Our Nig Analysis

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Recommended: Frederick Douglass influences in the 1800s

Faith Burns AAS 261W Take Home Quiz 1. Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig is significant because it was the first novel published by an African American woman. Our Nig is also an autobiographical work and reveals life realities of free black people in the north. 2. The defining moment in Our Nig is when Frado challenges Mrs.Bellmont, who has been physically and mentally abusing her. Frado says she will no longer work for Mrs.Bellmont if Mrs. Bellmont whips her again; Mrs.Bellmont decreases the frequency of her beatings. This is similar to the turning point in Frederick Douglass’s life: when Douglass physically fought back against the slave breaker, Covey. After that, Covey never touched Douglass again, similar to the change in Frado and Mrs.Bellmont’s After being enslaved, Booker T. Washington was a successful writer, teacher, and leader. He excelled in his studies at Hampton Institute to become a teacher, and he eventually found Tuskegee Institute. His acclaimed autobiography, Up From Slavery granted him literary prestige as well. The nation regarded Washington as a leader of the black community. However, Washington’s accommodationist view on how blacks should exist in post-Civil War society was highly criticized by radical black leaders. Activists like W.E.B. Dubois and Ida B. Wells felt that he should have been more critical of the violence and oppression that black people were encountering across the Wells calls on government to protect black prisoners and to hold fair trials for them. 18. Pauline Hopkins was the most significant writer for me because I found that a lot of today’s positive pop culture ideas about black women echo her themes in A Voice From the South. 19. I most enjoyed Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents In The Life of a Slave Girl because of the story behind it. Not only were the “incidents” amusing to me, but the issues regarding characters and authorship were also interesting. 20. Literature, especially African American literature, is related to history because many writers are heavily influence by the times that they lived in. Whether it is an autobiographical narrative, a piece of poetry, or a short story, the most skilled writers often use the society that they live in to frame their story, or writers reflect on current events to make a social commentary. Because the era of production often influences literature in some way, shape, or form, literature becomes history itself. The writings that come out of different time periods reflect the thoughts of people who lived in those times, providing modern day readers with an intimate look into the lives of people who lived through actual historical

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