...Although throughout the Narrative, Frederick Douglass has a tendency to skip around often and does not always follow a completely chronological ordering, the work begins with his childhood. Frederick Douglass gives a summary of how he, like many other slave children, has no idea when his birthday is but as far he can guess it must have been around 1818. He was separated from his mother right after he was born (which he imagines was because they did not want the bonds of family to develop naturally between families) but recalls how sometimes she would walk at night from a neighboring plantation to sleep with him. As this important part of this summary of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” makes clear, he tells the reader that she died but because of his lack of connection with her the news did not have much of an impact on him. All Frederick Douglass knows about his father is that he is a white man based on his light skin tone and rumors he’s heard to confirm it. Frederick Douglass then gives the reader a brutal short summary of that the rape of female slaves by their white masters actually benefits slavery because by law the products of the rape become slaves themselves. When you’re reading this analysis and summary of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” and throughout the text itself, you should notice the way Douglass makes reference not just to the cruelty of slavery as an institution, but also how he shows the way it has become institutionalized through...
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...pursuit of happiness.” Ironically, all beings have been aggravated by society to maintain the freedom of their ethnicity for years. African-American abolitionist and self-taught writer, Frederick Douglass, uncovers the white supremacy demonstrated in the form of slavery in his novel: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Its crucial content revolutionized how Americans perceive slavery since northerners in the 19th century were awfully convinced giving an African-American the life of bondage was none other than acceptable. White supremacy is the collaboration of people. Where all spread social hierarchies that exclude might. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass asserts: “I saw in every white man an enemy, and in almost every colored man an enemy, and in almost every colored man cause for distrust…[and] to understand it, one must...experience it…” (Douglass 113) This suggests the absorbance of gloomy behavior and attitudes about white male’s features particularly. Foreigners,...
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...action to better one’s soul, Socrates utilizes these characteristics to distinguish a just rhetorician from an unjust rhetorician. A rhetor’s motive determines whether the speech is pursuing the Good or if the rhetor prioritizes his own private interests. Applying this methodology to writings or speeches allows audiences to know when to trust the orator. For example, in Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What to The Slave is the Fourth of July,” Douglass...
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...Frederick Douglass was a slave in America until the age of 20. He wrote three of the most highly regarded autobiographies of the 19th century, while he only began learning to read and write when he turned 12 years old. After an early life of hardship and pain, Douglass escaped to the North to write three autobiographies, which spaced along decades. He wrote about his life as a slave and a freeman. The institution of slavery scarred him so intensely that he decided to devote his powers of speech and prose to fighting it. Douglass wrote three biographies about his life as a politician, slave, and abolitionist. However, the historical value of these works does not remain as important as the quality of the works themselves. Frederick Douglass’ writing deserves recognition in the canon of great American authors, because his work meets the chosen criteria for inclusion in a collection of important literature. Douglass influenced many famous abolitionists with his literary works, and this impact, coupled with his desire to write an expose about oppression in America, makes him a winning candidate. Although his published works, mostly autobiographies, received much acclaim from abolitionists, this paper explores the quality of Douglass’s work from a literary standpoint. To fully appreciate the impact of Douglass’s autobiographies, we must examine violent period in which he lived. Douglass, born in 1818, grew up as a slave on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation in eastern Maryland. At the time...
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...Society: Through the View of Many People African-Americans, Whites, Asians, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and etc…They are all classified as ethnicities, that are judged every day in some shape or form. From day one to now I’ve learned more through the class of “Black World Studies” taught by Professor Coates. Coates gave me the intelligent insight on how Africans-Americans were able to succeed through the tough times of learning even when they could die from learning how to read. It was a sacrifice the slaves had to do that the time. When I read more articles and watched more movies, it showed determination, courage, heart, and attitude. When reading, it switched to a period of slavery to a period of the Civil War. After that I came to an author named Jared Diamond that gave his view on the world of slavery. In the article “How Africa Became Black” by Jared Diamond he argues that diversity resulted from the geography of Africa. Africa is home to five major human groups, blacks, whites, African Pygmies, Khoisan, and Asians. Thirty percent of the world’s language is in Africa. But as the years goes on were losing about 2 per week. Soon as the world gets older there wouldn’t be any languages in Africa. As race continues to grow in Africa there will be different types of languages being made and the previous groups (ethnic groups of language) wouldn’t exist anymore. As said in paragraph 8 of “How Africa Became Black” races are stereotyping, from Black to White, to putting the Zulu...
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...Saints, was asked by the editor of the Chicago Democrat, Joseph Wentworth, to summarize the basic principles of the newly founded religion. Included in the response, Smith presented thirteen declarations which have collectively become to be knows as the “Articles of Faith”. The thirteenth of these articles states the following: “We believe in being hones, true, chaste, benevolent, and in doing good to all men. Indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.[i] It regard to the treatment of Americans of African descent, it is no secret that the nation, at large, treated individuals with great contempt. The question is whether or not this new faith group was any different. How did treatment of African Americans among the Saints differ from that of the general population of the United States during the period from 1830, the church’s founding, to the end of the century? What was the LDS church’s position on slavery and did practice follow policy among members of a church founded on the principles of “faith, hope, and charity”?[ii] And, how was the view towards and treatment of free colored persons different that that toward slaves? The Contemporary view The treatments of African Americans in the United States varied throughout the general population...
