Essay Sample on Black Slaves: Unheard Pain of Physically & Emotionally Oppressed

Introduction

Slavery is a sensitive topic, especially to the people from African Americans who participated in the demonstration of civil rights in the United States. Review of some works that were recorded during this era and afterwards, reveal untold experiences that participants went through. Some people were physically slaves of the white masters, while a good portion of them were emotionally slaves. Physically slaves were black people who were bought from Africa to western continents to do strenuous work in the plantation and factories of white people. The activities had diverse impacts on them physically and psychologically. People were in the position of delivering the slaves from the hands of white men but were reluctant to suffer emotionally and psychologically.

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Nonetheless, there are numerous literary works such as poems and autobiographies recorded to outline the experiences. For instance, "My Guilt" poem by Maya Angelou and "the life of Frederick Douglass," an autobiography recounts slavery lives of the two authors. The paper aims at analyzing the purpose, tone style, and rhetorical stances to gather adequate knowledge, understanding and to appreciate the role played to achieve the state of freedom the modern generation has.

My Guilt by Maya Angelou

From the title of the poem, My Guilt, it is evident that the tone of the poem is regretful f the situation of slavery. The author is a black woman who is regretting what her fellow people the black American went through in slavery life despite her being not born during the period. Not only is the tome remorseful, but also painful. From the first line of the stanza, she states, "my guilt is slavery's chains, too long (Angelou 67). The statement portrays a person in pain at the thought of a long chain hanging from the neck of someone. The statement also shows a blameful person who is blaming herself for the pain that the slaves went through. The term my guilt is mostly used when a person is regretting an action or situation.

Consequently, Angelou uses a tone of desperation and sadness. It is projected from the fifth statement of the first stanza that states, "My guilt made music with tears" (Angelou 67). Tears are usually an indication that there is hurting inside, and the pain is unbearable. Angelou's thought of the experiences that the slaves went through, brought her heart aching and eyes wetting. Remembering such memories from the past that can cause pain again shows how intense the pain was and still is. Showing such emotions in the poem is essential in enabling the audience to feel what the author felt and how severe the topic is.

Angelou uses various styles and theories stances in her poetry. For instance, she has accurately deployed the aspect of imageries, whereby she creates images in the mind of her audience. For example, in "slavery's chain" and "the clang of iron" represent an image of a tired person with long iron chains. Also, Angelou utilized the style of symbolism, specifically in the sixth and seventh lines. Angelou mentions some names of renowned icons such as Nat Turner and Martin Luther King Jr., which represents strength and the end of slavery. Nat Turner and martin Luther King Junior fought against the influence of the White Empire to save the black humankind from slavery. It is essential to point out that the author, Angelou, and the Black heroes, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X were friends since, in her statement, "they fought so hard, they loved too well" indicated a personal interaction with them. The utilization of the styles and rhetorical stance encourages the current generation to keep the fire burning and save the future generation from slavery.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

This part of the paper reviews an autobiography by Fredrick Douglass, an American slave in the United States. From the context in his autobiography, the audience can identify the status of the United States preceding to termination of slavery. The resources deem as an accurate source of information since the details are more specific, given that the former slave narrates them. There are variations of tones coming from the different experiences Fredrick Douglass went through from childhood to adulthood in his life as a slave. Identifying these tones, styles, and rhetorical stance makes the work exciting and real to the audience.

The tone between the first and the fourth chapter varies between sober and sadness. The voice of narrators is solemn when describing how events used to roll out in those olden days and the description of the situations. However, Fredrick's tone shifts to sadness when he remembers the few instances he has seen her mother, which happens to be at night. Whenever he woke up to space beside him, he thought of how his mother put him to sleep. He is even sadder when he explains how his mother when he was still seven years and never got a chance to mourn her or bury her. Fredrick said that she died like any other stranger.

Furthermore, sadness is projected where the narrator does not fully recognize his origin. He did not get the chance to ask her mother about his father but instead dwelled on the whispers that his father is one of the masters. Besides, the section portrays more of a destitute tone when Fredrick narrates how the slave owners mercilessly whipped her aunt in front of everyone one else. Such a view causes a mixed reaction such as sadness, anger, shame, and furious, among others.

Nevertheless, some other section of the autobiography reflects enlightenment tones. For example, the part that Fredrick defeated his slavery master and refused to be tied shows a victory in the side of the slaves. The events also are a symbol that slaves have the power to overcome the whites' masters and fight for what is right against what is wrong. Such a feeling was new to Fredrick since he had spent most of his life in remorseful and sad moments, thus acted as a motivator to explore more on happiness.

Consequently, Fredrick utilized several stylistic devices, such as similes. In the first chapter, he stated, "By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs." In the statement, a simile is used by the author to compared knowledge of slaves to that of horses. The style is more imperative to incorporate since it indicates how much the people were unaware of the ages. Besides, the author utilizes rhetorical instance whereby he states, "No words, no tears, no prayers from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose" (Douglas and Harriet 5). The rhetorical stance used is known as parallelism and vital when the aim is to describe the point that has weight. Through the application of the stylistic device and rhetorical stance, the author has captured the attention of the readers. At the same time, readers can appreciate the work that the author has done to present the information.

Personal Reflection

Going through the My Guilt poem by Maya Angelou, I can attest that the literature work is among the few good practices that explain the era of slavery in detail. The fact that the poem is composed in a few lines, each word has its significant meaning and can be described in tens of words. The author also deploys high skilled knowledge in deployment of tones, rhetorical stance, and styles. The tones communicate to the readers' state of mind and emotion that the writer was during the recording of the poem. She applied stylistic devices such as symbolism and imagery to create pictures in the readers' minds, thus communicated more with less.

The purpose of the poem is to signify the impact of slavery that was passed from one generation to another psychologically and emotionally.

Likewise, the literature work of Fredrick Douglass is recommendable, and I would commend other literature scholars for reading the autobiography since it is a primary excellence source. Besides, the first person narration attracts the readers to know more about how life in slavery was like and thus create curiosity among the audience. Also, the author has a good flow of events connecting one situation with another. Excellent clear and simple words are well applied, thus less struggle to understand. Fredrick used the tones and styles and rhetoric stances at its best way to describe the intensity of the situation as well as break monotony in his extended reading. The purpose of the autobiography is to describe the experience of slavery in the hand of whites.

Other Examples

Apart from Fredrick Douglass, other African-American authors chose to stand for slavery from 1822 through 1909. These authors wrote first-person accounts of slavery, tracts from anti-slavery firms, investigative reports, sermons, commencement addresses, among others. They include people like Kelly Miller, Charles Sumner, Alexander Crummel, Lydia Maria Child, Mary C. Terrell, and Booker Washington.

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. Maya Angelou: The complete poetry. Hachette UK, 2015.

Douglass, Frederick. "Autobiographies: Frederick Douglass." (1994).