Incidents Blog Post 2

In this blog post I am going to talk about the laws/rules of the time period Harriet Jacobs lived in. Many of the laws mentioned in the book appeared very bizarre to me. Many of those laws were directed towards slavery and the responsibilities of slaves. The law which really struck me was the law that Jacobs states in the following quote: "She had forgotten that it was a crime for a slave to tell who was the father of her child."(Jacobs 12) The law is very strange to me living in the time period we're in. We now have certain rights which cannot be taken away from us by the government or anyone else. One of these rights is the freedom of speech; which is exactly the one that is violated in the law stated by Jacobs. This law was put in place to stop slaves (specially women) from speaking of their master's( the men) injustice. Overall, this specific law gave white men no fear of having their way with their slaves; knowing that the poor victim could not speak about the act of injustice.

Incidents Blog Post 1

The book titled "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" is a slave narrative about the life of Harriet Jacobs. In the book Jacobs uses the character of Linda Brent to explain her life without giving her real name away. The book certainly has some elements which struck me. The first one of all, and the one that's noticed right away, is Jacobs' tone in the book. In the book Jacobs talks about problems in a way which we are not used to. When Jacobs speaks about her mistress' death, she uses a tone which doesn't show much emotion. Jacobs says "When I was nearly twelve years old, my kind mistress sickened and died." (Jacobs 5) Jacobs tone in this sentence is very calm, which strikes me very much. She loved her mistress and her death was most likely a very painful experience for Jacobs. However she doesn't express her grief very well in the book. Another thing which shocks me about Jacobs' writing is how Jacobs switch from subject to subject very quickly. One minute she was talking about her happy days as a child and the next she talks about the death of her mistress. What gets me the most about her transitions is how she does it in the calmest manner, even if she's referring to something tragic. If I could ask Jacobs a few questions, after reading the first few chapters, they would be: Why do you use such a different tone then most authors do? Do you want us to draw our own feelings from the events?

Reality vs. Ideal

Today school is a place for learning and socializing. Many people go to school for the reason of seeing their friends. Others go to be educated. Schools have many rules. Some rules work while others don't. One example of a rule that works is the no dress code rules. Schools are based on what the students want. They want to express their feelings, which cannot be done if they have to wear an specific set of clothing. School is pretty much ran like a government runs a nation. Administrators keep the school in order. Parents are the force to make the student do their duties. Teachers must educate the students. The students are to school like civilians are to a city. The education process always demands for proof of the child's academic advancement. The proof is given in the form of tests and homework. Writing is a big concern in school. Depending on a student's writing that's how the teachers determine his/her academic level. Discipline is also a concern. Most of the time students act out. If the teachers cannot control them that's when parent involvement comes in. Most of the time school's do a pretty good job keeping the students under control.

My idea of a perfect school is a school in which there is balance between each group. A place where administrators have power but yet students have the freedom of speaking out their ideas of how the school should be run. These ideas would be listened to and put into practice, if within reason. The parents would also have a say in the way the school is managed and they can be a little more informed of what occurs in school. The teachers can be more available to help out and given a little incentive for it. The perfect school is where we can all work together to make it balanced.