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...is difficult to prove that police brutality has taken place. Thus, people still consider what excessive force is. There is no concrete definition of excessive force. Excessive force is a slippery metaphor: authorities say that any force beyond what is necessary to arrest a suspect and keep people safe. Many recent studies suggest that racism profiling is one of the potential causes of police brutality. Racial profiling - as well as profiling based on religion, ethnicity and national origin, is not a new terminology in the U.S. The practice of racial profiling was begun in 1970s, law enforcement agencies have long used race, ethnicity, and national origin as likely basis for police action. Police officers have used profiling to target the characteristics to commit certain types of crime. Especially, after September 11th terrorist attacks, there are always have the constant suspect that followed Arab and Muslim Americans such as detention on any minor immigrant violations, intense scrutiny at airports and other locations. For example, you are not an American who pass through airport customs may be asked more questions. The profiling has been seen as unfair and biased, while the law enforcement agencies think that it is a necessary practice to intercept possible criminal activity before it occurs (Pampel, 2004). To clarify, the law enforcement official has an objectively reasonable suspicion that the person is guilty in an offense. Probably, it is difficult to define what is a reasonable...
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... S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery 2 INTRODUCTION Booker T. Washington’s commanding presence and oratory deeply moved his contemporaries. His writings continue to influence readers today. Although Washington claimed his autobiography was “a simple, straightforward story, with no attempt at embellishment,” readers for nearly a century have found it richly rewarding. Today, Up From Slavery appeals to a wide audience from early adolescence through adulthood. More important, however, is the inspiration his story of hard work and positive goals gives to all readers. His life is an example providing hope to all. The complexity and contradictions of his life make his autobiography intellectually intriguing for advanced readers. To some he was known as the Sage of Tuskegee or the Black Moses. One of his prominent biographers, Louis R. Harlan, called him the “Wizard of the Tuskegee Machine.” Others acknowledged him to be a complicated person and public figure. Students of American social and political history have come to see that Washington lived a double life. Publicly he appeased the white establishment by remaining cautious in his charges and demands. Privately he worked tirelessly to undo the effects of institutional and cultural racism. Although he seemed to have made a grand compromise, first with the white south and then...
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...Elizabeth Cady Stanton Biography: Where did Elizabeth Cady Stanton grow up? Elizabeth Cady was born in Johnstown, New York on November 12, 1815. She had 10 brothers and sisters, however, many of them died during childhood. Only Elizabeth and four of her sisters lived well into adulthood. Her last brother, Eleazar, died when he was 20 years old leaving her mother depressed and her father wishing that Elizabeth was a boy. Elizabeth (sitting) with Susan B. Anthony Not Fair for Women Growing up Elizabeth was exposed to the law through her father Daniel. He was a lawyer who also served as a judge and a U.S. Congressman. She learned that the law was not the same for men and women. She learned that only men could vote and that women had few rights under the law. She didn't think this was fair. She thought she was as good as any boy and should be given the same opportunities. Going to School When Elizabeth reached school age she wanted to go to school to learn. Not many women went to school in those days, but her father agreed to send her to school. At school Elizabeth was an excellent student. She won awards and proved that she could do as well or better than most of the boys. After high school, Elizabeth wanted to go to college. She quickly learned that girls were not allowed into the major universities. She ended up going to a college for girls where she was able to continue her studies. Abolitionist and Human Rights Elizabeth began to believe...
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...The Concept of Nature in the Poetry of William Wordsworth and Robert Frost : A Comparative Study Chapter One Introduction 1. Background Poets have long been inspired to tune their lyrics to the variations in landscape, the changes in season, and the natural phenomena around them. The Greek poet Theocritus began writing idylls in the third century B.C.E. to glorify and honor the simplicity of rural life--creating such well known characters as Lycidas, who has inspired dozens of poems as the archetypal shepherd, including the famous poem "Lycidas" by John Milton. An idyll was originally a short, peaceful pastoral lyric, but has come to include poems of epic adventure set in an idealized past, including Lord Alfred Tennyson's take on Arthurian legend, The Idylls of the King. The Biblical Song of Songs is also considered an idyll, as it tells its story of love and passion by continuously evoking imagery from the natural world. The more familiar form of surviving pastoral poetry that has retained its integrity is the eclogue, a poem attuned to the natural world and seasons, placed in a pleasant, serene, and rural place, and in which shepherds often converse. The first eclogue was written by Virgil in 37 B.C.E. The eclogue also flourished in the Italian Renaissance, its most notable authors being Dante and Petrarch. It became something of a requirement for young poets, a form they had to master before embarking upon great original work. Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia and Edmund Spenser’s...
