Hi Leute,

DANKE !! Ich musste alle aufgaben machen, ihr habt mir alle seeehr geholfen !

Wir haben am Freitag die Aufgaben 3-5 bearbeitet, ich schreib das Tafelbild einfach mal auf:

zu 3)

- ll.81-91: slaves have to stay stupid in order to enslave them
- masters are afraid of a rebellion of educated slaves

positive effects:
l.95, ll.148-151: history of slaves writing to overcome experiences

negative effects:
l.156: unfit to be slaves, can read about freedom but can't reach it

=>literacy is a means of reaching freedom
literacy as a kind of weapon



zu 4)

ethics of slavery (wir haben zwar in einer gruppe einen Dialog schreiben lassen, aber wichtige Punkte zusammengefasst)
- l.137 ~ "Catholic Emancipation"
- l.141 "power of truth over the conscience of a slaveholder"



zu 5)
l.152: exclamation -> point of realization
l.153: personification -> underlines his pain
l.156: 2 metaphors -> accumalation "curse" + "blessings" -> specificates the disadvantages of reading
l.160: beast -> symbol for emotionless strength -> no dignity
ll.167-169: parallelism -> feelings have disappeared; starts being emotionless, loses his dignity

=>why are there so many stylistic devices?
- he is very well-educated
- expresses his feeling in a more detailed way
- underlines the meaning of education
- the fate of slaves and their relationship

Nein
Am Ende spricht er zu dem Allmächtigen, d.h. Gott.
Den Beleg findest du in Zeile 201:"with no audience but the Almighty..."
Nur in seinen Wünschen, Träumen und Gedanken ist er frei.
LG

08/19/10
"A Soul in Chains" Frederick Douglas: working and living conditions of slaves

First of all, it is important to mention that slaves were constantly living under survey of their overseer, and above that, they were the property of the particular master, who were able to trade their slaves as if they were trading with commodity.
Besides not being considered a human being, slaves were furthermore forced to work approximately 6 or 7 days a week, all year long. Weather conditions often did not keep the masters from sending their slaves out on the cotton, tobacco or sugar cane fields.
What made up a large part of a slave’s living, was the torture which was either put on themselves or ought to be seen being handled on to other slaves. As it is, for instance, explained in Frederick Douglass’ biography, overseers and masters did not mind whipping their slaves beyond all human signs of mercy, with cowskin and cudgel. As as matter of course, an enormous psychological effect was imprinted on the slaves’ minds, which terrorized their lives along with the strong physical sufferings.
Taking a look at their monthly allowance of food (eight pounds of pork or fish and 35 liters of corn meal) it soon becomes visible that their living standards were kept inhuman, considering the slaves hard work all day long, additionally, they did not have anything else to eat other than that.
Furthermore, their clothing, which was handed out yearly (to a working slave), contained the smallest amount of clothes needed, e.g. only one pair of shoes and stockings, 2 pairs of pants and shirts plus one jacket. The fact that the entire amount of the clothes mentioned just now, was worth seven or less dollar, expresses the quality of it quite well: Horrible. It’s not for nothing that Douglass alludes to the reparation of clothes which had to be done in the spare time, next to cooking and washing.
Worth to be noticed, as well, is the question of how master or overseer dealed with handicapped slaves, for example children unable to work. The terrifying fact that these human beings were not treated differently, and even got less clothes (two linen shirts per year), shows how constrictions for slaves were going way overboard.
Another aspect is the surrounding condition: No house, cottage nor a tent was being a home to the hard-working slaves, rather crude blankets given to some, in addition to the bare floor, which at least was free of charge. Every morning, wakened by the driver’s horn, a quick reaction was needed, otherwise the first whip of the day was waiting just around the corner.
If, however, a slave, disregarding all of the horrible conditions mentioned above, was still able to gain some amount of education, as, for instance, reading or spelling the easiest words, and therefore was starting to think about his living conditions and hereupon began to question the need of his existence as a slave, he was stopped from learning more. On one side, his master forbade this education, and on the other, the slave himself, quickly started to regret his gained intelligence because of his inability to escape slavery. Often, those slaves were sent to do hard work, as a form of “breaking” his wish for freedom, and simply reforming his will to obey.
Summing up, living and working conditions of slaves were the embodiment of cruelty and inhumanity.