Wheatley's first name, Phillis, comes from the name of the ship . Wheatley's English publisher, Archibald Bell, for instance, advertised that Wheatley was "one of the greatest instances of pure, unassisted Genius, that the world ever produced." The Wheatleys noticed Phillis's keen intelligence and educated her alongside their own children. The more thoughtful assertions come later, when she claims her race's equality. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Wheatley admits this, and in one move, the balance of the poem seems shattered. It is supremely ironic and tragic that she died in poverty and neglect in the city of Boston; yet she left as her legacy the proof of what she asserts in her poems, that she was a free spirit who could speak with authority and equality, regardless of origins or social constraints. This could explain why "On Being Brought from Africa to America," also written in neoclassical rhyming couplets but concerning a personal topic, is now her most popular. 3, 1974, pp. Only eighteen of the African Americans were free. In "On Being Brought from Africa to America," Wheatley identifies herself first and foremost as a Christian, rather than as African or American, and asserts everyone's equality in God's sight. One result is that, from the outset, Wheatley allows the audience to be positioned in the role of benefactor as opposed to oppressor, creating an avenue for the ideological reversal the poem enacts. A second biblical allusion occurs in the word train. To be "benighted" is to be in moral or spiritual darkness as a result of ignorance or lack of enlightenment, certainly a description with which many of Wheatley's audience would have agreed. //How does Wheatley use of imagery contribute to her purpose in the poem . She is not ashamed of her origins; only of her past ignorance of Christ. Saying it feels like saying "disperse." At the same time, our ordinary response to hearing it is in the mind's eye; we see it - the scattering of one thing into many. Although she was an enslaved person, Phillis Wheatley Peters was one of the best-known poets in pre-19th century America. ." In the shadow of the Harem Turkey has opened a school for girls. Learning Objectives. "May be refined" can be read either as synonymous for can or as a warning: No one, neither Christians nor Negroes, should take salvation for granted. Baker offers readings of such authors as Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Ntozake Shange as examples of his theoretical framework, explaining that African American women's literature is concerned with a search for spiritual identity. answer not listed. by Phillis Wheatley. In A Mixed Race: Ethnicity in Early America, Betsy Erkkila explores Wheatley's "double voice" in "On Being Brought from Africa to America."
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