Nightjohn(Unfinished)

708 Words3 Pages
Unfinished (In each supporting paragraph state how she was in the beginning and the end in terms of the topic sentence that supports the thesis. State what happened to make her change. During Sarny’s experience as a slave in the novel Nightjohn, she endures many hardships, such as; forced labor, cruel and unusual punishments, and lack of knowledge. Living in the 1850’s, Sarny, the main character, lives the average slave life; however, she does not experience life as a slave alone. Accompanied by many acquaintances, Sarny’s life is about to change very rapidly with Mr. Waller’s newest slave John. Sarny’s character changes drastically from the start of the novel to the end by learning how to read, becoming women, and opposing the horror of slavery. In the beginning of the novel, Sarny was illiterate. Throughout the book, she made a variety of grammatical mistakes. Sarny narrated, “I thinks of all the things I have learned…” Sarny was never taught how to read or write. She was never able to understand any books, magazines, or labels, not until John taught her to read. Near the middle of Nightjohn, John was purchased and brought to Mr. Waller’s plantation. John could read, write, and speak English, and he traded his knowledge to Sarny for tobacco. John said “I’ll trade A, B, and C for a lip of chew.” John taught Sarny a new letter every night. Towards the end of the book, she had learned multiple words, and there spelling. In “Pit School,” Sarny said “I took to making words in my head with them. Made HID. And FIB. And JAB. And HAD. And BIG.” In the end of the novel, her knowledge of the English language was minimal; however, she was still able to read some words, and small phrases. At the beginning of the book, Sarny was an extremely ignorant 12 year old girl. As a female slave, she was expected to breed as soon as possible. Sarny was not physically

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