Ian D’Silva November 5, 2014
Writing101: Annotated Biliography Professor Pinuelas
How Does Rhetorical Context Affect the Presentation of Objectification?
Canot, Theodore, and Brantz Mayer. Adventures of an African Slaver: An Account of the Life of Captain Theodore Canot, Trader in Gold, Ivory, and Slaves on the Coast of Guinea: Written out and Edited from the Captain’s Journals, Memoranda and Conversations by Brantz Mayer. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2002
This is a primary account of a French slaver in Africa in the beginning of the 19th century. It discusses author’s journey to Africa for slaves. He discusses the treatment and discipline of slaves on the slave ships. A unique aspect of this work is that he discusses the suppression
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They are both slave ship captains but they have different rhetorical stances because of their intended audience, and this produces a differentiation in the presentation of the life on a slave ship. Similar to Theodore Canot, the work describes the slaves as barbaric to justify their harsh treatments but also describes how they treat the slaves well so that they are treating their captives humanely.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of The Life Olauda. Simon and Brown, 2012
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is a particularly interesting object because it is primary, in that he is telling us, in the first person, about his own experiences. Personal accounts from slaves are scarce, and so, this is a crucial source in analyzing the reactions to slaves being objectified in the slave trade.
Equiano was a slave in Virginia for a short period of time, but the majority of Equiano’s life as a slave was serving the captains of slave ships and British navy vessels. Due to increased time on a slave ship, Equiano experienced much more firsthand exposure to the transatlantic slave trade than any other slave, allowing us to get a deeper look into a slave’s
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The audience of the ship’s crew is buyers and society. They want convince buyers that their slaves are in the best condition while showing society that this is being done in a humane manner. We can use this to make connections with Equiano’s work and analyze how the different rhetorical contexts create different representations of the treatment of slaves.
Since Thompson thoroughly analyzes the representations of the ship crew, we can also use this source as a secondary source. We can put Thompson’s ideas in discussion with ours research and examine how they align and differ.
Walvin, James. An African’s Life: The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano, 1745–1797. London: Cassell, 1998
This study attempts to get a more comprehensive understanding of Olaudah Equiano by putting his life in context with the slavery. Walvin’s study helps us get a better understanding of what Equiano’s rhetorical context is and how it came to be that way. We can then use this knowledge to analyze Equiano’s accounts with this understanding of his rhetorical stance in
One of the major questions asked about the slave trade is ‘how could so Europeans enslave so many millions of Africans?” Many documents exist and show historians what the slave trade was like. We use these stories to piece together what it must have been to be a slave or a slaver. John Barbot told the story of the slave trade from the perspective of a slaver in his “A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea.” Barbot describes the life of African slaves before they entered the slave trade.
Olaudah Equiano was not an American born slave. He was born and raised well into his childhood in Africa with his family. His slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African, published in New York in 1791 however, had a lasting impact on America as it described the inhumane treatment of Africans being sold into slavery (Baym 1: 687). Equiano’s initial concept of freedom stemmed from his childhood of which he speaks very fondly, describing his homeland as a “nation of dancers, musicians and poets,” a...
In, conclusion the experiences of Equiano’s servitude in Africa differed from his experience in England. The African slave trade primarily was based upon providing jobs to families or punishment to real criminals. Many times the cruel example of being kidnapped from your village and forced into this way of life was also prevalent. This narrative contains the terrifying events of a young a child being held captive. The sources we have of the truth from this period of time are limited and hard to obtain. Servitude still exists to today in many parts of Africa and will remain a common part of their
Equiano was the youngest of his brothers who enjoyed playing outside throwing javelins enjoying the normal life of a small child. At the beginning of the day, the elders would leave their children at home while they went out into the fields to work. While they were gone, some of the children would get together to play but always took precautions of potential kidnappers. Even with all these precautions, people were still seized from their homes and taken away. Equiano was home one day with his little sister tending to the everyday household needs when out of nowhere they were captured by a couple men who had gotten over the walls. They had no time to resist or scream for help before they found themselves bound, gagged, and being taken away. Equiano had no idea where these people were taking him and they didn’t stop once until nightfall where they stayed until dawn. He tells us about how they traveled for many days and nights not having any clue where they were going or when they would get there. Slaves traveled by land and by sea, but Equiano’s journey was by sea. He tells us how he was carried aboard and immediately chained to other African Americans that were already on the ship. Once the ship halted on land, Equiano along with many other slaves were sent to the merchant’s yard where they would be herded together and bought by the
The Atlantic Slave Trade affected millions of lives throughout the centuries that it existed and now many years later. It was so widely and easily spread throughout four continents and with these documents we get to read about three different people with three different point of views. A story of the life as a slave from an African American slave himself, how the slave trade was just a business from the point of view from merchants and kings, and letter from King Affonso I referring to the slave trade to King Jiao of Portugal.
