Saturday, March 28, 2020

Incidents in the Life of a slave girl. Essays (1481 words)

Incidents in the Life of a slave girl. To have read the book the incidents in the life of a slave girl brought tears to my eyes and sadness to my heart. Just to read and understand the life of being a slave and all that was endured by the slaves. When one is treated like a piece of property, like an animal rather than like a human being all due to the color of their skin. The slaves were treated as animals, as property and not as ones having feelings, or having a soul a life or admiration. They were sold as animals and brought with the highest bid. Sad so sad to be treaty as nobodies, to be taken from ones own safe haven, from ones own environment and to be captured as animals shackled in chains and put on a ship to be taken across to an unknown territory to be bought as property. To have been beaten like an animal until the blood shed from one's body, mocked laughed at, belittled, having to call another human being master and to be given a name that wasn't your own. Bought by a slaveholder and belittled and disgraced as a human being, a cry for freedom is a cry that was felt in the hearts of every slave particularly by those who were being very mistreated and beat upon on a regular basis. A cry for freedom is the cry one could possibly hear back in the day of slavery. Harriet Jacobs was a slave who for the most part had a good life as a slave, she was not beaten on a regular basis nor did she have to go without as far as having a good meal. She had family and friends who loved and cared about her. And as time goes on she had children who also loved and cared for her and were also treated very well for the most part. But she wanted more out of her life than to be just a slave, she wanted her freedom, and there's nothing wrong with that. Harriet possessed a strength that is beyond compare, she possessed a will power that helped her to believe in herself and to know that she was more than just a piece of property, a piece of meat. Harriet was harassed by her slaveholder, Mr. Flint on a regular basis. Today one knows that the type of harassment that Mr. Flint was expressing towards Harriet was sexual harassment. He was obsessed with her in a sickening way. But Harriet kept the faith and stuck to her beliefs, her dignity and her respect and never gave into Mr. Flint, although she did give into a Mr. Sands. Not only did she give into Mr. Sands but she has two babies by him and this brings out a serious rage from Mr. Flint, and Harriet refuses all deals made by Mr. Flint. Harriet runs away from her slaveholder and becomes a fugitive. This is when the fugitive law is first talked about in this book. "In April 24, 1851 a poster warning colored people in Boston about policemen acting as slave catchers." It read "CAUTION!!!! COLORED PEOPLE OF BOSTON, ONE ALL you are hereby respectfully CAUTIONED and advised, to avoid conversing with the Watchmen and Police Officers of Boston," The poster was basically warning the colored people that the Mayor had sent out an order giving kidnappers and slave catchers authority, and for the colored people to trust no one because there were bloodhounds out on their tracks trying to track in order to return them. "The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was a Federal Law which was written with the intention of enforcing Article 4 Section 2 of the United States Constitution." This constitution required that runaway slaves, fugitives be returned to their masters even after they had made it to free states. The Fugitive Slave Act was an act in which the issues for runaways was older than the Constitution. It proved to be the most explosive act of the Compromise measures. What ever happened to the Golden Rule? This means we should treat others the way we want to be treated. The precepts Of

