Category: american literature

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+ a letter from phillis wheatley, london 1773, african american literature, american literature, early american literature, on being brought from africa to america, phillis wheatley, poetry, robert hayden, to maecenas

Robert Hayden’s “A Letter From Phillis Wheatley, London 1773”

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As I got ready to teach Phillis Wheatley recently, I decided to incorporate Robert Hayden’s “A Letter from Phillis Wheatley London, 1773” which originally appeared in his 1978 collection American Journal. Of course, during our discussions, we related Hayden’s poem to Wheatley, but we also thought about other connections that could be made between “A Letter from Phillis Wheatley” and other texts we have … Read More Robert Hayden’s “A Letter From Phillis Wheatley, London 1773”

+ american literature, chocorua's curse, early american literature, lydia maria child, painting, the oxbow, thomas cole

Lydia Maria Child’s “Chocorua’s Curse” and the Paintings of Thomas Cole

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Back in October, I wrote about Lydia Maria Child’s “Chocorua’s Curse” and America’s literary presence. I’m not going to go back into the discussion from that post, I do want to expand a little on one of the allusion to the English born painter Thomas Cole that Child uses in the story. In the second paragraph, Child comments that Americans need to look for … Read More Lydia Maria Child’s “Chocorua’s Curse” and the Paintings of Thomas Cole

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+ african american literature, american literature, early american literature, frederick douglass, george washington, julius caesar, louisiana literature

Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” and How We Need to Think About the Past

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On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a speech entitled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Last week, I wrote about a small section of this speech, and today I want to expand that discussion some more, looking at what Douglass says about what we should do, or shouldn’t do, with the past. The entire speech, of course, focuses on America’s … Read More Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” and How We Need to Think About the Past

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+ african american literature, american literature, early american literature, enslaved, frederick douglass, Literature, louisiana literature, slave narrative, slavery, solomon northup, southern literature, the slave's narrative, thomas jefferson, twelve years a slave, william cowper

The Transmission of Racist Thought in Solomon Northup’s “Twelve Years a Slave”

by Unknown's avatar

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled “Why can’t we just move on? The past is the past.” In that post, I examine how Thomas Jefferson, David Walker, and Solomon Northup all argue that it is nurture, not nature, that produces within us thoughts of discrimination. I wrote about Northup’s descriptions of William Ford and Edwin Epps’ son in that post, … Read More The Transmission of Racist Thought in Solomon Northup’s “Twelve Years a Slave”

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+ african american literature, american literature, declaration of independence, early american literature, enslaved, fourth of july, frederick douglass, louisiana literature, propaganda, slave narrative, slavery, solomon northup, southern literature, thomas jefferson, twelve years a slave

Fireworks, hot dogs, music, and inequality on the Fourth of July

by Unknown's avatar

Why you ain’t march on Selma? Why you ain’t tell the refugees “please stay with me”? Why when you take communion, it don’t remind you of your union? That you too were once undocumented too Why do you love your guns more than our sons? Why you patriots first? Why you worshipping the flag?–Propaganda Today, we celebrate the Fourth of July, America’s independence. We … Read More Fireworks, hot dogs, music, and inequality on the Fourth of July

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