African American Lit

“This they would sing, as a chorus, to words which too many would seem unmeaning jargon, but which, nethereless, were full of meaning to themselves” (316, Douglass). This quote is an example of expressing there heritage through the use of songs. Go Down, Moses, Take My Hand Precious Lord & Steal Away Jesus are all other examples of Oral Tradition that African Americans have passed on from one generation to the next. These songs and folktales seen to weave into the narratives of slaves because these oral depictions were a part of there everyday life. Most narratives like “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” were

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“We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves” (1271, Hughes), this sentence once again used imagery in the sense of sorrow. written long after these events occurred.

Group C: Question 1

Throughout there existence it was Du Bois the integrationist vs. Slaves were sold from plantation to plantation on a consistent basis which constantly split apart families, if the educated slaves could lead the fight for freedom these occurrences would never happen again. There are countless newspaper articles that depict the differences that these two individuals had with one another. Washington were striving for equality and freedom, they conflicted because of there approaches in accomplishing these goals. These two writers both seem to write about the difficulty for the African Americans to get over the huddle of racism. The stories and songs that they grew up with effected they lives daily which is the reason why we see many examples of Oral Traditions in there writings. There styles reflected each others personalities, Washington was more passive throughout his narrative then Du Bois was throughout his. One example of this is written in Hurstons Sweat were the following is said: “She Lay awake, gazing upon the debris that cluttered their matrimonial trail” (1001, Hurston). ) With this in mind I feel that with the lack of family that many slaves experienced throughout there childhood probably made them feel that if they were educated and free that they could act more as a family. I believe neither of them wanted there people to be misrepresenting themselves; they also didn’t want them to portray themselves as being weak.

“I cannot remember a single instance during my childhood or early boyhood when my entire family sat down to the table together” (493, Washington. Hurston contradicted herself in an article in 1943 when she wrote “the Jim Crow system works,” (999, Hurston), with this quote in mind I believe that her views may challenge the views of Hughes in that instead of trying to get over the mountain like Hughes said, she might feel more comfortable with having things stay he way they are now.

Common topics in this essay:
Fredrick Douglasss, African Americans, Du Bois, Sweat Lay, Booker Washington, Slavery Freedom, Jim Crow, Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes, Americans Washington, african americans, du bois, mind believe, booker washington, tradition african americans, question 1, tradition african, educated free, fight freedom, 493 washington, oral tradition african, slave narrators,

Approximate Word count = 1188
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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