Frederick Douglass 3

If a person was to not be educated in any way for most of their life, there would be many ways to infringe upon their freedoms. They would be more gullible, more accepting and more reactionary. Anything one would do to a truly uneducated person could become justified to them. They haven’t had the opportunity to create a worldview for themselves, everything that could be done to them would seem normal. It is important to educate people, especially about how other’s live, so there wouldn’t be a way to justify wrongdoing. The masters reaped many benefits due to this. It likely reduced riots and probably assisted the slaveowners in teaching them the insulting idea that they were supposed to be slaves.

F. Douglass 2

A human right is a right that in a perfect world would not be denied to anyone. These rights include many things we take for granted, like freedom of speech and equal representation under law. Almost none of these rights were given to slaves. As they were not given humanity, there was little reason for America to attempt to do anything else. While there was a strong abolitionist movement, there was also rampant racism. Specifically, slaves were, well slaves. They were considered property, and therefore were unable to have simple privileges like freedom of speech or expression.

Frederick Douglass blog 1

Separating the family would have an unfortunately high amount of benefits for the owner. Separation would demoralize the slaves and make them more submissive and malleable. Young children would not have the care of their mother, causing their minds to be more open to authority figures. More respect for authority means fewer issues down the line. For the parents, it would reinforce the notion that they are property, which could lead to a more obedient workforce. Fewer close family bonds between slaves could also help in making things more efficient and safe for the master. Not to mention, the separation brings profit.

Sub-genre 2

This specific tale was of the fictitious knight Tancred, who was a central character in Jerusalem Delivered, an epic poem about the First Crusade. In this scene, Tancred has fought in single combat with Clorinda, his lover. Not recognizing her in battle apparel, he strikes her down. He unlaces her helmet and realizes what he has done, and with her final words Clorinda asks to be baptized. The Renaissance was a time of great advancement in the arts. As religion was of utmost importance in Europe at the time, many works were religious in nature. This one demonstrates the desire to connect with God, even in those of different religions.

The actual sub genre 1

I Live, I Die, I Burn, I Drown
Louise Labe

I live, I die, I burn, I drown
I endure at once chill and cold
Life is at once too soft and too hard
I have sore troubles mingled with joys

Suddenly I laugh and at the same time cry
And in pleasure many a grief endure
My happiness wanes and yet it lasts unchanged
All at once I dry up and grow green

Thus I suffer love's inconstancies
And when I think the pain is most intense
Without thinking, it is gone again.

Then when I feel my joys certain
And my hour of greatest delight arrived
I find my pain beginning all over once again.

When I do Count the Clock that Tells the Time
William Shakespeare

When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silver’d o’er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer’s green all girded up in sheaves
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
And nothing ‘gainst Time’s scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.


One of the most obvious differences in these poems are Shakespeare’s lack of stanzas. Louise is able to convey precisely what she is feeling through these stanzas, as she perfectly separates different ideas into them. Shakespeare is quite a bit more basic in his structure, simply having a block of text with a basic 1 2 1 2 3 4 3 4 scheme with the final two lines breaking the rhythm. Shakespeare uses a lot of metaphor in his piece, the most significant of which being Time’s scythe, alluding to Time being a reaper of beauty. Louise, however, settles for a lot of concrete language, which allows her to get her point across efficiently without much need for vagueness or fancy wording. She settles for the simple consonance “I live, I die, I burn, I drown” to simply convey her feelings.

Poetry post 3

The theme of Fruit Cocktail in Light Syrup is blandness, normality and hiding untruths. However, the interesting part of this poem lies in the opposite of what the words of it say. Fruit cocktail looks extremely bland, it is mostly white with a very similar texture throughout. Fruit cocktail is also extremely sweet and appetizing, especially to children. This may seem like somewhat of a stretch, but what I saw in the fruit cocktail was something seemingly bland. Something extraordinarily normal, but when you taste it, you are greeted to a symphony of flavor. What the poem could be saying between the lines is that something may seem incredibly bland or someone could seem detestably normal, but in fact be something else entirely once you get a taste.

Poetry blog post 1

The difference between the speaker and poet is similar to the difference between character and author. The author may write a character a certain way, say they have issues making friends, little emotional control, an inability to respond to stimuli optimally or a feeling of worthlessness due to weakness, this does not mean that the author has these feelings or issues. The author also could have these issues and are using the character as a conduit to express themselves. The only way to know for sure is an understanding of the author’s life and a statement from them saying that they did or did not have these issues. The reason you need a statement is that even if the author has or had these feelings, they may not be writing about themselves. They may not even be aware of the fact that their and their character’s dilemmas are similar and both are just isolated incidents. The relationship between poet and speaker is almost exactly the same as this.