"Harriet Jacobs"

Paper Summary:

This paper focuses on the way that Jacobs combines apologies, instructions and narratives. It discusses how Harriet Jacob's slave narrative is often addressed directly to the reader, appealing to them, apologizing to them and trusting them to read her experiences and share her outrage. Her unique style draws the reader into the narrative, making them feel almost as if they were experiencing the indignation she experienced as a southern slave before the Civil War. The writer explains that today, it is difficult to believe people had to live in these kinds of situations, and yet they did, and it is one of the periods in history that shame and diminish America.

From the Paper:

"Harriet Jacobs, or Linda Brent, was born a slave, and she opens her book with this simple statement, "I was born and reared in Slavery; and I remained in a Slave State twenty-seven years" (Jacobs 459). When she set about to write her experiences as a slave, she used a unique style which spoke to the reader throughout the narrative, as if she was sitting and speaking with whoever was reading her book. Sometimes she apologizes to the reader for what she is about to relate, sometimes she rages at the reader for allowing slavery to continue, and sometimes she simply states what her life was like as a being owned by another. In fact, she opens her narrative with an apology to the reader. "I wish I were more competent to the task I have undertaken. But I trust my readers will excuse deficiencies in consideration of circumstances" (Jacobs 459). Her personal story is sometimes difficult to read because of the cruelties and inhumanity shown to the slaves, however, it cannot help but stir emotion in the reader, and her very personal comments directed at the reader add pathos and drama to her writing."

More papers on "Harriet Jacobs":

• Comparison Essay # 115226 : "Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs"
• Book Review # 118615 : "Harriet Jacobs' "Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl"
• Comparison Essay # 89069 : "Phyllis Wheatley and Harriet Jacobs "
• Comparison Essay # 44857 : "Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass"

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