In the autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave, Douglas reinforces the universal human condition of freedom through syntax, figurative language, and selection of detail. This is demonstrated in the third paragraph, which makes it stand out.…
This book, written by Kristiana Gregory, is about a thirteen year old girl from Pennsylvania, Hattie Campbell. On her birthday, she was given a diary by her mother and her Aunt June. In the first entry, she mentions her Uncle Milton’s death three days ago while fixing her family’s barn and his funeral the eve of her birthday. At the funeral, the coffin fell out of their cart and was washed into the nearby river. Her father tried to save it but was almost sucked into the paddles of a riverboat. As a sign of apology, the riverboat captain agreed to give Mr Campbell and his family free tickets on his riverboat to go anywhere they wanted. That night, he announced that the family would be heading to the untamed West, at that time occupied by the Indians who were known to be violent. Mrs Campbell was very angry and initiated a “cold war” with her husband. Two days later, she relents and agrees to head out West.…
It is difficult to relate personally to the narratives covered in "Slavery and Freedom", especially during this time of year when we are reminded to give thanks for all that we hold dear. It is unimaginable to think about the life of slaves such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. Their sense of family was cut off at birth or shortly after, forming a personal identity was impossible and gaining freedom required huge acts of courage.…
Captivity narratives are written by those captured by their enemies. They are considered enemies based on their beliefs and views to be uncivilized. The Mary Rowlandson’s Captivity narrative holds a strong importance in early American history. During this time these types of narratives are allowing us to take a look at our colonial America culture by someone who was there. There are apparent themes in this captivity narrative such as the uncertainty of life. While showing part of her life, through her Puritan beliefs and faith of God, by Rowlandson tells us her story. It expresses her point of views on the way she felt, and lived through a time in history.…
named Miss Strangeworth, who lives in a small and sweet town in all her long life. Miss…
“ . . .Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In the American Declaration of Independence it is established that all people are subjected to these, among other, inalienable rights. The pursuit of happiness became a focal point for many Americans during the Great Depression, a time when poverty covered this great nation. The Walls family is cursed with this poverty for much of their lives. The title of the memoir “The Glass Castle” is later shown to represent this pursuit. Through the repetition of negative circumstances, the author elaborates on the aspect of achieving happiness through tenacity. Juxtaposition between the negative, destructive decisions of the parents and the positive, beneficial decisions of the children show the potentials of the pursuit of happiness. This same juxtaposition between parent and child shows the overall success of the pursuit is not entirely dependent on monetary status. Through the repetition and juxtaposition, the author thoroughly explores the concept of the American Dream, and how it can be pursued and achieved by anyone.…
You are walking along an abandoned trail. Then, all of a sudden you see an injured bird that isn't able to fly, or get food. What would you do? Would you keep walking, or save itś life. Well, Aaron sure saved a pigeon´s life. In the story, ¨Aaronś Gift,¨ the author, Myron Levoy, portrays the idea of what someone would do for their family. It not only shows the ordinary life of a boy, but, what the life of a boy should look like. This story explains how to be kind, courageous, and thoughtful. Aaron portrayś the idea of risking something for his family by keeping secrets, fighting bullies, and saving a life.…
It was November, 15 1959 when what seemed like any normal Saturday turned into a nightmare for the Clutter family. The events that took place on that night shocked America thanks to the great author Truman Capote. The Clutter family had what some people may call the “American Dream” but I don’t think the American Dream can be stuck on one idea everybody has their own ambitions and dreams. The Clutters murder was an uncommon event not only because of the small town that it happened in but one of the murderers had no definite American dream. So I will be discussing the American dream that the Clutters were living, what the American dream means to me and the American dream that the murderers had. As you read keep thinking in the back of your head what the American dream means to you.…
In the book, Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, the reader sees and feels the struggle that Fredrick had to learn to read and write. Literacy is one of the things that made him stand out from other slaves. When he read books like “The Columbian Orator” he realized just what it meant to be free. The story of other slave’s struggles to be free gave him the courage to seek his own freedom once and for…
John Steinbeck does not only explore how people struggled for their American dream, but also describes how difficult this melancholy period in history was for the “lesser” group of individuals at the time: the disadvantaged characters.…
In this book, it explains the distress and grief these slaves had to face in their everyday lives. There is ten slaves and each of them wrote their own story about what they had to face each and everyday. For example, one of the slaves is Frederick Douglass. He was the most famous African American of the nineteenth century. This book, sets back into the eighteen hundreds and kids at eight years old would be taken away from their loved ones and were put to work like cattle by their new possessor. For example, Frederick Douglas at the age of eight was taken from his mother without even saying goodbye. Douglas had to call his new controller Aunt Kathy or he would get a flogging. He explains the misery he had to sustain and how many times he was beaten or punished to starve. For example, he wrote about his new owner Kathy, “The cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; the voice, made all of sweet accord changed to one harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon”. (Taylor, 2005, p. 58). Each slave at the end of their story explains their after life. Growing Up In Slavery makes you think of life in other people’s shoes and how it would make you feel if you were them.…
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl. Dover Edition . Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc, 2001. Print.…
In this literary essay we will be discussing a book “A separate peace” by John Knowles. In this book two boys named Gene and Finny are attending an establishment at Devon; the boys quickly bond but when Gene starts to get jealous he ends up killing his best friend. Gene ends up returning back to Devon to apologize, emotions quickly stir up. I will explain to you in one short essay how flashback is important to this story. We first run into flashback when Gene decides to visit Devon and remembers the “tree”; this tree holds value which you will see in a moment. The second thesis statement would be character vs. self, gene begins to notice his intentions towards finny are stronger than he thought. Lastly the staircase, all these things hold up great value to this story.…
Both Winter Dreams and The Swimmer depict the “American Dream” as something, at first desirable, but if a person is consumed by it, it can take toll on their life. What could be seemed as the perfect life is truly detrimental to a person’s well-being and their…
The American Dream, or the Western idea of Success, can only be achieved “through initiative and hard work” (Tyson 57). Although this is the only way one can become successful, taking charge and working hard means something different to everyone. For some it may mean going through a few years of university just to make lots of money, but for others it may mean being dedicated towards the things they love. The characters in the book, The Lovely Bones, all portray the American Dream in a different manner, especially when it comes to the murder case of a seventeen year old girl named Susie Salmon. Throughout the novel the reader is shown the struggle that the Salmons encounter trying to get through the murder of Susie, and how other members of society deal as well. The three characters that are examined the most throughout the book are Susie’s father Jack, Susie’s murderer George and the detective on the case Len Fenerman. The characters in the book, The Lovely Bones, demonstrate that the western idea of success is misleading.…