American Poet: Phillis Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley was an African-born slave in the last quarter of the eighteenth-century in New England. She was born in West Africa and brought to America on the slave ship Phillis. She was, however, much more than chattel-she was a poet. Phillis was the first African American to have a book published. In a time when women were not expected to be able to read or write, and when teaching an African American to be literate was frowned upon, Phillis Wheatley became educated in Latin and English literature. The education of Phillis Wheatley was, for the most part, for the intent of training "a servant and would-be companion for domestic utility," in which they undoubtedly succeeded. However, they "got an intellectual adornment" who, with her knowledge of the poems of Alexander Pope, the "Puritanical whiteness of her thoughts," and ability to write poems, soon became a celebrity among Boston?s social elite (Richmond 18,19).
Phillis's published her first poem in 1767, only a few short years after her initial introduction to the English language. Between the time of the publication of her first poem and her first book, Poems on Various Subjects, in 1773, Phillis gained notoriety by publishing elegies in New England newspapers; her most famous elegy being that for a popular Methodist minister, Reverend George Whitefield in 1770.
Although Phillis?s poetry was well received throughout New England, there were people who did not believe all of the poetry was actually written by Phillis. Her expertise with the heroic couplet form perfected by her literary hero Alexander Pope and the allusions to classic Greek and English poetry caused the speculation. In order to prove the validity of her poetry, Joh...
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Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1750, and was captured when she was 7. John Wheatley purchased Phillis for his wife, Susanna; together they taught Phillis how to read and write, and as early as 12, Phillis was writing poetry and her first poem had been published. Wheatley’s poems implicitly advocated for racial equality, while condemning slavery. Her work received some negative feedback from political figureheads, such as Thomas Jefferson. White America classified a human as having the ability to read, write, and reason; therefore, leaving no room for the uneducated Africans, seeing Africans as nonhuman. Jefferson claimed Wheatley’s work was not literature because the moment he admitted Wheatley’s work was indeed literature, he would have had to admit she was a human being. The way Phillis Wheatley handled the adversity she faced is admirable. Wheatley definitely impacted American history, and “owes her place in history to advocates of inequality” (Young 1999
Phillis Wheatley was born in Senegal, West Africa in 1753. She was kidnapped in 1761 at age eight and bought by John Wheatley so she could serve his wife Susan. Due to the fact that Phillis was extremely intelligent and a fast learner Susan did not train her to be her servant. Phillis was taught English, Latin, and Greek, and other subjects including the Bible. She slowly became a part of the Wheatley family. Thanks to the lessons that Phillips received she started writing poems, one of the poems she is known for is “Being Brought from Africa to America.” In this poem Phillis Wheatley uses some poetic devices such as similes, metaphors, hyperboles to illustrate color and darkness, multiple meanings of words, and the relationship between skin tone and salvation.
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Phillis Wheatley, who is now known as one of America’s most scholarly writers, has made a major impact on American Literature today. Her role in Literature had influenced many African Americans during this time period because it was very uncommon for them to become educated. Her poems made some people realize that they shouldn’t have slaves. Many people say that Phillis Wheately should go down in history as a hero while others say that she should not. Phillis is a historical hero because of the extraordinary courage that she showed by writing her poems while facing the adversities that she encountered. People disagree with this statement because they say that she did not make a difference in history.
Wheatley is magnificent in not only expressing her own ideals but also in incorporating the ideas that are evident in other literary works into her own. She is able to effectively utilize her knowledge of the English language and philosophical and religious beliefs in her poems. A few of the ongoing themes of Wheatley’s poetry include freedom, religion, morality, faith, celebration, war, and death. It is extremely essential to mention that Wheatley was the first African American woman to have her work published. Her works were in their own right prototypes for all literature that touched on race during her era. By analyzing Phillis Wheatley’s intellectual capacity we can begin to see that even after having been sold into slavery, she was only as limited as her imagination or faith would have her to be.
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To further analyze a more spoiled African American of the time, Phillis Wheatley did address the issues of her race as much as Sojourner Truth did. Wheatley mainly wrote “to Whites, for Whites and generally in the Euro-American tradition at that time” (Jamison 408). Her content focused on Christianity, morality, virtue, and other non-African-American-related topics. Her poetry has an underlying attitude of a white, not an African American. She shares the same views and attitude as a Caucasian, therefore she is part of African American literature because she was born into it, but she did not share the particular views and struggles of the African American population. She was heavily praised, because it was not expected from an African such as herself, although her upbringing should be considered. Some white men admired her work, because it was more than
Phillis Wheatley was the first published African-American female poet, but it was in London that her work was published, not in the United States. The poems that appeared in the New England newspapers and eventually in Poems on Various Subjects: Religious and Moral were published in 1773. Wheatley was born in Africa and kidnapped into slavery at the age of seven and transported to North America aboard the slave ship, Phillis. She was held in captivity for two months and sailed through the middle passage to Boston (Caretts, 1). She was bought by a John and Susanna Wheatley on July 11, 1761; they choose her name from the slave ship, Phillis. Their daughter, Mary immediately adored Phillis and began to teach her Latin, Greek, Religion, English
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Phillis was kidnapped from her home country in West Africa when was about eight years old. As we read this poem, it gives us insight into the life of a girl of color. It tells that she was forcefully taken from her family and thrown onto a slave ship. Phillis did not know that she was bound for a foreign country. Her writings
Finally, we must consider how far Auden’s statement can be taken into account. Typically, Auden does not conform to widely accepted or commonly adopted views, as can be seen in his poems; some may even label Auden a sociopath due to his palpable lack of empathy. Though there are many factors that could contribute towards a dislike of Desdemona, he simply cannot relate to her ethereal qualities: whilst Desdemona is not flawless, her actions do not warrant dislike, although many may dislike the symbolism of hopelessness that Desdemona’s death represents. The inevitability of hell and the devil winning over goodness and the ‘divine Desdemona’ is a harsh reality; as reflected by Iago’s safe passage through the storm in Act I, it is easier for evil to make its path.
In “On Being Brought From Africa To America” Phillis Wheatley speaks directly from her experience of coming to America, and how she became very religious on her arrival, so she uses her religious beliefs to explain how lucky she was to be in America and how she made a lot of achievements. Phillis Wheatley was a young black female poet, who started discovering her love for writing when she came to America, although it was illegal to educate black people she found a way to teach herself to read and write, even though a lot of people of her race were told that they weren’t good enough to deserve to be Christians and also to enjoy the advantage of being a citizen in America, Wheatley overcame these immense obstacles and she was so grateful for the chance to be a part of the Christian word and also to hear the word of Christianity, she was also very happy that she was brought to America where she has the opportunity to read and write. “Phillis” wasn’t her real name but her master named her that because the slave ship she boarded to come to America was named Phillis.
It is concluded that neither of the above proposals are adequate in that any practical benefit that results from the proposal such as employee and shareholder engagement are outweighed by the theoretical impact of increasing the overlap of the organs which would alter the structure of company law. The legal side of directors’ remuneration appears to be sufficient with the directors’ duties legislation acting as an efficient preventative measure for the problems that directors’ remuneration creates. Furthermore, shareholders already must approve several payments as such this could be strengthened to tackle the issue and employees are to some extent taken care of within s172 as such it is these sections that need development rather than directors’ remuneration.
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