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In “On Being Brought From Africa To America” Phillis Wheatley speaks directly from her experience of coming to America, and how she became very religious on her arrival, so she uses her religious beliefs to explain how lucky she was to be in America and how she made a lot of achievements. Phillis Wheatley was a young black female poet, who started discovering her love for writing when she came to America, although it was illegal to educate black people she found a way to teach herself to read and write, even though a lot of people of her race were told that they weren’t good enough to deserve to be Christians and also to enjoy the advantage of being a citizen in America, Wheatley overcame these immense obstacles and she was so grateful for the chance to be a part of the Christian word and also to hear the word of Christianity, she was also very happy that she was brought to America where she has the opportunity to read and write. “Phillis” wasn’t her real name but her master named her that because the slave ship she boarded to come to America was named Phillis. Wheatley was the first African American woman living in America to publish a book of poems at the age of 19, Wheatley was brought from Africa to …show more content…
The clash between racial reality and idea is what is artistically shown in “on being brought from Africa to America”. Wheatley is a subtle rebel. At the beginning of her poem she shows thanks for being enslaved because it brought happiness to her life in finding Christianity, but as time goes by we start to see the true tone of Wheatley, which clearly show in the last two lines of the poem, now Wheatley begins to take a big position of power as if she already has the attention of the reader. Wheatley continues by saying that Africans may not be perfect but the Christians who enslave human beings aren’t
Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1750, and was captured when she was 7. John Wheatley purchased Phillis for his wife, Susanna; together they taught Phillis how to read and write, and as early as 12, Phillis was writing poetry and her first poem had been published. Wheatley’s poems implicitly advocated for racial equality, while condemning slavery. Her work received some negative feedback from political figureheads, such as Thomas Jefferson. White America classified a human as having the ability to read, write, and reason; therefore, leaving no room for the uneducated Africans, seeing Africans as nonhuman. Jefferson claimed Wheatley’s work was not literature because the moment he admitted Wheatley’s work was indeed literature, he would have had to admit she was a human being. The way Phillis Wheatley handled the adversity she faced is admirable. Wheatley definitely impacted American history, and “owes her place in history to advocates of inequality” (Young 1999
Readers unfamiliar with Phillis Wheatley may wonder of her background and who she was in particular to be able to gain rights to be mentioned in early American literature. Wheatley was born in 1753 and was captured by Africans, and sold to an American family known as the Wheatley’s. She quickly became a member of the Wheatley family, living in the home, and being tutored on reading and writing.
As a final point, Phillis Wheatley may have been bought a slave but she never lost faith and ended up being one of the best known poets in the early nineteenth century. This poem illustrates how she was living in darkness in Senegal, West Africa and because of slavery she was bought and brought to America. In this poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” Wheatley uses poetic devices such as similes, metaphors, hyperboles to illustrate color and darkness, multiple meanings of words, and the relationship between skin tone and salvation. This poem seems to be a narrative of her life and how slavery might have been the best thing that happened to her.
Throughout the poem, “To the University of Cambridge, in New England”, Phyllis Wheatley suggest that she accepted the colonial idea of slavery, by first describing her captivity, even though this poem has a subversive double meaning that has sent an anti-slavery message. Wheatley’s choice of words indicates that her directed audience was educated at a sophisticated level because of the language chosen. Her audience was assumingly also familiar with the bible because of the religious references used. The bible was used as a reference because of its accessibility. Wheatley uses religious references to subversively warn her readers about slavery and its repercussions and to challenge her reader’s morals.
To further analyze a more spoiled African American of the time, Phillis Wheatley did address the issues of her race as much as Sojourner Truth did. Wheatley mainly wrote “to Whites, for Whites and generally in the Euro-American tradition at that time” (Jamison 408). Her content focused on Christianity, morality, virtue, and other non-African-American-related topics. Her poetry has an underlying attitude of a white, not an African American. She shares the same views and attitude as a Caucasian, therefore she is part of African American literature because she was born into it, but she did not share the particular views and struggles of the African American population. She was heavily praised, because it was not expected from an African such as herself, although her upbringing should be considered. Some white men admired her work, because it was more than
Phillis Wheatley overcame extreme obstacles, such as racism and sexism, to become one of the most acclaimed poets in the 18th Century. Her works are characterized by religious and moral backgrounds, which are due to the extensive education of religion she received. In this sense, her poems also fit into American Poetry. However, she differs in the way that she is a black woman whose writings tackle greater subjects while incorporating her moral standpoint. By developing her writing, she began speaking out against injustices that she faced and, consequently, gave way to authors such as Gwendolyn Brooks and Countee Cullen.
