Incidents #4

While reading incidents of a slave girl I noticed that as soon as Jacobs started her journey to the north, her tone became much more joyful. After all those years living on the plantation, hiding in the roof and now she was going to freedom, off the plantation " never to see it again" (Jacobs 160). I also was much more interested in the book because instead of her getting continuasly abused on the plantation by Dr. Flint, she is actually going somewhere. She had hope which also gave me hope that the book would have a good ending giving me an incentive to read it.
Another thing I noticed was that there were many people in the north that were kind and helpful unlike almost everyone else in the south. For example, the captain of the ship that helped her get to the north undetected, did everything he could to help her on her way. He not only provided adaquet arrangements for them but also found a man he could trust and said " I will speak to him about the New York trains and tell him you wish to go directly on" (164). There was also the priest that since Jacobs missed her train that she could stay with him and his wife for the night until the next one arrived. I noticed that there is a very clear difference of tone in the north vs. the south. I think that with some luck and precaution, Jacobs could live happily ever after in the north.

Incidents #3

        When Jacobs goes to work on the plantation, it is easier to see how much she loves her children. When she visited them in the middle of the night, she describes the scene in such an emotional tone unlike the rest of the book. Generally, Jacobs wouldn't describe how comforting the house was but in this case she did. Jacobs took it a step further to describe "the tears[that] fell as I leaned over them" ( Jacobs 89). In all, the scene allows me to truly understand the love she has for her children. Later she writes that her children "give her the courage to beat back the dark waves that rolled over me in a seemingly endless night of storms" (Jacobs 92). Jacobs also goes to her mother and father's graves. She dedicates most of a page to tell of how much she missed them and how they as well gave her strength even from beyond the grave. This section really spoke to me unlike any other part of the hardships endured during slavery that weren't just whippings and beatings but the separation of families and death of family members. In the south, slavery was, I think ,just as mentally painful as well as physically painful.

Incidents #2

    When we first got the book Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl, Ms. Edwards said there wouldn't be much emotion in the book because it was meant to inform rather than tell a story. Well, after reading chapter 9, I can disagree with this. All of chapter 9 is the stories of different slaves and how they were punished or even killed. The beginning of the chapter describes how a man was suspended off the ground. Then "A fire was kindled over him from which was suspended a piece of fat pork. As this cooked, the scalding drops of fat continually fell on the bare flesh"(46). Another example is a man who insulted his master and was then tied to tree in the middle of winter with only a shirt for three hours which killed him. Also, if a slave resisted punishment like whipping  the master would let his dogs eat them.
    She also says that slavery is a curse to whites as well as blacks. It makes the sons violent, the wives wretched, contaminates the daughters and makes the fathers cruel. Jacobs wrote "I do not say there are no humane slaveholders...but they are...few and far between"(50). After that is about a white girl who married a freeman and was emancipated by her mother right before the wedding.Her emancipating her daughter made one more example supporting how slavery has poisoned her.

Incidents #1

    Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl isn't the most interesting book in the world. In the beginning of the book she describes how nice her mistress was and how she would "gather berries or flowers to decorate her room"(5).  She then goes on to how she was transferred to be the property of Dr. Flint. She shows how mean he was through his actions. He would yell at slaves for things that were not their fault, like when the mistress and master called William at the same time and he decided to go to his mistress, Dr. Flint yelled at him for not going to him. Jacobs also wrote "when we entered our new home we encountered cold looks, cold words, and cold treatment"(7). Later she writes about what happens between her and Dr. Flint, "the guilty practices under that  roof"(27). What is interesting about this is the lack of emotion. I would expect her to rant on and on about what happened since she had no one else to talk to it about. Instead she justs says "the guilty practices under that roof"(27).  That kind of language makes this book seem like an informative series of events rather than a heart breaking story, which is what she was aiming for. It makes it believable, which is why it is an good book so far.

Blog #1, Reality vs. Ideal

School today in the United states is not perfect. The United states used to be the ideal place to live because of its rapid industry growth, i.e. the brookland bridge that was the longest bridge in the world at the time when it was built. The economy was rapidly expanding which gave schools lots of money to give the premium education. However, in our modern time, the rest of the world has caught up. The president has been taking steps and making speeches to improve education in the United States. One very important question someone asked him at an open interview was if he would send his children to DC public schools and he said that even though public schools there were improving, that he would not send his children there. In Montgomery county schools, there is an SGA to teach students about government,  a Parent Teacher Association to keep parents informed about what is going on in the school and there is also edline so that students and parents can keep up to date on their or their child's grades or check their homework. There is also a Maryland State Assessment to make sure that all students are getting the proper education in their schools. However good this may sound, it is almost the best county of schools in the country and there is a saying that you are only as good as your weakest link.
                If i were able to make my own school system I would not dramatically change much. First, I would make classes more hands on. I would give more money to gym and the arts if it was available move the hours back making it 8:00 to whatever it is because i think that on of the hardest parts of school is getting up in th morning. I would not however make the school day shorter because I know that I need all the education I can get out of my schools. With that thought I would make the class sizes smaller so that I can easily communicate with the teacher during class like asking questions or taking about grades. Even though some people might make their teachers all incredibly nice and flawless, I would not. It is important that I have teacher that push me even if it makes me hate them, for I know that I will not regret it in the future. My coach once said that if I hated my parents sometimes then they were doing the right thing because what I want isn't always what is best for me. This doesn't mean I want only bad teachers because that would just drive me crazy but I want some teachers to really challenge me. My ideal school is not perfect and that is why it is my ideal school.

First Blog Post!!!!!