Saturday, March 7, 2020

How Simple Planning Will Keep Your Novel On Track - Freewrite Store

How Simple Planning Will Keep Your Novel On Track - Freewrite Store Today’s guest post is by Zara Altair  (@ZaraAltair), writer of The Argolicus Mysteries set in ancient Italy.  Zara also coaches budding writers to create winning stories as  The Story Bodyguard  from her home near Portland, Oregon. Planning Your Novel Works When most writers get an idea for a new story they want to dive in and get going. If you skip planning, your novel is likely to have bumps, detours, and dead ends. You are likely to spend hours of wasted time that you couldsave by planning first. Planning can help you avoid time consuming mistakes, rewrites, characters taking over and derailing the flow, and get you to the end quickly.    Novelists can streamline story writing with creative planning. First brainstorm scenes, then organize them into a story structure. The Story Brainstorm Planning a story can be creative. You don’t have to construct a rigid outline like the one’s you turned in for school. Correct planning is just a creative as the actual writing but in a different way. You brainstorm as many ideas as possible - scenes, bits of dialogue, action sequences, theMcGuffin, what trips up your protagonist. Any and every idea about the story. The ideasdon’t need to be in logical or in sequential order. At this point you are collecting all the bits and pieces you want in your story. Some writers use 3x 5† index cards.Some use a spreadsheet. Some use writing software  like Scrivener. Or, just list them out in a text document. The key is to brainstorm the story and scene ideas. ​Writers want a story unlike any other. Brainstorming your scenes is a creative way to capture the essence of your story. The ideas go straight from your head into story scenes. Keep adding scenes until you have all the scenes of your story. You can move them around as you add scenes, but don't focus on this too much. The concept is to write as many scenes as you can that will be part of your story. The key to this process is that it is a brainstorming exercise. No judgment. If a scene comes to mind, add it to the list. You'll organize them later. Organize the Bits into a Story Structure Once you’ve collected your story bits and pieces, you can rearrange them into a story sequence. This is where index cards or software with moveable components can be invaluable. You can move your ideas around until you feel you have created your story order. It doesn't matter if you use The Hero's Journey, Save The Cat beats, or any story structure device. Different structures work best for different writers. Get your basic plot points. Here is novelistKristen Kieffer's basic list. Exposition. The necessary character, setting, and background details readers need to understand the context of your novel. (Note: exposition is *not* the beginning of a novel, though most often exposition is revealed during the first few chapters in order to set the scene). Call-To-Action.The moment when the hero is called to leave the ordinary world to take part in an otherworldly adventure. Usually found in fantasy and science fiction novels. Rising Action. The series of events leading up to the climax of the story. Crises. Peaks in tension or conflict that occur throughout the rising action of the novel. Climax. The most intense crisis found in the narrative though notnecessarilythe final crisis. Falling Action. The series of events after the climax of the story where questions are answered and any remaining crises occur and are resolved. Resolution.The final moments of a novel where any remaining threads of tension are resolved and a new reality is established. Now you can place your scenes in story order, according to your chosen plot structure. Use a cork board, software, or a document to order your scenes. Some writers enjoy the tactile sensation ofphysicallymoving cards while others like the convenience of software or even text documents eliminating the need to transfer handwritten notes into typed text. It doesn’t matter which tools you use. It’s the process that will help you with your novel. Story Structure: The Container for Your Scenes At this stage two things can happen: You find you have scenes missing to complete the full story structure Scenes on your list don't seem to fit in the story structure ​Now it's time to refine your structure. If important scenes are missing you can add them to complete the full cycle of your plot. This part of the process helps you make sure the entire storyline is complete. Take a look at those scenes that don't fit in the story structure. If you don't find a place for the scenes to move the story forward, it's time to let them go. You can save them for another story if they are too precious to throw away. Rewards of Brainstorming and Structure With the scenes in line with the structure, it's time to write. The immense benefit of brainstorming the scenes is that you already know what happens. You don't have to stall wondering what comes next. You've already envisioned the scene. And, you have already envisioned the story fromstart tofinish. Once you have completed the brainstorm and structure, you’ll find may benefits to taking the time to plan your novel. Write Faster As you write, you won’t wonder what comes next. You’ll be using your creativity and writing skills to write the best scene to move the story forward. Your scenes will flow because you already know not only the basic elements of the scene but also where the scene fits in the story. You can incorporate foreshadowing without using a heavy hand. Save Time Because you are writing faster and know where you are going with the story, your novel will flow without wondering what comes next or how to follow-up on a scene later on. Eliminate Rewrites If you have done your work thinking through the story elements and the structure, you won’t toss scenes or entire chapters because the story shifted while you were writing. The time you spend at thebeginning creating and organizing your scenes, will keep you on track with your story. No Writing Yourself Into a Corner Without a plan, many beginning writers find that characters take over and lead the story off in an unforeseen direction. Then, off track theyare unable to take back control and find themselves in a â€Å"story corner.† The brainstorm and organize process shuts the door on story wandering. You Stay in the Story Flow Because you know the overall story, youare always headed toward the story end as you write. You have already tested each scene for how it fits in the overall story plan. Your only job when you are writing is to make the scene come alive. Scenes as Building Blocks Every scene is a building block for your novel. The brainstorm and structure process eliminates unnecessary scenes before youspend time writing them. You have already calculated which scenes fit inside the story structure and how they build the story within the sequence. Planning is the Key to Story Ease Simple planning eliminates many novel writing frustrations. Novel writers who use this simple technique find they are closer to their story the moment theybegin writing. They discovered plot holes and completed the story structure before writing. They save time by eliminating unnecessary scenes, conquer character derailment, and keep themselves from discouraging rewrites before they write. This simple planning process builds your story creation creativity. Every story has been told. Planning helps you create the story that is truly yours. Writers who use simple planning find their stories flow as they write scenes. They get to a satisfying conclusion and they finish the novel.    How do you plan your writing? Let us know in the comments!    Zara Altair  (@ZaraAltair) writes The Argolicus Mysteries set in ancient Italy featuring patrician Argolicus and his lifelong tutor, Nikolaos: The Used Virgin, The Peach Widow, and The Roman Heir. She writes for the web as a semantic copywriter and is working on a book for writers: SEO for Authors.  Zara also coaches budding writers to create winning stories as The Story Bodyguard from her home near Portland, Oregon.