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Literature & Language
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English (U.S.)
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Critical Analysis Of The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano Or Gustavus Vassa The African
Essay Instructions:
The seminar paper should be a critical analysis of "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, Vol 1." (1789) and develop an informed, critical thesis in a mature manner. You are required to use the BIOGRAPHICAL critical approach and perform secondary research with at least 5 scholarly sources (no Wikipedia or other nonscholarly sources).
Your paper should have the following:
A strong thesis, which is an arguable claim, about the materials you are analyzing.
A sense of conveying the importance and significance of the work you are examining
A reliance not upon Wikipedia or media sources but upon academic writers to ground your analysis and discussion
The development of a line of reasoning from an introduction, background information about the writer or website, presentation of the thesis, exploration of the different points/positions related to the thesis using examples and quotes from both the author/website and from experts, reflection on the issues raised and the implications of your analysis, and final conclusions.
Essay Sample Content Preview:
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Professor
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Critical Analysis of The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African
Olaudah Equiano is recognized for his autobiography the interesting story of ‘The Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African.' Born in Essaka village in the kingdom of Benin in 1945, Olaudah was kidnapped at age eleven and sold to the slave traders who were heading the West Indies. He spends the rest of his life serving masters of slave ships and the British navy vessels. He travels extensively under his masters and through his travel, he discovers the merchant trades and later become a trader carrying out some minor trade exchanges. He saves money from this trade and buys his freedom in 1766. In 1767 he settled in England where he later attends school and in the year 1789, he published his autobiography. His autobiography takes his personal experiences to explore the theme of slavery in several aspects. The sufferings and the forced labor that they underwent as slaves contributed significantly in shaping his life not only as a slave but also as the author of his autobiography. To bring out the theme of slavery and get the audience to understand it entirely from the lens of the author, Equiano has employed different stylistic devices that help the readers connect his life experiences as a slave and the struggles that salves of the time underwent.
In his work, Equiano does have an exciting plot that brings up the emotions of his readers through vivid descriptions of his first encounter as a slave and describing his roots. Some of the feelings he stirs up are sadness, happiness, and expectation. At the beginning of his autobiography, there is a brief description of his community where he shows the traditional laws set out for different offenders such as adulterers. He also describes the rite of passage of young men, which is the circumcision that he believes was borrowed from the Jews. He offers a theory that would show how the Africans and Jews come from the same decedents and that the black color on their skins comes from the hot sun of the tropics. Many critics of his work have argued that this theory may often lead to a conclusion that he did not live in Africa and he may have borrowed his writing technique from traveling. The literature, where you get to do your research based on facts and then write a fictional story based on true events. This can also be supported by the fact that he does not express his emotions in his writing such as happiness during the marriage ceremonies (Manchester 12).
Regardless of his work showing traces of traveled literature, Equiano is a master of vivid description, and this is all over his autobiography. He describes all accounts that occur in his life from step to step and builds the plot from there. Evidence can be seen when he is first sold to a slave ship that is bound for the West Indies. Here he describes the middle passage that is used to transport slaves through the Atlantic Ocean to North America. He also describes the harsh conditions they go through on the ship and also shows the culture shock he gets when he first witnesses the European treatment of slaves. This is a bit different from the African way, for example when he says:
I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind...I was not long suffered to indulge my grief; I was soon put down hinder the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life (Equiano68-70).
Additionally, the autobiography does decipher imagery that Equiano employs in his work. He aims to show the reader a clear picture of how slavery is cruel by ensuring the readers can use their sense of smell, hearing, and sight (The University of North Carolina: docsouth.unc.). He shows this clearly in several instances. For example, when he first experiences snow and asks his friend Robert where the snow comes from and he responds it comes f...
Professor
Date
Critical Analysis of The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African
Olaudah Equiano is recognized for his autobiography the interesting story of ‘The Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African.' Born in Essaka village in the kingdom of Benin in 1945, Olaudah was kidnapped at age eleven and sold to the slave traders who were heading the West Indies. He spends the rest of his life serving masters of slave ships and the British navy vessels. He travels extensively under his masters and through his travel, he discovers the merchant trades and later become a trader carrying out some minor trade exchanges. He saves money from this trade and buys his freedom in 1766. In 1767 he settled in England where he later attends school and in the year 1789, he published his autobiography. His autobiography takes his personal experiences to explore the theme of slavery in several aspects. The sufferings and the forced labor that they underwent as slaves contributed significantly in shaping his life not only as a slave but also as the author of his autobiography. To bring out the theme of slavery and get the audience to understand it entirely from the lens of the author, Equiano has employed different stylistic devices that help the readers connect his life experiences as a slave and the struggles that salves of the time underwent.
In his work, Equiano does have an exciting plot that brings up the emotions of his readers through vivid descriptions of his first encounter as a slave and describing his roots. Some of the feelings he stirs up are sadness, happiness, and expectation. At the beginning of his autobiography, there is a brief description of his community where he shows the traditional laws set out for different offenders such as adulterers. He also describes the rite of passage of young men, which is the circumcision that he believes was borrowed from the Jews. He offers a theory that would show how the Africans and Jews come from the same decedents and that the black color on their skins comes from the hot sun of the tropics. Many critics of his work have argued that this theory may often lead to a conclusion that he did not live in Africa and he may have borrowed his writing technique from traveling. The literature, where you get to do your research based on facts and then write a fictional story based on true events. This can also be supported by the fact that he does not express his emotions in his writing such as happiness during the marriage ceremonies (Manchester 12).
Regardless of his work showing traces of traveled literature, Equiano is a master of vivid description, and this is all over his autobiography. He describes all accounts that occur in his life from step to step and builds the plot from there. Evidence can be seen when he is first sold to a slave ship that is bound for the West Indies. Here he describes the middle passage that is used to transport slaves through the Atlantic Ocean to North America. He also describes the harsh conditions they go through on the ship and also shows the culture shock he gets when he first witnesses the European treatment of slaves. This is a bit different from the African way, for example when he says:
I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind...I was not long suffered to indulge my grief; I was soon put down hinder the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life (Equiano68-70).
Additionally, the autobiography does decipher imagery that Equiano employs in his work. He aims to show the reader a clear picture of how slavery is cruel by ensuring the readers can use their sense of smell, hearing, and sight (The University of North Carolina: docsouth.unc.). He shows this clearly in several instances. For example, when he first experiences snow and asks his friend Robert where the snow comes from and he responds it comes f...
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