The fight for racial equality is one of the most prominent issues Americans have faced throughout history and even today; as the idea that enslaving individuals is unethical emerged, many great and innovative authors began writing about the issues that enslaved people had to face. Olaudah Equiano was no exception. In his work The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he attempts to persuade his readers that the American way of slavery is brutal, inhumane, and unscrupulous. Equiano manages to do this by minimizing the apparent differences between himself and his primarily white audience, mentioning the cruelties that he and many other slaves had to face, and the advantages of treating your slaves correctly.
Olaudah Equiano was a freed slave living in London who made it his life person to abolish the British slave trade. His knowledge and training of the English language allowed him to grow into one of the key figures in the movement to abolish the slave trade in England. Although many scholars acknowledge his incredible talent, there has been evidence in the recent years that may question his reliability as a first-hand account. There is evidence to support that Equiano may have been born in South Carolina. This evidence does not make him a valid source of information about the slave trade and leads his audience to question his statements.
The concept of slavery was accepted as a part of the culture and even in the fields of Isseke, Africa slaves were put to work. “Sometimes indeed, we sold slaves to them, but they were only prisoners of war, or such among us as had been convicted of kidnapping or adultery, and some other crimes, which we esteemed heinous.” (38)
The story of Olaudah Equiano and his people went through a lot throughout the time of the 18th Century. Africans faced, “the part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade for slaves is carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles, from the Senegal to Angola, and includes a variety of kingdoms.” This is where it first started the business of slavery and selling and buying slaves for them to work for their owners. During this time men and women had to face different types of punishment from adultery and other types of reasons to put them to death, execution, but if the woman had a baby they were often spared to stay with their child. African’s displayed there different types of traditions through weddings, friends, public
In comparison to other slaves that are discussed over time, Olaudah Equiano truly does lead an ‘interesting’ life. While his time as a slave was very poor there are certainly other slaves that he mentions that received far more damaging treatment than he did. In turn this inspires him to fight for the abolishment of slavery. By pointing out both negative and positive events that occurred, the treatment he received from all of his masters, the impact that religion had on his life and how abolishing slavery could benefit the future of everyone as a whole; Equiano develops a compelling argument that does help aid the battle against slavery. For Olaudah Equiano’s life journey expressed an array of cruelties that came with living the life of an
Slavery was a practice throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and through slavery, African-American slaves helped build the economic foundation of which America stands upon today, but this development only occurred with the sacrifice of the blood, sweat, and tears from the slaves that had been pushed into exhaustion by the slave masters. A narrative noting a lifetime of this history was the book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African written by Olaudah Equiano. Equiano was a prominent African involved in the British movement for the abolition of the slave trade. He was captured and enslaved as a child in his home town of Essaka in what is now known as south eastern Nigeria, later he was shipped to the West Indies, he then moved to England, and eventually purchased his freedom (Equiano). Olaudah Equiano, with many other millions of slaves, faced many hardships and was treated with inconceivable injustices by white slave masters and because of the severity of these cruel and barbarous occurrences, history will never forget these events.
"The Life of Olaudah Equiano” is a captivating story in which Equiano, the author, reflects on his life from becoming a slave to a freeman during the 19th century. Through his experiences and writing, Equiano paints a vivid picture of the atrocities and cruelties of European slavery. Ultimately through his narrative, Equiano intends to persuade his audience, the British government, to abolish the Atlantic slave trade as well as alert them of the harsh treatment of slaves. He successfully accomplishes his goal by subtly making arguments through the use of character, action, and setting.
Rediker, Marcus. The Slave Ship A Human History. New York, New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print.
While a slave, Equiano experienced some brutal events. He was starved, beaten, and other torturous events happened to him. The start of the events happened when his sister and him were captured by kidnappers and sold to slave traders. After Equiano was brought to the coast of Africa, he was sent to the West Indies via the dreadful Middle Passage. After being sold again he was reunited with his sister when their masters crossed paths but Equiano experienced grief and anxiety when their short lived reunion ended and he was sold again. At one point Equiano became ill and wished for death to save him. He was tied and flogged severely due to his lack of eating from being sick (page 88). Equiano was a victim to beating a few times. After
The novel The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano exists as an extremely important work in the abolitionist movement in England. As an 18th century narrative written by a former black slave, the novel provides a glimpse into the lives of the African slaves involved in the slave trade as well as the slave traders themselves. Even with the controversy over the authenticity of Equiano’s claims on his origin in Africa and his subsequent voyage through the Middle Passage, this novel serves as a powerfully instructive piece of literature. Throughout the novel, Equiano strives to impress upon the reader a certain set of moral standards or ideals that he desires to instruct the reader about. One such moral ideal that is prevalent throughout the entirety of the novel is Equiano’s construction of the idea of the value and worth of the African slaves, as opposed to the view of the African slaves as simply commodities or objects to be purchased and traded.