Jubilee By Alan Clarley Analysis

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Anna Young AP U.S. History Civil War Have you ever heard of the Civil War? How much do you know about it? Discussed here are just three of many books written about the Civil War from different points of views and using different experiences. The first book is American History by Alan Brinkley which is a text book for high school students. The second book is A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn who presents multiple views of the war. The final novel is Jubilee by Margaret Walker. She tells a story of a black slave and her life story. Each of these books presents important views and stories to help one to understand the true effects of the civil war. Alan Brinkley is the author of the text book American history. Brinkley…show more content…
Jubilee is the story of her great-grandmother living her life as slave. The important thing to remember though out this novel is that it is semi-fictional, meaning it is based off of the true life experiences of a slave but some or many of the details are made up. Events are often embellished or created to make the the story more interesting to read. Walker’s great-grandmothers name was Vyry Walker used her as her main character and her story starts at the death of her mother when Vyry is very young. She grew up and worked in the kitchen of her master’s house right up until the day slaves were freed. Although she was free she continued to still care about her master’s family members. She is presented as having a hard time settling. She has a very difficult life. Her first home is destroyed during flood. Vyry then loose’s her second home by the Ku Klux Klan. They burn down her home causing her more problems. The Ku Klux Klan burning of her home was not the only suffering that Vyry is subject to but of the many dangers and the problems that this Klan had caused for many blacks. The mental anguish and physical destruction and pain not to mention death that this klan could instill on innocent blacks was brought across to the readers very clearly. The whole point of Walkers novel is to show the struggle, pain and hardship inflicted on a black slave and even after they were…show more content…
Starting with Alan Brinkley’s America History is a textbook. This textbook is directed towards advance placement students in high school and college students. The purpose for Brinkley writing this textbook was to help inform and teach students about our countries history. It provides a structured way to help students and teacher learn/teach the material. Howard Zinn wrote his book also as a professor to inform the reader of what happened in our countries history. Zinn takes a different route on doing this though. He makes it similar to a text book by using a time-line order and provids events that he thinks are important for people to know and understand. Zinn’s difference in writing is less of a general example of what happened but what he wants you to know about the events he is describing. He tries to persuade you to feel a sympathy for the blacks and Native Americans but he puts down the white man and government at the same time. The audience Zinn is trying to reach is anywhere from high school students to adults. His book is unlike Walker, who writes her novel in a story form. This story comes from her family though it was passed down from her great-grandmother. Her story is also semi-fictional as seeing it was passed down there are opportunities to miss or add a part of her story. Although it is semi-fictional it is still a true story, just parts put in to bring
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