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...Barbara Jeanne Fields Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of America Two years ago, a sports announcer in the United States lost his job because he enlarged indiscreetly—that is, before a television audience—upon his views about ‘racial’ differences. Asked why there are so few black coaches in basketball, Jimmy ‘the Greek’ Snyder remarked that black athletes already hold an advantage as basketball players because they have longer thighs than white athletes, their ancestors having been deliberately bred that way during slavery. ‘This goes all the way to the Civil War,’ Jimmy the Greek explained, ‘when during the slave trading . . . the owner, the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so he could have a big black kid, you see.’ Astonishing though it may seem, Snyder intended his remark as a compliment to black athletes. If black men became coaches, he said, there would be nothing left for white men to do in basketball at all. Embarrassed by such rank and open expression of racism in the most ignorant form, the network fired Jimmy the Greek from his job. Any fool, the network must have decided, should know that such things may be spoken in the privacy of the 95 locker-room in an all-white club, but not into a microphone and before a camera. Of course, Jimmy the Greek lays no claim to being educated or well informed. Before he was hired to keep audiences entertained during the slack moments of televised sports events, he was...
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...[pic] FIRST ARMY EQUAL OPPORTUNITY REPRESENTATIVE COURSE STUDENT GUIDE TO CULTURAL AWARENESS INDEX LESSON TITLE PAGE 1 Philosophical Aspects of Culture SG- 3 C1 Native American Experience SG- 4 C2 White American Experience SG- 23 C3 Arab American Experience SG- 43 C4 Hispanic American Experience SG- 53 C5 Black American Experience SG- 76 C6 Asian American Experience SG-109 C7 Jewish American Experience SG-126 C8 Women in the Military SG-150 C9 Extremist Organizations/Gangs SG-167 STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BEING FAMILIARIZED WITH ALL CLASS MATERIAL PRIOR TO CLASS. INFORMATION PAPER ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCE Developed by Edwin J. Nichols, Ph.D. |Ethnic Groups/ |Axiology |Epistemology |Logic |Process | |World Views | | | | | |European |Member-Object |Cognitive |Dichotomous |Technology | |Euro-American |The highest value lies in the object |One knows through counting |Either/Or...
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...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH LINDA NEAL UNDERWOOD S E R I E S E D I T O R S : W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth 2 INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare developed many stories into excellent dramatizations for the Elizabethan stage. Shakespeare knew how to entertain and involve an audience with fast-paced plots, creative imagery, and multi-faceted characters. Macbeth is an action-packed, psychological thriller that has not lost its impact in nearly four hundred years. The politically ambitious character of Macbeth is as timely today as he was to Shakespeare's audience. Mary McCarthy says in her essay about Macbeth, "It is a troubling thought that Macbeth, of all Shakespeare's characters, should seem the most 'modern,' the only one you could transpose into contemporary battle dress or a sport shirt and slacks." (Signet Classic Macbeth) Audiences today quickly become interested in the plot of a blindly ambitious general with a strong-willed wife who must try to cope with the guilt engendered by their murder of an innocent king in order to further their power. The elements of superstition, ghosts, and witchcraft, though more readily a part of everyday life for the Renaissance audience, remain intriguing to modern teenagers. The action-packed...
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...Chapter1 Introduction Feminism is not one unitary concept; it is instead diverse and multifaceted grouping of ideas and indeed, action. The basis of all strands of the concept may be stated as that it concerns itself with women’s inferior position in society sand with the discrimination encountered by women because of their sex. “Feminism is a doctrine suggesting that women are systematically disadvantaged in the modern society and advocating equal opportunities for men and women.”(The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology, second Ed). The term includes many loose like liberal feminism, Marxist and socialist feminism, radical feminism. Liberal feminists work for equal rights for women within the framework of the liberal state; they did not question the structure –economic or political-of the state but they demand the rights and privileges given by the state should be equally shared by man and women. Marxist and socialist feminists’ link gender inequality and women’s oppression to the capitalist system. Women suffer a double exploitation as women and as members of the working class. Radical feminists disregard all questions of political and economic dispensation to concentrate on the roots of the problem. The central root of the problem is the system of patriarchy which leads to all kinds of discrimination against and devaluation of women. Politico-economic questions are not the roots but only auxiliaries. The concept of gender is the real villain and has to be demolished. Lately...
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...critical theory today critical theory today A Us e r - F r i e n d l y G u i d e S E C O N D E D I T I O N L O I S T Y S O N New York London Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2006 by Lois Tyson Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Printed in the United States of America on acid‑free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number‑10: 0‑415‑97410‑0 (Softcover) 0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑415‑97410‑3 (Softcover) 978‑0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Tyson, Lois, 1950‑ Critical theory today : a user‑friendly guide / Lois Tyson.‑‑ 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0‑415‑97409‑7 (hb) ‑‑ ISBN 0‑415‑97410‑0 (pb) 1. Criticism...
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