learning to read and write

Amber James

Period 2

Fredrick Douglass

When learning to read and write Douglass had a very hard time with little help from his mistress in the beginning. Douglass was a slave and for them reading and writing was forbidden. They had no real rights as human beings. They weren’t even treated like people but as property.

Ironically the person who began teaching him how to read and write, was the one who began to hate to see him even pick up a newspaper. At first he says that his mistress was a sweet, kind, and tender-hearted woman and he never knew why she treated him so well. As time went on slavery began to change all of her nice characteristics. She stopped all efforts of instructing him but luckily she taught him the alphabet before she began to change. So now he had no support and had to sneak to further educate himself. Just knowing the alphabet wasn’t enough for Douglass he was determined to learn how to read and write. He tried to learn more every chance he got. While running errands he would give poor white kids he met on the streets bread to help him read. He wanted to know everything they knew and even more. In the passage Douglass talks about the boys for a brief moment and he says that he would like to mention their names to show his gratitude but that might be embarrassing to them because it was almost an unfavorable offense to teach slaves to read in this Christian country. He capitalized Christian as a gesture of sarcasm. It’s like he’s saying how can they refer to themselves as Christians and still treat people the way they do, which is not the Christian way. He always told them “you will be free as soon as you are twenty-one but I am a slave for life.” he already knew what his future would be.

Reading had some highs and lows, yes it did give him hope but it also was depressing. Douglass read several books that talked about emancipation. These books gave him hope that one day he could be the slave that his owner set free because of his intelligence. Just knowing that it was possible and has happened was enough encouragement for him. But in some of the books he read there weren’t so great of endings. Some of the things he read began to scare him and opened up his eyes to what slavery truly was. He began to realize why the masters didn’t want their slaves to be able to read. All Douglass did was think about the cruelty of slavery but that’s all he could do. Douglass had no type of power to stop anything all he had was his thoughts that he couldn’t get rid of.

Once Douglass perfected his reading skills he was determined to learn how to write. There was no stopping him he had so much ambition. Douglass began to think about escaping but he was being smart about it. He paid close attention to everything that was going on around him at all times and he wasn’t naive of frantic. Before escaping he wanted to know how to read and write, skills that he may have to put to use. To learn how to write he watched the ship carpenters and the marks they made on the timber. He watched them so much that he began to understand what the marks represented. He also learned how to write by started competitions with boys that already knew how to write and tricking them into teaching him more. Another way that increased his writing abilities was sneaking and using his master’s son’s copybook and trying to match the handwriting. By taking all of these steps Douglass finally succeeded in learning how to write.

Douglass was a very determined man and he stopped at nothing to get his education. Because of his determination he did in fact get what he was going after.

The Wiz Essay

Amber James
P-2
The Wiz

In the beginning of the movie Dorothy doesn’t really understand the importance of family. Throughout the movie she starts to realize how important family really is. She starts to meet new people and she sees how miserable and alone they are. She begins to realize that everyone needs someone else to help and support them as she did her new friends. For example, the scarecrow would have never known how to get down off of that pole without her help and the tin man would have been stuck for forever if she and the scarecrow didn’t remove everything that was on top of him.
Then when she finally gets to the wiz, she sees all of these people in green dancing around. When her and her friends got there everyone was looking at them funny. It was as if the people didn’t except them for their clothing and not having “green”. None of the people cared about who they were as people but what they wore on the outside. It’s clear to say that they put appearance over friendship and family, the things that should really matter. The people didn’t even try to say hi to them, or try to see or understand who they were; they just looked and kept singing their song wondering what the new color would be. It was like the new “in” color was all they cared about and they didn’t even pick the color the Wiz did and they just followed right along.
The Wiz wasn’t any better than the dancing people. He only wanted to speak to Dorothy because of her shiny silver shoes. The Wiz only wanted Dorothy not the lion, not the scarecrow, and not the tin man, only Dorothy. This moment in the story shows how much Dorothy cared about her friends because she told him that she wasn’t going anywhere without her friends. By making this choice Dorothy sacrificed ever getting back home just so her and her friends could have a chance at getting what they needed.
As the movie began to wind down Dorothy started to realize how much she missed home. She missed her aunt. She even missed the most annoying things, like her aunt nagging her about going away and having independence.

