Preview

Gary Paulsen's Nightjohn

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
270 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gary Paulsen's Nightjohn
In chapter four of Gary Paulsen’s Nightjohn, a slave named Alice was caught walking into the White House. Waller, the slave owner, doesn’t allow slaves in the White House so he whipped her until her back was ripped and bleeding. Sarny, the narrator, recalled a story about a slave name Jim. Jim tried to escape during the night but the next morning Waller set after him with the dogs. Waller feeds the dogs blood things that make them mean. Jim climbed a tree but the tree wasn’t good enough; the dogs could reach the bottom of him. The dogs tore and ripped him until there wasn’t anything left. Pawley, another slave that tried to escape, he ran every night and made it back by the morning; he ran to see a girl that worked at another plantation. But
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Examples Of Slavery In Nightjohn
    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Examples Of Slavery In Nightjohn

    In the novel Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen, chapter 4, Sarny recalls a memory of three slaves who were all made examples of by either running away, sneaking off plantation, or getting caught too close to the white house. In the first case, Sarny recalls a girl named Alice. She tried to run away when she was on the plantation but she was caught. In return the dogs caught her trying to run away and she was whipped until her skin was bleeding and rippled. Clel Waller decided that instead of killing her he would make her the next breeder she hated this role so she went wandering off. Clel found her and then started to whip her near the shed. Next there was jim, who also tried to run away but once again the dogs caught him ripping his skin. Finally…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Sarney In Night John Gary Paulsen
    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sarney In Night John Gary Paulsen

    Gary Paulsen uses Sarney’s actions to show how much she dislikes being a slave. Sarney doesn’t like being a slave because of Waller. She calls Waller bad names when he's not around, like dog droppings. For example Sarney works in the garden next to the “white house” and was told that learning things is very bad but she listens to the conversations of the women in the house above the garden anyway. She also found a penny and hides it in the dirt because she knows if Waller finds the penny he will take it away from her. These examples show how much Sarney dislikes being a slave by showing that she wants to learn but is not allowed to and wants to keep things like the penny but is only allowed clothing to wear. In conclusion Gary Paulsen does an outstanding job depicting the the hardships of Sarney’s life and how much she dislikes being a slave through her actions.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing Douglass Olaudah Equiano And David Walker's Appeal
    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Comparing Douglass Olaudah Equiano And David Walker's Appeal

    S. government it was protected, committed against other human beings. By describing his own experiences as slave, he conveys the mental and emotional bondage as well as the physical suffering that slaveholders inflicted not just upon him but upon all Africans and African-Americans, who where held as a slaves in this country. He clearly demonstrates how slaves were made.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ethos, Logos And Pathos: An Analysis Of Fredrick Douglass '
    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ethos, Logos And Pathos: An Analysis Of Fredrick Douglass '

    Within just a few pages, Douglass established his powerful argument, while more than one- fourth of the novel contains examples of gruesome events such as slaves being beaten, battered, and even killed. Through these horrific events, readers are made to cringe, envisioning what it was like to go through the hardships of slavery. By using an extensive amount of appeal, the reader becomes emotional to the horrors of slavery, and the reprimandings that slaves received. On page 22, Douglass recalls a former slave who was his wife’s cousin, who was beaten so brutally that she was actually killed. For someone to be sold into slavery, against their will, and then killed simply because she fell asleep due to previous nights lack of sleep, is absolutely unimaginable, and is seen as evil to any reader, regardless of age. This story is an example of Douglass establishment of pathos, and how he appeals to the reader’s emotions in his argument against slavery. Douglass appeals to pathos again on page 59 when he recalls a beating he was given by his new master, Mr. Covey. Douglass uses vivid details referring to the blood that would drip down his back, and the whip, which would cause ridges on his flesh. By using these vivid examples, the reader feels as if the actions are being performed on them, and that their raw flesh is being whipped. Douglass logically…

    • 930 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Rives's 'Four In The Morning'
    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages

    John Rives's 'Four In The Morning'

