Slavery has been a part of our history for hundreds of years. Eventually abolitionist movements helped outlaw slavery, but still today it is a controversial topic in society. Gary Collison, who is a Caucasian English professor at Pennsylvania State University, wrote the novel Shadrach Minkins: From Fugitive Slave to Citizen. He wrote this book to voice the truth about hardships of slavery and discrimination. Collison follows Minkins throughout the continent as he is a slave in Norfolk, VA, a fugitive in Boston, and a free black man in Montreal.
The ability to read and write awoke something inside of him that gave him homemade education. Malcolm X was sensitive to the deafness, dumbness and blindness that were afflicting the black face in America. Books was Malcolm X life he said you never catch him without a book. Malcolm X was always studying something so he can help the next black man. Malcolm X spent the rest of his life reading books.
He has studied the original sources of the Jamestown colony for many years and has written numerous articles about Jamestown. His literary effort was one to correct myths and incorrect conclusions about the Jamestown colony and the people in its founding history. He does this by meticulous attention to historical detail in his efforts to explain the personal actions of the colonist. He clarifies the lives and interactions of various individuals, especially those of John Smith and Pocahontas. He brings to light many truths not brought out in the American education system.
Author "Perhaps all that need be said about Beah's skill as a storyteller is that while we know how he made it out - the book in our hands is proof of that - we are glued to every page by the very real possibility that this story is not going to end happily... Read his memoir and you will be haunted&It's a high price to pay, but it's worth it." - Newsweek Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone on November 23, 1980. When he was eleven, Ishmael's life, along with the lives of millions of other Sierra Leoneans, was derailed by the outbreak of a brutal civil war. After his parents and two brothers were killed, Ishmael was recruited to fight as a child soldier. He was thirteen.
Curtis Keim is a professor of African history, politics and culture at Moravian College in Bethleham, Pennsylvania. He has lived and traveled to Africa many times over the last thirty years. Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and inventions of the American Mind takes readers inside the history behind the inaccurate and stereotypical words and ideas about Africa. The author also offers alternative ways to get around these stereotypes and see the real Africa. The book focuses on white American myths because Keim feels they are the most dominant, negative, and in need of change.
For instance, he once copied down the dictionary verbatim. Moreover, he spent a great amount of time reading and writing. As he himself once put it, this education liberated him from the shackles of ignorance. His education led him to realize how oppressed the African race was. The Renaissance was a cultural movement during the 14th and 17th centuries.
Matt Sotl 3/28/08 Quarterly Reading Essay Period 1-2 Mr.S Comparison of 2 tragedies’ In books and novels, there is a predominate theme that plays a large toll on the books purpose. When two books are similar like these two books, it is hard to figure out why it is that he books are alike but it takes so long to figure out the plot differences. That is why you actually have to analyze the books afterwards. The author of The Things They Carried has very good ways of showing us what the true reason of the books should be. He put in the fact in one of the paragraphs that he was “unclear” about whether or not he actually threw a grenade and killed a man out side” said O’Brien.
The American Dream The American Dream, it has a different meaning to us all. Over this past year I have read many good books that revealed and thought me many things. One book in particular that will had a deep effect on me was “Farewell to Manzanar” because it is very alarming what those people went through even though it is nothing to what the African Americans living in the U.S faced most their lives. Most of the book that I read this year had the same theme and it was sadness. Like in “The Jungle”, The great Gatsby”, and Out of the Dust”.
After readin articles and stories like "The concepts of time" by Mbiti, "The racial contract" by C.W. Mills and "The heart of darkness" by J. Conard, it gives allot to think about, not just in African culture but other cultures as well. It seems that the only reason people go to
Also, he tells about part of his life as a free man. The book, being an autobiography, may not appeal to some readers but it is, in fact, a great book. There are many prominent literary devices used in the work such as; themes, symbolism, point of view, and motifs. There are many different themes used in the book, some more prominent than others. Some themes include; how important literacy was in gaining freedom, the role of Christianity in slavery, and the ignorance of slaveholders as a way of reinforcing slavery.