Desiree's Baby

Amber James
Eng III
“Desiree’s Baby”
P-2
This story consists of a lot of irony. It has a lot of unexpected turns. The audience never knows what to expect next. When u do expect something to happen it goes the exact opposite way.
First the baby changed the father’s life. He was so excited about the baby in the beginning. He was even nice to his slaves which was unusual for him. So for a moment life for them was pretty easy. Then in the matter of 3 months he began to be distant from his wife. She didn’t know what was wrong with him and he gave no effort to let her know. So everything just started to go downhill for them. He didn’t want to be touched nor bothered by her it was as if she irritated him with her presence. Desiree cherished and loved her husband and her baby and she didn’t know what was tearing their family apart.
Then one day Desiree was in the room with the baby and just began to stare at the baby. She thought something was wrong with the baby. She had no idea what it was. So she asked her husband and he told her that their child was not white and she was not white. Desiree argued with him about this subject she even made a point that her skin was whiter than his. Desiree didn’t believe that she was black for one minute she even wrote a letter to her mother asking if it’s true or not. When her mother wrote back she neither denied nor confirmed that it was the truth. So this gives the audience reason to believe that Desiree really was not white. Her mother even foreshadowed this event happening in the beginning of the story by the way she was looking at the baby and when she said,” This is not the baby.” As if it was already something wrong with the baby.
So because the husband believed Desiree had a little bit of black in her this changed all of his feelings for her. They were so in love at first but because she has a drop of black blood in her body he wants nothing to do with her. He even wanted his wife that he “did” love so much and the mother of his child leave and go be with her mother. He was so quick to say the child was black on Desiree’s behalf but never thought that that one drop of black blood could be in his body.
He made a fire outside of the house and had his slaves burning what all belonged to her. Desiree sent him letters and he wouldn’t even respond back, this showed that she still had love for the father of her child. While looking at her letters he discovered a letter from his mother to his father. The letter explains how his mother belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery. So the reason that the baby is not white is because of him. He was the reason the baby was black not his wife. So he treated her wrong for no reason at all and he was the one to blame for it all. This part was at the end of the story and this moment changed the whole story around. The ending left the audience with shock and it was so unexpected. Everybody believed that Desiree was really at fault for the reason the baby was not white no one would of guessed it to be the fathers fault. An ending like this just leaves the audience wanting more and wondering what happens next.

Anne Bradstreet Poems

Amber James
Period 2
Anne Bradstreet Poems
Eng III
Anne Bradstreet is a very talented poet. She stepped out of her element and wrote about what she truly felt not caring about anyone else’s comments. This says more about her character it shows that she’s a very strong woman and those were very hard to find back in the time when she was living. In her poems she never comes right out and says what they mean but she takes different routes that imply her meanings. Looking at her background and her being a puritan no one would expect these types of poems coming from her.
In her poem “The Author to Her Book’’ she talks about her book as if it was her child. She says “Yet being mine own, at length affection would, thy blemishes amend, if so I could.” She cherishes the book just like a mother would her child. She claims the book to be the offspring of her feeble brain, just like a child is the offspring of their mother. She writes as if she’s speaking of a baby but if you read in between the lines of her poem you realize that she’s talking about her book and u begin to understand more what she really means. The book has came from her and it has all the qualities that she put inside of it just like a child comes from its mother and has qualities of its mother. She’s just simply saying that she gave birth to a book (not in literal terms). She even refers to herself as a mother when she says “My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.” The text doesn’t sound too sane but the meaning is there u just have to read into it.
In Anne’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” she expresses the love that she has for her husband. This was something very unusual for women to do back in her time. Women were meant to cook, clean, and take care of house duties, not go around expressing their feelings. Anne didn’t care she set herself apart from the other woman. She loved her husband and she showed it in her poems. She directs the poem straight to him. It’s like she doesn’t even need an audience the only person she needs is him. As long as he reads it and knows how she feels she’ll be fine. She talks about how they depend on one another and need each other as if they act as one person. She also says how she loves who her husband is and is happy to be with him. If anything of much value was offered to her she would turn it down for the love of her husband. It was the most precious thing to her and she wouldn’t give it up for the world. She wants to be with him forever, even after life on earth she wants to continue their love in heaven also.

sinners in the hands of an angry god essay

Amber James
“Sinners in the hands of an angry god” essay
Period 2
ENG III

The author words the article as if it was written by god himself. He says the actions that god will take if certain events occur. He talks like he’s heard it exactly out of god’s mouth. He says what actions will require you to go to hell as if he were the one who determines who goes to heaven and hell. It’s like Edwards is trying to scare people into worshiping and serving god in the way that he believes is best by telling them that if they do any wrong they are going to hell. He knows that that’s the one thing that most people fear so maybe it will steer them to do right.
The author is not too fond of the Israelites. In one section of the article he describes them as wicked and unbelieving. He believes that they deserved all of their punishment and destruction. Throughout the article he uses different metaphors about their failure and how it is completely their fault. He talks about how god has pushed them as far as he could and they should be able to hold their own weight. They carry their own fate.
I also like his style of writing. Throughout the text he constantly explains the metaphors. He makes his writing understandable so everyone will no exactly what he is talking about and nothing will be mistaken for something else. His stories make everything simpler. They are meant to make u think more on the topic. They put your mind in a different place and makes u realize exactly what he means.
It’s like the author is also writing this article to recruit more people to believe in god. He’s trying to get the idea of god to reach everyone all over the world. He believes the simplest things can make someone a sinner. He says all of this about everyone and their sins like he has never committed one himself.