Empire of the Summer Moon is about the 40-year battle that ensued between the Comanche Indians and the first American settlers that tried to inhabit the West. The author of this book is S. C. Gwynne. He has been writing for a better part of 15 years or more and has been the writing for The Dallas Morning News, he also has served as bureau chief, a national correspondent, and senior editor for Time Magazine. He has won many awards for his books and articles over the years. He now lives a relaxed life writing for Texas Monthly, with his wife, Katie, and daughter, Maisie in Austin, Texas.…
During the Antebellum period, slavery was ordinary, especially in the south of the U.S. Although such events occurred we are able to read about the truths and perspectives of a slave’s life. In Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs talks about her life and the struggles of being a slave. In addition to her life, the book describes first-hand encounters of events that also took place during this period such as the Nat Turner rebellion and how the character Harriet Jacobs was involved in such events.…
Phoebe Wolfe Professor Neary ENGL 399.96: Race and Visual Culture 10/30/2014 Frederick Douglass’s Demolition and Reconstruction of Visual Codification The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass exemplifies the complexities and paradoxes involved in the genre of the slave narrative. While, at many points in the narrative, Douglass appears to be merely conforming to the standard requirements of the slave narrative genre, the subtleties and intricacies of his work challenge both common characterizations of slaves and the narrative conventions themselves. By appropriating the very mechanisms and tropes that readers expected of him, Douglass retools traditional techniques to illustrate his specific account of slavery and to assert his humanity.…
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines heritage as “the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation (Merriam-Webster).” Our heritage can affect who we are and how we define ourselves. Sometimes our heritage can be redefined with new generations. Each person can perceive their heritage differently.…
A Review of Camp's Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South Stephanie M. H. Camp's Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South is a book whose central theme is premised on the idea of slavery. The book takes an approach that explains the relationship between masters and slaves as one that was guided by the use of different geographical spaces for both parties. Therefore, the author presents a scenario that introduces the concept of 'black spaces' and 'white spaces' that are antagonistic. The book goes a step further to examine the role that such geographical spaces played in the emancipation process. Camp takes the position that holds the idea that slaves' actions…
The book titled Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad by Eric Foner examines in depth, as the name suggests, the Underground Railroad, but it also discusses the numerous abolitionist associations and the people, black and white, who conducted them. These abolitionist organizations and the Underground Railroad often went hand in hand with the abolitionist organizations assisting runaways and fugitives in their search for a new, better life either in the North or Canada. Many important cities are mentioned along with the Underground Railroad operatives who performed their duties there. However, the book focusses heavily on New York City, which would become “… a key battleground in the national struggle over slavery,” (Foner 46).…
For my summer reading book I chose to read Jubilee by Margaret Walker. The reason I chose to read Jubilee was because I enjoy read historical fiction books. Also the title of the book means an anniversary of an event,and this word sparked interest in my mind. The book ties with an important time period in United States called the Civil War. The book ranges from the Civil War to the abolishment of slavery and the aftermath .The…
When people migrate from their homeland or where they have live for most of their lives, they must make a decision. They either assimilate to the new place where they live or stay true to themselves by maintaining their heritage which forms their identity. Aminata Diallo, the central character of the novel, The Book of Negroes written by Lawrence Hill, has to make that decision. Aminata sits down to pen the story of her long life by writing down her journey from when she is abducted, enslaved, and finally when she decides to upon her hard life and put an end to slavery. Through Aminata’s journey she faces difficult hardships but maintains her identity by staying true to herself, which is an effective and powerful form of resistance.…
Ketty KAMANZI Section 19 November 8, 2015 In Search of The Promised Land In Search of The Promised Land is a book that follows the lives of the Thomas-Rapier family, a slave-ish family in the nineteenth and twentieth century. It is able to depict the experiences of the family and showcase the “slavery situation” in the antebellum and Civil War era. With increasing tension between whites and blacks, major gray areas between freedom and slavery, varying opinions on slavery from the North and the South; In Search of the Promised Land gives an idea of how life as an African-American at that time.…
Freedom Writers is a story that shows the hate and fear that can exist between people based solely on their race or ethnicity and how when stripped of the barriers that appear to separate us,…
Braydon Turato-Brooks Mrs. Fung ENG 4U1-02 21 September 2017 Title of Your Report The reality of the world is always changing. Taking different perspectives, living through experiences and imagination all take a toll in how the world is visualized. In the novel The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill studies the ways that reality can be shifted through the persona of Aminata Diallo with experiences of loss along with physical pain and monumental heartbreak.…
Paper #1: Chapters 1-3 of Voices of Freedom Looking back at the whole occurrence of the discovery of the New World it becomes evident the many hardships that the colonial settlers caused which justifies the egocentric intentions of the many Europeans. It seems that even though the settlers were fleeing from a country that forced views among themselves or caused unjust situations; the colonists were precisely acting on the foreign population, who they viewed as “lesser”, similarly to that of their homelands. Although at the time the occurrence was not obvious, looking at it from today’s standpoint, it is quit ironic. On more than one instance the settlers treated distinctive groups with an inhumane disrespect with no regard to their well-being.…
So the relationship between the American Revolution and the black freedom was based on untapped manpower or in exchanged of a cowardly son. As a result, this exchange came with the price tag of freedom. From a slave’s perception, that meant living a life of…
People are always looking for their identity, whether it’s the one their parents created for them, or the one they built for themselves. Humans want to know their identity, just as the Ruth and James in The Color of Water, by James McBride, wanted. The book is called the Color of Water because James asked his mother, Ruth, if God was black or white, and she responded that “God is the color of water. Water doesn’t have a color” 1. This is a pinnacle moment because it shows the reader that identity may not only be about the color of one’s skin, but also the disposition of a person.…
As stated before, the timeframe of the story covers from 1910 to 1940, and is set in Georgia (SparkNotes Editors). The book shows the ongoing segregation just as it was during that times as well as the racial tension between whites and blacks that existed before Civil Rights. It also covers the relationship between a male and a female and how it was around the time before women actually developed rights and were able to be more independent and less like a slave. Lastly it covers international scars of slavery and how it was still present in Africa just as the time period reflected within foreign countries. Overall, the book identifies very strong themes which match exactly to the time period which it covers.…