LITR 4328:
American Renaissance
        

Model Assignments
Final Exam Essays 2017
(final exam assignment)

Sample answers for
C3. Literature and History

 

Diane Oneydy Alonzo

American Renaissance: The Era That Started the War

          The American Renaissance, was a time of incredible advancements for the United States. Manifest Destiny called for an expansion of the U.S. from coast to coast, which caused cultural immersion of new western and southern states. From growth of cities, to modernization in science, technology and literacy, the American Renaissance was teeming with new ideas that were yearning to be expressed. With literacy at an all-time high, writers were able to show the public what life and imagination was like for different areas of the country. Classic and popular writers like Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe introduced Romance and Realism in America. There was much progress during this time in America, but the nation was still flawed. Slavery was still in existence in southern states and with the expansion of additional southern states, abolition seemed non-existent. Abraham Lincoln, with the help of African American activists and writers, rallied throughout the United States to light a fire of change in society. Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Jacobs brought the slave’s experience to white America. In reading essays and listening to speeches, the literate public was able to understand that slavery was far worse than they could ever imagine.

          In this course, literature has changed my perspective of history. Many Americans are taught the ‘major’ events that occurred before the Civil War, but schools do not go into detail about what it was like to be a slave. I find this unfortunate because I feel that students could have a deeper understanding of the wickedness of slavery and the mistreatment of African Americans throughout American history. In this day in age, we see some people’s ignorance become hatred. If this nation were more knowledgeable of African American culture, it is possible that our society would have a more unifying perspective of the way we live.

          Slave narratives, much like Romance narratives, have similar characteristics. The conflict in both narratives have some sort of struggle. With Romance, it is separation from an object of desire, like in the poem The Raven, by Poe. Drowning in his sorrows, the protagonist is separated from his true love, and encounters a raven who prophesizes that he will see her “nevermore.” In the slave narrative, the struggle is realistic. Their inhibition and degradation allows the reader to feel great sentiment for the mistreatment of human beings. 

          Reading A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, I was immersed into a world of cruelty and hatred for people that I never imagined could be possible. In these writings, I could feel myself standing and experiencing the abuse and degradation of a slave. When Douglass described how his master treated a slave woman named Hester, I was overcome by sorrow and brought to tears. He writes,

I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush; and not until overcome by fatigue, would he cease to swing the blood-clotted cowskin.”

In just this small portion of his narrative, he uses the Romantic gothic rhetoric of blood in excess, and the startling sounds of screams awakening him. He uses realism is the immense detail he brings forth in the descriptions of the bloody scene. I was afraid to read more, but I knew I could not ignore the realities of America’s tragic history. Reading slave narratives gave me an experience that I will never forget.

          In the action portion of a Romance narrative, the character goes through tests to prove his or her worth. Similar to The Wide, Wide World, by Susan B. Warner, young Ellen’s happy life is flipped upside down by her mother’s illness. Ellen leaves the comforts of her home and is taken to live with a distant aunt. During her journey, Ellen is introduced to Christianity, and is challenged by the unfamiliarity of her new home. In the end, she succeeds in becoming a good Christian. In Slave narratives, the action is more external. Attempts of escaping and fighting with their masters helps the reader identify their rebellion with heroic characteristics. Seeing slavery from an African American perspective, makes the reader side with the slave.

          In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs describes several obstacles she had to go through to become free. From the sickening lust of her master toward her, to the hatred of her mistress because of that lust, Jacobs knew that she must do something drastic. She writes,

For years, my master had done his utmost to pollute my mind with foul images, and to destroy the pure principles inculcated by my grandmother, and the good mistress of my childhood. The influences of slavery had had the same effect on me that they had on other young girls; they had made me prematurely knowing, concerning the evil ways of the world.” 

When her master decided that the only way he could sexually abuse Jacobs, without his wife intervening, was by building her a small hut away from the home, Jacobs decided that the only way to escape from his vile desires was to be impregnated by another man. She writes,

As for Dr. Flint, I had a feeling of satisfaction and triumph in the thought of telling himI told him I would never enter it…In a few months I shall be a mother.”

When I read this part of her story, I could not fathom the circumstances. To be a slave is one thing, but to be an object of lust to you master is a completely different situation. She has gone against all the values that her grandmother had instilled in her in order to escape her fearful position. Although I knew of the mistreatment of slaves, I did not perceive the psychological toll enslaved women had. Many of these women conceived their master’s children. The evil of the masters did not stop there. To sell your own flesh and blood into bondage is unimaginable. Unfortunately, these narratives are true. This really happened here in the country where I was born. I feel shame and remorse to think that humans were tortured so physically and emotionally. If it were not for this course, I may not have ever known what it was to be a slave girl. I am appreciative of the knowledge I know now and will spread my new findings to others so that they may understand the African American experience.

          The final part of a narrative is the conclusion. In a Romance narrative, we find that the protagonist has reached a transcendence of some sort. In The Lamplighter, Maria Susanna Cummins writes about the abusive treatment of a little girl by her guardian. She is beaten, starved and witnesses the death of her only friend, her kitten. This traumatic story does have a happy ending. The lamplighter takes the little girl in and cares for her as if she were his daughter. The transcendence of the little girl from a helpless orphan out in the cold, to a girl who now is loved and cared for by someone is a wonderful depiction of sentiment.

In a slave narrative, the ‘happily ever after’ is the transcendence of slave to freeman (or woman). Equality is another characteristic of slave narrative conclusions. One of Sojourner Truth’s most famous speeches called Ain’t I a Woman? brings equality for not only women, but African American women. She says,

“That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head [stop] me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Sojourner wanted the women at the convention to understand that she, a free black slave, was capable to do anything any white man or woman could do. The realism of her experiences as a slave gave listeners a window into her world. The struggles and hardships she went through made her stronger and wiser. I admire her courage to stand before those people and tell them what she truly felt in her heart.

          In this course, I learned that my American culture is not based only on my experiences as a Latinx millennial. My culture is much more than that. This course helped me appreciate what I have. It also gave me a new perspective on life and the attitude of the other cultures in America. I know now that I must humble myself and realize there is always more to learn. The American Renaissance was a time of great change, but there is always more to be done. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that, government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”