Copper Sun is a book that involves a journey between slaves and an indentured servant during the slavery period in the mid-1700’s. This book gives the audience an insight of what Africans had to endure and their struggle of gaining back their freedom. Amari, a 15-year-old girl from Ziavi, Africa, is oblivious to the dangers heading toward her village. While Polly, an American 15-year-old, has lived her life as an unprivileged poor white person who has paid no interest in slaves whatsoever. They are bought by the same man and have to learn to tolerate each other as they are forced to share the same room quarters and duties. The book starts off with Amari walking through her village, admiring the place where she grew up. Besa is then introduced …show more content…
as her future betrothed husband who is concerned about the strangers with pale skin coming their way. The Africans hear about the news and quickly prepare food and gifts to have a celebration for the newcomers. The Americans are graciously welcomed but soon reveal their true intention by shooting the village chief. Caos soon replaces what once was a joyful party and the villagers quickly attempted to run away. Most of them were captured but the rest were killed by guns and spears. Among the deaths were Amari’s mother, father, and her younger brother. The prisoners were then shackled to one another with iron bars wrapped around their neck and feet. They traveled for days until they arrived at a huge city known as Cape Coast located in South Africa. There they were getting prepared to get thrown onto a ship where she would endure difficult and cruel problems. After Amari lost track of days on the boat, they arrived at Sullivan’s island where she would soon be sold off to a slave owner who showed no mercy. She was quickly sold to a man named Mr. Percival Derby and was put into the back of a wagon along with a White girl who seemed to sit in the corner farthest away from Amari. Minutes turned to hours as they continued their ride to the Derbyshire farm where she would live out the rest of her life as a slave. Once they arrived Polly was immediately put in charge of Amari and sent to a shack where she would call home for the next 14 years. Polly showed obvious anger as she wanted nothing to do with the slave let alone be responsible for her. She had no success in moving into the main house where she hoped she could serve the lady of the house one day. She slowly opened up to Amari and accepted her skin color after being able to relate to her struggles of losing her parents and her freedom. They became accustomed to the daily chores and had no difficulties until one day their lives were put in danger. One day Mrs.
Derby went into labor with no warning or doctors near by. Mr. Derby began to panic and turned to Amari and Polly for some assistance while he leaves to find a doctor in the next town. During the childbirth, Amari and Polly are forced to deliver the baby and are shocked to discover the baby is of color. Mrs. Derby explained that she was having an affair with her personal slave, Noah, who she was in love with. They decided to form a plan to keep the baby a secret but when Mr. Derby came back with the doctor he discovered the truth. He became enraged and killed the baby and Noah. He decided to send back Amari, Polly, and Tidbit, the son of a slave who was also involved in the incident, and sell them off. At the sight of light they were sent off into the same wagon they arrived in, but they quickly escape before reaching their …show more content…
destination. Once they escaped they headed down further south knowing Mr.
Derby would send dogs and people looking for them in the North. They were told a place called Fort Mose located in Spanish Florida was owned by a spanish king that welcomed slaves and people searching for freedom. They traveled on foot where they suffered fatigue, dehydration, and sickness on most days, but they kept going by reminding them that freedom was worth much more. They encountered many people but were fortunate enough to escape easily or receive help from them. After months of traveling they made it to paradise where they were greeted by a former slave who ensured them that they would be happy here as long as they pledged allegiance to the king. They finally felt safe, which is a feeling they had not felt in a long time. Amari then is comforted by a resident who informs her she is carrying a child. Amari realizes that the baby is the result of continuous rape from Clay, Mr. Derby’s son, but soon promises to protect her child and do everything in her power not to let her child know what enslavement feels
like. Copper Sun relates to history through a story of a young African girl who is forced to leave her village behind and become enslaved by Americans who constantly beat and raped her. This, unfortunately, was very common among female slaves during the American Civil War era, where color was not accepted and white became the superior race. Slavery was first introduced in 1619 to help aid in tobacco production and continued throughout the 17th and 18th century. African labor helped build up America’s economy and was seen as morally correct due to the color of their skin. Over 12 million Africans were forced to leave their home and become slaves in the New World. In the book, Amari first arrived in South Carolina, a common place where slavery took place. The South was known for their slaves whereas the North did not and was known as a place of freedom for slaves. Slavery was abolished in America in 1865, but it sadly continues to be a problem around the world.