Wheatleys separate desire was to write poetry about her personal experience, ideas, and beliefs . However; In "Being Brought from Africa to America" Wheatley expresses "some view our race with scornful eye." here shes not indicating who views our face with scornful eye,
Applegate, Anne. “Philllis Wheatley: Her Critics and her Contribution.” Negro American Literature Forum 9.4 (1975): 123-136. JStor Database. Web. 29 July 2011.
Phillis Wheatley published her first poem at the age of seventeen years old (358). Phillis Wheatley is thought to live in Senegal and Gambia, who was sold into slavery when she was about seven years old. The family she was sold to bought her right off a boat in Boston and were called The Wheatley’s, they treated her nicely and educated her in English as well as educating her with the Bible (358). The education she was able to received carved into the poet she longed to be. In Wheatley’s poem “To The University of Cambridge, in New England.” she argues religion for not only the impact it had on her but the impact religion has had on all human race.
On his poem, On Being Brought from Africa to America, she declared, “'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,” Here, African-Americans were kicked out of Africa, a land of paradise to these people, to be sold to slavery in America and treated like dogs. In the poem, he revealed that White people commentated on Blacks by saying, "Their colour is a diabolic die.". These black people were viewed as related to sin, and they were treated very poorly. Additionally, this poem stated, “Some view our sable race with scornful eye,”. Whenever white people saw these black people, they would undertreat these African Americans and treat them as lower level
Wheatley, Phillis, and Margaretta Odell. Memoir and poems of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave. Boston: Geo. W. Light, 1834. eBook.
Phillis Wheatley affected the American Revolution through her literature. She was brought to Boston in 1761 as a slave and learned how to read in 1765. In 1765 she also published her first poem in a New England newspaper in 1765 when she was about twelve years old (Foner 235). Phillis Wheatley was able to show how blacks were truly American and were also intelligent. “My love of freedom,” wrote the black poet Phillis Wheatley in in 1783” (Foner 235). She talked about the freedom African Americans should have and how no one should ever have to be taken from their home land to be made a slave in a foreign land. She also wrote a political poem that was addressed to King George the third. “And may each clime with equal gladness see A monarch’s smile can set his subjects free! (Hoffman 351). Through her political poem, Phillis Wheatley, wanted the American colonies to understand they deserve freedom and should not have to obey King George the third. Then on October 26, 1775 Wheatley wrote a poem to President George Washington. In a part of the poem she expressed that Washington was a great leader and no one else could be compared to his greatness. “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy ...
The “Negro” was written by Langston Hughes who was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, but also lived in Illinois, Ohio, and Mexico. The first poem he wrote was “The Negro Speaks of Rivers" in the Crisis, which was edited by his mentor W E. B. Du Bois. That poem was written while he attended Columbia University in New York. After college he was able to travel abroad. He went to the west coast of Africa while he worked on a freighter. He also lived In Paris for several months before returning to the United States late in 1924. When he returned back to his country he was already well known in the African American literary circles as a gifted young poet. He was dedicated to African American music and held a special interest for jazz and the blues. Hughes was notability one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance. His worked has not only shaped literature but help to change political views. Hughes loved being a “Negro” with a strong sense of racial pride. He’s written a lot of poetry, novels, plays, essays, and children's books, promoting racial equality, and condemned racism and injustice. He celebrated African American culture, humor, and spirituality. (Andrew, Foster and Harris)
Mary and Nathaniel Wheatley, the Wheatley's son and daughter, tutored me in academics. I learned to read and write, not only English but, Greek and Latin as well. I also started reading difficult passages in the bible. The made me seem as if I was a human dictionary. This sparked the writing of my religious poetry. I was doing all this at the age of twelve. When I was fourteen I wrote my first poem, “To the University of Cambridge, In England”. Because of my
Written in 1773, Phyllis Wheatley wrote a poem to criticize the Christians who were for slavery. “On Being Brought from Africa to America” was addressed to the white slaving owning class and to blatantly call them out on not being very good Christians. While her ideological stance is not clear at the beginning of the poem, especially when she starts praising slavery, it becomes clear from the fifth line and to the end of the poem that she argues that blacks are just the same as whites. She is very much this inequality, and wishes to end slavery and this notion of whites being superior to blacks. She becomes very active and condemns the hypocrisy of those who believe in God yet continue to own slaves, and her beliefs is strengthened by her excellent