Slave Narratives Tasha Thomas Chapman High School December 3, 2001

Historical Background  A literary tradition that extends back to the eighteenth century  Was first an oral tradition and then developed into written narratives James Cape, ex-slave, Ft. Worth

Federal Writer’s Project  A division of the Works Progress Administration  A group of ex-slave narratives submitted by the Florida Writers' Project directly sparked the establishment of a regional study of slave narratives  Learn more about the FWP at the American Memory web site American Memory

Literary Connections: Terms to Know  Narrative  Slave narrative  Dialect  Interpretation  Point of view  Author's intent,  Autobiography,  Historical nonfiction

Narrative  Writing concerned with relating and event or series of events  Focuses on a central conflict  Can be imaginary like a short story  Can be factual like a news-paper account

Historical Narrative  An account of a real-life historical experiences  Given by the person who experienced the events or by someone who observed and studied them

Slave Narrative  An autobiographical account written by someone who endured the miseries of slavery  Narrators use sensory details to re-create their experiences  The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass is an excellent example

Dialect  The form of speech of a limited region or people  Distinguished from other forms nearly related to it  A variety or subdivision of a language  Speech characterized by local peculiarities or specific circumstances

Interpretation  “Spoken words are the symbols of mental experience and written words are the symbols of spoken words.” -Aristotle

Interpretation (con.)  a mental representation of the meaning or significance of something  an explanation of something that is not immediately obvious  Often subject to personal biases

Point of View  The perspective of the speaker in a piece of literature  1 st person point f view is one in which the narrator tells things from his or her own perspective  A 3 rd person narrator tells things from the perspective of an onlooker.

Point of View: Omniscient  The narrator knows everything including the actions, motives, and thoughts of all the characters,  In other words, the narrator is all- knowing.

Point of View: Limited Omniscience  The speaker is unable to know what is in any character's mind but his or her own

Author’s Intent  Writers usually write for a purpose  Purpose may be one or more of the following: To inform To entertain To express thoughts and feelings To persuade others to read or do something

Autobiography  The story of a person's life written by himself or herself.  William Colin Powell's "My American Journey" is an example.  Slave narratives are autobiographical in nature, whether written by the former slave, or dictated by an interviewer

Bibliography  “African American Odyssey” Division of “Library of Congress” URL: Copyright 8 September 1998 Date Accessed 3 December 2001  The Language of Literature Authur N. Applebee, ed. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2000  Aristotle. “350 BC ON INTERPRETATION” translated by E. M. Edgehill Date Accessed: 3 December 2001