This lecture provided an overview of development of slave narratives as a genre unique to the United States. It divided slave narratives as a genre into several distinct time periods that were characterized by different literary characteristics. The three temporal divisions of the genre include 1760-1810, the 1840’s, and the 1850’s and beyond.
In the book Copper Sun the author introduces you to many different characters. One of the main characters in Amari. Amari isn't just a character to me, she is someone I feel I can connect with. Amari goes on a tough journey with many other slaves, she finds hardships on the journey to Sullivan’s island. I feel like I connected the most with Amari even though she is a girl.
In the face of hardships, one must never lose courage or led to be discouraged. Amari, a fifteen year old African girl, ripped from her homeland, and forced to work on a rice plantation, finds her inner strength by not giving up on hope. Copper Sun by Sharon Draper follows how Amari endures life on a rice plantation, and all the pain she goes undergoes.
In all, Tademy does a great job in transporting her readers back to the 1800s in rural Louisiana. This book is a profound alternative to just another slave narrative. Instead of history it offers ‘herstory’. This story offers insight to the issues of slavery through a women’s perspective, something that not so many books offer. Not only does it give readers just one account or perspective of slavery but it gives readers a take on slavery through generation after generation. From the early days of slavery through the Civil War, a narrative of familial strength, pride, and culture are captured in these lines.
The issue of Slavery in the South was an unresolved issue in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During these years, the south kept having slavery, even though most states had slavery abolished. Due to the fact that slaves were treated as inferior, they did not have the same rights and their chances of becoming an educated person were almost impossible. However, some information about slavery, from the slaves’ point of view, has been saved. In this essay, we are comparing two different books that show us what being a slave actually was. This will be seen with the help of two different characters: Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass in The Narrative of the life of Frederick
The epic of Sundiata begins by a griot storytelling the story of ancestors of Mali and the tale of a man whose victory will create the Mali Empire. The griot then explains that the king of the city of Niani will create a great ruler by marrying an ugly woman, who is claimed to have magical powers . The king of the city of Niani is Sundiata’s father, Maghan Kon Fatta. Two hunters went for the hunt of looking for this ugly woman and so they did. Her name was Sologan, who was also known as the buffalo woman because she roaming around ruining the land of Do. After they got married, they conceived Sundiata, Mali’s greatest king. Even though he could not walk in the beginning, later on he overcomes this tragedy and gains strength to rule Mali, like
The "American Slavery" Book Review This book achieved its goal by reflecting on the past and history of American Slavery. We can see in much detail what America was and has become throughout the era of slavery. It was the Colonial era that America began to see what true slavery would soon become. The author, Peter Kolchin, tries to interpret the true history of slavery. He wants the readers to understand the depth to which the slaves lived under bondage.
Lawrence Hill 's The Book of Negroes is a heart wrenching tale that highlights the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. The push to abolish the slave trade, called the abolitionist movement, was headlined by the London Committee. This movement plays a crucial role in The Book of Negroes; they are the reason Aminata is able to go home to Africa and how she comes to tell her story. However, the information Hill gives the reader about the abolitionist movement must be looked at critically, as the novel is a work of fiction. While Lawrence Hill makes a clear attempt to accurately depict the abolitionist movement in The Book of Negroes, there are several areas where he deviated from history.
The book Copper Sun by Sharon Draper is a touching story about slavery and a thrilling journey. The book is about Amari and her adventure with slavery. It starts in her village, Ziavi, where strange white men attack her village. She gets sold as a slave and ends up on DerbyShire plantation with no family left. She goes through a lot of heartbreak and tragedy throughout her journey. She deals with problems like slavery, loss, and many other things. She also goes through many different settings as the story progresses. In the novel there are many similarities and differences between Ziavi and the DerbyShire plantation.
