, but leaders shown exemplify the opposite. Douglass illustrates that the men who beat and abuse him are Christian people. Douglass explains that the slaveholders used the Bible to make slavery seem okay. Slaveholders believed that God cursed Ham for mocking Noah and that dark skin was the punishment in the Old Testament. He is able to prove that this statement does not add up, and demonstrates that the people within slavery are hypocrites. Christians are