    It started out as a joke. John Rives, a poet, was asked to present a TED Talk in 2007, and, unsure of what to present, he resulted in share something “so niche it [was] actually inconsequential or actually cockamamie”: a conspiracy theory revolving around 4 AM (Rives). Before the TED Talk, while researching a Polish poet named Wislawa Szymborska, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for literature in 1996, Rives came across an eerily familiar poem entitled “Four in the Morning”. Because he was unsure why this poem, which he’d never read before, felt familiar, he became fixated on the concept of 4 AM, hearing references to the time over and over in his daily life, inspiring him to create the 2007 TED Talk conspiracy. During the 2007 TED Talk, Rives ties numerous events, movies, television, and pieces of literature together, “proving” in that there is some bigger, ridiculous reason behind why the time of 4 AM is so commonly referenced. However, in October of 2014, after years of TED Talk fans sending him T.V. clips, movie scenes, and songs which all referenced 4 AM, Rives finally discovered the once-forgotten root of his attachment to 4 AM-- an old lover in college had sent him a mixtape where one of the songs referenced the time.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing The Allegory of the Cave and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Comparing The Allegory of the Cave and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    Initially, the idea of imprisonment is implied. The people from the cave were tied up along the wall with fire that created shadow against a wall. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, the shadows caused misrepresentation of the real world, or ignorance. On the other hand, Douglass was held back from learning how to read and write by society during that time period. Unfortunately, his identity was forced upon him to be a slave, since there was racism, oppression, discrimination, degradation and segregation between white persons and black persons. Therefore, it was difficult for African-Americans to speak, know, or understand freedom. At first, it was impossible for the two groups, those chained in the cave…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Edward Covey ': Nigger-Breaker'
    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page

    Edward Covey ': Nigger-Breaker'

    Edward Covey was another master to whom Douglass was rented out. Known by many as a slave breaker, Covey is a violent and cruel man, consistently beating his slaves who are why the name “nigger-breaker” suited him. His reputation was based on the beatings he gave to the workers. Apparently, Covey started abusing Douglass when he failed to accomplish a certain task. Although it was not an intentional mistake, Covey beat him up, and he ended up having cuts and wounds on his body. Covey stopped beating Douglass when the slave decided to stand up for himself. Although injured and in pain, Douglass decides to fight back. The two engage in a physical battled for over two hours and in the end, Douglass is victorious. The story illustrates that “We…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did The Life Of Frederick Douglass Impact The Lives Of Slaves
    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Did The Life Of Frederick Douglass Impact The Lives Of Slaves

    Fredrick Douglass & Others; Slave Narratives That Impact the World While reading slave narratives like Fredrick Douglass’s Narrative of The Life of Fredrick Douglas an American Slave, I received real insight on the true experiences of slaves during the 1800’s. While reading this and other slave narratives, I felt both sympathetic and empathetic due to the horrible experiences that many slaves had to endure. However, I also find comfort in the perseverance of these slaves that essentially led them to freedom. In readings like the Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and The Confessions of Nat Turner, Fredrick Douglas, Linda Brent (Harriet Ann Jacobs), and Nat Turner, all slaves of the eighteenth century, I found their determination to pursue and achieve freedom from slavery incredibly heroic.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    essay history fifty years of chain
    • 1291 Words
    • 3 Pages

    essay history fifty years of chain

    In Fifty years of chain by Charles Ball he said, “My grandfather was brought from Africa and sold as a slave in Calvert County, in Maryland. I never understood the name of the ship in which he was imported, nor the name of the planter who bought him on his arrival, but at the time I knew him he was a slave in a family called Maud, who resided near Leonardtown.” (p.3)During old times there was a system of slavery toward the African American people known as the black people. This situation was extreme cruelty and oppression. The system of slavery brought poverty, destruction and separation from family and fear in the community; these were some difficulties that Charles Ball experience as salve. He had to cope with poverty by working very hard, he run away from slavery to see his family again and he had to obey to cope with fear.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis Essay
    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Douglass uses metaphors to describe the cruel treatment of slaves at Colonel Lloyd’s plantation. An example of this would be the categorization of slaves at Colonel Lloyd’s plantation after the former masters of the estate had passed away. At this time, Douglass was sent to live with his master’s brother but was brought back to be valued with the other property for the new heirs of the estate. At this…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Controversy Essay
    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Controversy Essay