The only thing that was always there to help most of characters in the book. One of the sailors with the reddish colored hair cared for Amari enough to teach her some words of English. Even though he could have done what everybody else was doing he found enough sympathy in his heart to help Amari. “ Water,” he said pointing to it. Amari wasn't sure what he meant. “ Water,” he said again “ Water, water, water, water.” In this part of the story what Amari needed most was someone to help her as much they could. Another person that cared enough to help Amari was Afi. “ Afi said nothing but held Amari in her arms and rocked her until the tears stopped flowing “ The times when Amari was most confused and was unsure about how to go on Afi was there to guide her. Even though Afi was in Amari’s life a short she helped her forever. “ If you die, they win. We cannot let that happen” Another character that helped Amari was Teenie. As soon as Amari got to the Derby plantation she was a sort of mother figure. “ Teenie touched Amari gently on her head. “ You got a strong spirit Myna.” After Mr. Derby viciously whipped Amari and her back was healing she was cared for by Teenie. Teenie was the closest thing to a mother figure because her cooking reminded Amari of her mother’s cooking. She cared for Amari like a mother would care for their child. “ Tidbit thought about that. Then he asked solemnly, “ Will you be my mama now, Amari?” She hugged him tightly. “Oh, yes. Forever I will. You will be my little boy. Always.” Amari in the this part of the book had to care for Tidbit he had no mother and Amari decided to take that motherly
The story, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali by T. D. Niane, is told from a griot. Griots are members of a group of storytellers who establish a tradition of oral history in parts of West Africa. Djeli Kouyate is a griot in the country of West Africa who tells this story about Sundiata. Koyate repeatedly, throughout the book, references the importance of the griot and messages behind this to Sundiata. This gives the reader and audience a continuous reminder of the moral of the story. The book is about Sundiata’s trials and tribulations from the beginning to his steps that he went through to rise to power toward the end. Sundiata is seen as a very influential, powerful, and strong individual. He is known as the “epic hero.”
This bond strengthens after Clay begins raping Amari and Polly sees first-hand just how scare Amari is, which is the same reaction Polly would have to the treatment. She realizes that blacks, even though they are slaves, have the same emotions, and are just as human, as their white slave holders. The only respite for the two young girls comes from the feisty humor of Mr. Derby's slave cook, Teenie, the unbreakable precociousness of Teenie's four-year-old son Tidbit, and the secret kindness of Mr. Derby's eighteen-year-old second wife, who is nearly nine months pregnant. When Mr. Derby remarried after his first wife passed away, his teenage bride came to her new home with all her belongings and her favorite slave, Noah. When Mrs. Derby goes into labor on the plantations, the slave women, including Amari, quickly rush to her aid. Amari is horrified when she sees that Mrs. Derby's baby does not share the white skin of Mr. Derby, but is a beautiful caramel brown, the same color as Noah's skin. Mrs. Derby admits to the girls that she and Noah are deeply in love, and she begs them to help her save her baby. All the slave women band together in an attempt to hide the truth from Mr. Derby, claiming that the baby was stillborn and had to be quickly buried, but Mr. Derby demands to see the body. When no one can
Northup, Solomon, Sue L. Eakin, and Joseph Logsdon. Twelve years a slave. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Print.
Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mail was written by Djibril Tamsir Niane. D.T.Niane was born January 9, 1932 in Conakry Guinea. D.T Niane is an African Historian, playwright and short story writer. Niane works are scholarly article and book that focuses on Africa’s history, preservation, resistance and its western perception. However, among the many pieces of literature that was written, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mail and his volumes of Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century (General History of Africa) are the only other pieces of literature that was translated into English.
She craves to be known and noticed by someone, proven by her treatment of her schoolchildren. She whipped them to be a part of their life; she wanted to know that they were aware of her presence. However, when it came to her own children, she was highly bothered by their existence because it meant that she was bound to Anse in her duty to produce children (Napierkowski 9). She wanted to be independent, but her children tied her to her life as a Bundren. Much like Anse discussed the rooting of a tree and how they are planted upright so they do not have to move, Addie questions where she was planted and her purpose for being there. While she resents all of her children, her response to their birth was slightly different for each of them. Cash, her first-born, is the first child she has known that is actually hers by blood, but still he represented Addie’s awareness that people are truly alone, and no child or husband can change that. She could not love him because love was just a word, and it was Anse’s word. Darl was a betrayal to Addie; she believed Anse had tricked her with talk of love and union. Darl marks the beginning of her contemplation of words and experiences. If Darl was a betrayal to Addie, Jewel was Addie’s betrayal to Anse. She conceived him in an