Dashawn Britt
1.“Their color is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.
ON BEING BROUGHT FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA. Phyllis Wheatley
Phyllis Wheatley used similes and metaphors to describe how the skin color being black is related to “diabolic die” which means devilish or pertaining to the devil as dictionary.com defined the term. In that time people thought white people were pure and anything white is basically how things should be. Being refined and join the angelic train meant after the sugar cane is refined and all of the impurities are removed then they will be pure. That’s how they looked at blacks like sugar cane because it was refined.
“Diabolic.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/diabolic?s=t.
Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave
2.His face was not of that brown rusty black which most of that nation are, but of perfect ebony, or polished jet. His eyes were the most awful that could be seen, and very piercing; the white of ’em being like snow, as were his teeth. His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat. His mouth the finest shaped that could be seen; far from those great turned lips which are so natural to the rest of the negroes.”
The author used imagery to describe what a “Perfectly sculpted negro” may look like. Instead of having rusty black skin, he was a perfect ebony complexion. I saw a short video about how blacks are viewed and how they use stereotypical attributes to classify us to look a certain way. They thought all Africans looked the same but as soon as they saw Oroonoko they compared him to Romans or Europeans because they couldn’t believe he appeared the way he did.
“‘I’d Never Seen Black People Look Like That.’” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/iaed-never-seen-black-people-look-like-that/.
3.“The scene of the last part of his adventures lies in a colony in America, called Surinam, in the West Indies.”
This biographical information was unknown to me, before reading this text, I have never heard of Suriname. Suriname is in South America. I learned that over 90% of Suriname is covered by tropical rain forest. It is known for its Dutch sugar plantations. This makes sense now because throughout the story the slaves are working in the plantation so I get a sense to why they would work in the field in this region to pick the from the sugar cane.
“Suriname Facts for Kids: Geography: People: Food: Animals.” Travel, www.kids-world-travel-guide.com/suriname-facts.html.
REFLECTIONS on the REVOLUTION IN FRANCE.
EDMUND BURKE
4.“All circumstances taken together; the French Revolution is the most astonishing that has hitherto happened in the world.”
This Historical context was interesting to me because this was a bold statement. It intrigued me so I had to look up a few facts about the French revolution to see if I support this claim. I have a few facts that I found to be profound such as The French Revolution gave the world its first public zoo, in taking the Tennis Court Oath they swore not to disperse until they had drafted constitution for France, with or without the participation of the clergy and nobility. The citizens of France demolished and rebuilt their nation’s institutions and the changes they wrought, often bloodily, persist as a reminder of the power of the people. These are a few things that made the French Revolution one of the most astonishing things to happen in the world.
McQueen, Paul. “10 Facts About the French Revolution You Need to Know.” Culture Trip, The Culture Trip, 13 Feb. 2017, theculturetrip.com/europe/france/articles/10-facts-about-the-french-revolution-you-need-to-know/.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of
Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, by Olaudah Equiano
5. That he who cannot stem his anger’s tide
Doth a wild horse without a bridle ride.”
The author did a great job using a metaphor to compare a person’s anger to a wild horse without a bridle. When a person can’t control his anger, it is difficult to control a person because they are no longer being logical, they are acting off of emotions. Like a horse without the bridle which controls the horse’s direction. When a person can’t keep his anger at ease that person loses all sense of direction and sense.
