Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, By Harriet A. Jacobs
Characters & Characterization:
The Protagonist is Linda Brent. She is was an African American who was born into slavery. Linda didn’t know she was a piece of property until her mother passed away when Linda was six years old. Linda wanted to escape slavery when she was young, at the end Linda became free of slavery thanks to Mrs. Bruce. Linda is very close with her Aunt Martha who is also Linda’s grandmother. Linda was torn because she want to protect her two children Benny and Ellen. They were born into slavery which Linda didn’t want her children to be born into slavery.
The Antagonist is Dr. Flint. Dr. Flint’s daughter Emily owns Linda. Dr. Flint is Linda’s evil master who torments Linda daily. Dr. Flint tried to be Linda’s lover but it failed. Dr. Flint didn’t let Linda be sold to other people because Dr. Flint wanted to punish her for the affair she had with Mr. Sands. Dr. Flint said that Linda will be his slave forever. Dr. Flint went after Linda when she escaped to became free.
Setting:
Setting Time: 1820’s- 1840’s
Setting Place: A Southern Town that was not named, New York, Boston, England for a little while.
State the importance of the setting:
The Southern Town that was not named was were Linda was born and where Linda lived when she was a slave. It was also the Setting for the beginning of the book. New York was were Linda lived when she escaped after leaving Dr. Flint. Boston was were Linda fled to hide from when Dr. Flint went to New York to go find her. England was were Linda went with Mr. Bruce and Mary. They went to England because Mrs. Bruce died. So, Mr. Bruce and Mary went to visit Mrs. Bruce’s family. Linda can as Mary’s nurse.
Vocabulary:
Presumptuous: Going beyond what is right or proper; excessively forward.
Blasphemous(blasphemy) : An irreverent or impious act, attitude, or utterance in regard to something considered inviolable or sacrosanct.
Doctrine: A principle or body of principles presented for acceptance or belief, as by a religious, political, scientific, or philosophic group; dogma.
Nuisance: One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother:
Tyranny: A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.
Plot:
Linda Brent was born into slavery. Linda found out she was a slave at age six when her mother passed away. Then Linda was sent to live with her mothers mistress. The mistress treated Linda very well and she also taught Linda to read. But the mistress died a few years later. Linda got sent to the mistress sister’s daughter. Emily Flint who became the owner of Linda.However, Dr. Flint became Linda's new master. Dr. Flint tried to have a sexual relationship with Linda but it failed. A free African American who is also a carpenter falls in love with Linda and he wanted to marry her. The carpenter wants to buy Linda, but Dr. Flint didn’t want to sell her. So Linda had an affair with Mr. Sands as an attempt to be sold to someone else. They both had 2 children named Benny and Ellen. Dr. Flint didn’t want to sell Linda and the children to Mr. Sands. So he sent Linda to work at his son's the plantain. Linda discovers that her children will have to work on the plantation as well. Linda escapes the plantation and goes into hiding. Linda hides in her grandmother garret for seven years. As she hides she watch her children grow up. After seven years she escaped north. The chase begins to catch Linda. Dr. Flint goes to New York to catch Linda but he failed because Linda fled to Boston. Then Dr. Flint left and Linda returned to New York. Then Linda goes to England for a couple of months. After that she returns to New York and finds out Dr. Flint died. But then finds out that Emily her owner was coming to take her back. Mrs. Bruce Pays Emily three hundred dollars for Linda to be her slave. Finally Linda becomes free.
2 Quotes:
“Slavery is terrible for men but it is far more terrible for women”
This quote means that slavery was bad for men and women but it was more terrible for women. They were both treated badly and they were not respected as well. Men were abused physical and mentally. As for women they were abused physical, mentally and sexuality. The women couldn’t escape that type of abuse if they tried.
“According to Southern laws a slave, being property, can hold no property.”
This quote means to me that slaves were considered property so that means that they were not allowed to own anything. So if you were the slave and you had money and your owner asked you to give her that money. You had to give your owner the money you earned because you are property and property does not own nothing.
Conflicts:
The conflicts in this book was both external and internal. There were external conflicts that abused some of the characters throuhtout the book. Some of them were abused pretty badly. Like when Benny, Ellen and William went to jail so Dr. Flint can find out where Linda was hiding. It was Internal conflicts because Linda had in her mind to be free. But she had to children which made it hard for her. She didn’t know to take her children. So they can all be free.
Themes:
Slavery played a big role in this book. The institution of slavery didn’t treat African Americans right. Slaves were abused physical and sometimes women were abused sexually. They had to work while they were young. When Linda mother‘s mistress died she got sent to Dr. Flint. He treated her very badly and made her work when she was about 12 years old. When Linda had her children Benny and Ellen, she found out that they were going to be working at the plantation. Linda escaped to make sure they were not going to have to the same things she had to do.
Protection played a role in this book. Linda wanted to protect her children Benny and Ellen from Slavery. She didn’t want them to grow up the way most slaves grew up. They were all abused in some way. Linda wanted them to grow up somewhere well and where they can learn read. To do things that slaves will not do. So when Linda escaped she tried to protect them and herself.
Literary Elements:
Foreshadowing: To present an indication or a suggestion of beforehand; presage.
Page 3 and it continues on Page 5
This is an example of foreshadowing because it said on page 3 that “ I was born a slave: but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away.” This was the first sentence in the book. Then on page 5 the sentence tells you that when she was six years old her mother passed away and that she learned by the talk around her that she was a slave. It told you before hand that she was born a slave and she didn’t know until she was six years old. Then it told you how she found out.
Imagery: the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively
Page 20
This is an example of imagery because it showed how the jail looked when Benjamin was in. It said that there was a jingle of chains and that when the moon had risen on the jail cell and it cast uncertain light through the bars of the window. Linda and Aunt Martha took Benjamin’s cold hands and they didn’t speak. It showed you how the jail looked when Linda and Aunt Martha went to visit Benjamin.
Suspense: a state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety.
Page 36
This is an example of suspense because Linda falls in love with a free African American carpenter and he wanted to marry her. But Linda told him that she is a slave so her went to Dr. Flint and ask to buy Linda. Dr. Flint didn’t want to sell her. It was suspense because I wanted to find out if Linda was going to be brought by the free African American Carpenter.
Annotated Bibliography:
Jacobs, Harriet A. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. First Signet Classic Printing, New York, 1861
Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl is an authentic autobiographical account of slave life from the 1820’s to the 1840’s. Linda Brent was born a slave. Linda’s mistress died and Linda got sent to a different owner. The new master was a cruel and mean man. Linda wanted to escape this horrible life. So Linda ran away and hid in a garret which became her home for seven years. She eventually went to the North to escape slavery and Linda became free.
No comments:
Post a Comment