    I am so glad that I finally have the chance to write you again. Unfortunately, I have been really busy with this new book I am reading. Well, calling it new may be a bit inaccurate. The book is called Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. It is an autobiography by Frederick Douglass that was published in 1845, which makes it over 170 years old. Going into reading this book, I expected it to narrate the atrocities that occurred in the Antebellum Period, but I could not prepare myself for the level of detail that Douglass used. He described rural slave culture on his former home in Talbot County, Maryland as cruel and ruthless, with detailed descriptions of beatings, murder, and even sexual abuse (Douglass 1). He recounts, for instance, how one overseer named Mr. Gore murdered a slave named Demby for not listening to his warning about getting out of a creek. Even after moving to Baltimore, Douglass still encountered abuse in the city. The only difference was that the cruelty was better hidden and rarer. The worst abuse that Douglass ever saw, in fact, victimized two slaves named Henrietta and Mary in Baltimore. Throughout the book, Douglass established a disparity between the treatment…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Myne Owne Ground Summary
    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Myne Owne Ground Summary

    The first chapter in Myne Owne Ground describes the life of Anthony Johnson, who was sent to the Virginia colony around 1621 from Angola to serve as an indentured servant to Edward Bennett on the Bennett Plantation. It’s strange to call him an indentured servant, however there was no actual terminology to describe what a slave is until later in the court case between Anthony Johnson and Robert Parker over rights to a freed African slave whose name was John Casor. Mary, his later wife, arrived to the plantation year after the Indians attacked the Bennett plantation leaving only 12 alive, Anthony who was one. Anthony was fortunate to be with Mary and have kids because in this newfound colony, women were scarce. Johnson’s status of becoming free was clear but how and who freed him…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass Figurative Language Analysis
    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Frederick Douglass Figurative Language Analysis

    | Douglass doesn't talk about women very often, and when he does, he usually associates them with suffering. He makes a special point of describing the traumatic sight of female slaves being beaten and abused.Here Douglass is describing how when you take a slave away from their family it is just worse than death, and slaves are more afraid of being taken away from their family. It could happen in an instant, with no warning, and for no reason.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Slavery Frederick Douglass Analysis
    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page

    Slavery Frederick Douglass Analysis

    This narrative begins with the childhood of Frederick Douglass and ends with his adventures as an abolitionist. He gives insight into his personal recollections of his first awareness of what it meant to be a slave, from his own experiences and his experience as a witness to the brutality of one human being upon another human being. He allows readers through his words to have a front row seat to the world of slavery and the main objective of slavery supporters to dehumanize and oppress another race and culture. The goal of his prose is to raise awareness of the cruelty of man upon the backs of blacks, which subsequently he hoped would end…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How slaves were affected physically, mentally, emotionally, and economically due to slavery
    • 1681 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How slaves were affected physically, mentally, emotionally, and economically due to slavery

    Punishment played a giant role in slave life. It showed the consequences of not doing what was asked or disobeying their master thus instilling fear in every single slave the owner possessed. Charity Anderson recalls, "But honey chile, all white folks warn 't good to dere slaves, cause I'se seen poe niggas almos' to'e up by dogs, and whipped unmercifully, when dey did'nt do lack de white folks say." Mary Reynolds remembers, "I seed them put the men and women in the stock with they hands screwed down through holes in the board and they feets tied together and they naked behinds to the world. Solomon the [sic] overseer beat them with a big whip and massa look on. The niggers better not stop in the fields when they hear them yellin'. They cut the flesh most to the bones and some they was when they taken them out of stock and put them on the beds, they never got up again." These two accounts show just what these poor slaves had to deal with. They were constantly watched, and felt that if they just as much as gave a superior a wrong look, they would be beaten, or even worse, killed.…

    • 1681 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics