The Writing of The Long Song
”The Writing of The Long Song” is an essay written by Andrea Levy, about the writing of her book ‘The Long song’. Levy has Jamaican roots herself, and therefore wonders why people feel ashamed about their ancestors being slaves, instead of being proud of them for going through slavery. It all started when Levy was at a conference in London, and a young woman asked how she could be proud of her Jamaican roots, when all her ancestors had been slaves. Levy on the other hand, is very proud of her ancestors and acknowledges them by saying: “If our ancestors survived the slave ships they were strong. If they survived the plantations they were clever.” (page 7, line 16). But even though she is proud of her ancestors, …show more content…
She also has a personal view in the text and uses it to get her audiences attention: “Yes, sisters!” (page 10, line 231). By having this relaxed and down to earth style of writing, she stays on the same level as her readers, and connects with them by making them relate to her and what she is writing about. At the same time she appeals to them using pathos. She is constantly trying to get the readers compassion by continuously mentioning all the horrible things that happened to her ancestors when they were enslaved. She also throws out some historical facts to seem more credible, and therefore uses logos as well: “Lady Nugent, for example, the wife of the Governor of Jamaica from 1801 to 1805, records in her journal: “The sea was rather rough (…)”” (page 9, line 181). Levy explores themes where emotion and ethicality are very present, and she takes advantage of this by using the pathos appeal. She also uses this personal style of writing, and the text is a bit biased. But since she uses logos, and applies historical facts and proof to what she has to say, she raises the legitimacy of her claims. With these factors put together, she appeals to the readers using ethos, which makes her seem incredibly trustworthy. This really makes the reader pay attention to what she has to say about the
”The Writing of The Long Song” is an essay written by Andrea Levy, about the writing of her book ‘The Long song’. Levy has Jamaican roots herself, and therefore wonders why people feel ashamed about their ancestors being slaves, instead of being proud of them for going through slavery. It all started when Levy was at a conference in London, and a young woman asked how she could be proud of her Jamaican roots, when all her ancestors had been slaves. Levy on the other hand, is very proud of her ancestors and acknowledges them by saying: “If our ancestors survived the slave ships they were strong. If they survived the plantations they were clever.” (page 7, line 16). But even though she is proud of her ancestors, …show more content…
She also has a personal view in the text and uses it to get her audiences attention: “Yes, sisters!” (page 10, line 231). By having this relaxed and down to earth style of writing, she stays on the same level as her readers, and connects with them by making them relate to her and what she is writing about. At the same time she appeals to them using pathos. She is constantly trying to get the readers compassion by continuously mentioning all the horrible things that happened to her ancestors when they were enslaved. She also throws out some historical facts to seem more credible, and therefore uses logos as well: “Lady Nugent, for example, the wife of the Governor of Jamaica from 1801 to 1805, records in her journal: “The sea was rather rough (…)”” (page 9, line 181). Levy explores themes where emotion and ethicality are very present, and she takes advantage of this by using the pathos appeal. She also uses this personal style of writing, and the text is a bit biased. But since she uses logos, and applies historical facts and proof to what she has to say, she raises the legitimacy of her claims. With these factors put together, she appeals to the readers using ethos, which makes her seem incredibly trustworthy. This really makes the reader pay attention to what she has to say about the