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LITR 4231 Early American Literature |
Final Exam Essays 2014 Sample
answers for |
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Danielle Meza
Essay1: Conflicting Interests
. . .
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, . . . the African
provides the reader with an understanding of the importance of literacy by
narrating the life of a man who was taken from his home and forced to attempt to
assimilate to the expectations of society.
Because he learned to read and write, he was able
to tell his story in a way that he feels preserves the integrity concerning the
nature of his experience.
If he, as a black man, must depend on someone else
for documentation of his life accounts, he risks losing or having to adjust the
accounts of his life in order to satisfy others.
He narrates both the good and bad encounters he
experienced as a slave.
Additionally, he is able to create an argument
against slavery under the realization that African freedom would provide the
British with an economic growth through a new trade partner.
His understanding of how the abolition of slavery
could provide Britain with an untapped source of revenue demonstrates his
understanding of the economy.
This is important because his understanding and
literacy conflict with the European and American misconception regarding the
ignorance of Africans.
Through using his own words, he is able to convey
to the reader his intelligence and economical opinions concerning slavery in a
way that is truly unique for an African man of his time.
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