Answer one of the following questions and then respond to your classmates' comments:

1) Regarding Anne Bradstreet--Why is it important to A.B. to leave "what was your living mother's mind?" Are her writings autobiographical? How does her poetry contrast with her prose? What style does she imitate?

2) Compare and contrast Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography with Olaudah Equiano's. How do their styles differ? Which do you prefer? How does Phyllis Wheatley's poem "On Being Brought from Africa to American" resonate with Equiano's account?

Kris Desormeaux:

1.) Anne Bradstreet's writings were quite autobiographical. For example in "To My Dear Children," She talked about her personal experiences with god and religion and gave many examples of her faith in the Lord. It was important to her to leave "what was your living mothers mind" behind because she wanted all of her work to be recognized and read and not to be forgotten or wasted. Her poetry tells a story in almost laymans terms and spells it out quite clear/ In her prose she uses advice and metaphors of situations and one has to read into it more to catch the meaning. Her style of poetry is iambic pentameter i think.

James Lo:

1. A.B just wanted to let her children to share the experience she had learned through life which might help them later. A.B. considered "what was in your living mother's mind" the most precious information which she want it to the last contrivution to her children that she said, "...but seeing the last is the best, let it be best pleasing you."

I think this work is definitely autobiographical since she spent the entire work discussing what she had done in the past and what lesson she has learned. It's not just giving advice to her children, but tell about her own life.

Garrett T. Crouch:

It was important to Anne Bradstreet that she leave a legacy of her writings, not only for the public to read but especially for her children. She wanted her kids to know how she felt and meditated about her life spiritually. It was important to her that her children reflect and understand what she was passionate about in her living days. Her poetry is different from her prose because she tends to flow better and her poetry is easier to read when she adds a rhyming scheme. It seems to me that Anne Bradstreet having been brought up a Puritan, has a definite biblical style when she writes. Also, a majority of her writings contain religious sentiments towards God, He , and Him.

Heidi Korstad:

1) It is very important to A.B. to have her children "gain some spiritual knowledge" from her experiences throughout her life. Her writing is autobiographical since she is relating the events of her life (although they all have to do with God). Her autobiography is not complete in that it doesn't tell about the other aspects of her life . She only tells them what she has found to be the most important for her , and she hopes that they will find it also. For the poem, she writes in iambic pentameter, but in her autobiography, she doesn't use a particular style .

Jennifer Walder:

Franklin's autobiography and Equiano's autobiography were written with much different styles. I think that Equiano's work was a lot easier to follow while Franklin's work was so detailed that it was hard to follow. The two also wrote for two different reasons. Franklin seemed to have written to let his son know of his life while Equiano seemed to have written his autobiography to portray a message of his journey from freedom and innocence to slavery and injustice. I preferred Equiano's work because it was a lot easier to understand and very striking while Franklin's work was interesting but hard to follow. Phillis Wheatley's work is related to Equiano's work in that they both illustrate the harsh treatment and injustice that black people received in the time period. In my opinion they both seem to portray the element of going from innocence and freedom in Africa to harshness and slavery in America.

Sharron Rush:

Although both Benjamin Franklin and Olaudah Equiano wrote in the formal style required of the times, Equiano's work had more emotional immediacy. From the description of his feelings on being separated (both times) from his sister to his closing with a plea to "nominal Christians" for an end to slavery, this excerpt was very emotionally moving. Franklin's account was much more of a rational exposition of his experience. Although he might inform the reader of his feelings, these were not demonstrated with the immediacy that Equiano used. Phyllis Wheatley was much more accepting of her servitude than Olaudah Equiano was. She seemed to say that the exposure to Christianity that slavery extended to the black race somehow ameliorated some of its indignities. Equiano, on the other hand, saw the experience as degrading both the slave and the slaveholder.

Kristin Keene:

I don't think that Bradstreets writings are autobiographical, it sounds more like she is writing through empathy. In "The Author to her book", she spoke of a life with many misfortunes, poverty and illness. After reading Bradstreets introduction, the only element that pertains to her is the illness. To be honest, I didn't pick up on the personification until today, it makes things a little clearer.

It was very importatnt to Bradstreet to make sure that she left a strong legacy for her children. To me, it sounds like she felt like as a mother she should be consistently optimistic and sure of everything. It seemed as if while she was living she felt like she had to always have an answer, when really in her living mind she did not have all the answers, only a lot of questions. It is important for her to let her children know of her experience and relationship with God and how she got there. There is a different relationship between a mother and her children, one not like that between friends. In Bradstreet's writings she is presented more on a friend level, she looks more human than mother.

Kenneth Direkly:

I think that Anne Bradstreet's "The Author of Her Book" was an autobiography in the way that she personified her book as her child. Her writing starts out stating that she wrote about her life when friends took it to be published. Once published she hide it yet after time brought it to light again. Still, she wasn't proud of all the blemishes the book showed so she was always trying to wash its "face" as if she were looking into a mirror. I believe she was some sort of perfectionist because she never felt that she was rightous enough, according to her deep Puritan views. This is displayed by the footnote stating that after she wrote the poem in 1666 she had thought about perfecting it with a second edition. Her prose, on the other hand, was even more obsessed with death and God. She writes this work so that her son will have something to look back on. She states that we must all look at our faults and try to improve them, and that we must never forget that God is wonderful since we are sinful yet saved.

Billy Lynch:

It was very important for her to "leave her mind" because she was 'ignorant of' or did not know if she would have the chance to tell her children the 'book of her life' before she died. She certainly did not want it to go 'unread' so she wrote what she had to say autobiograpically. She reveals to the reader that God has had a profound influence on her life and she even seems to write in a style similar to what can be found in the Bible. This was my favorite of the passages we were assigned particularly because of her explanations of how she has interacted with God through the trials in her life. She speaks of times where she was 'far from' God, times when she turned to Him, and times that God even brought circumstances into her life that caused her to look to Him.

Melonie Loeb:

I think that the main difference in the style of the two autobiographies is the fact that Benjamin Franklin is talking to his son as a type of journal looking back on the experiences in his life, analyzing whether or not he had made the "right" decisions, and judging himself from the knowledge he now possesses. He is passing down a type of family history that he feels his son needs to know in order to grow and experience life himself. Equiano is talking to the reader recounting each experience without judgement, since most of his experiences didn't require him to make any type of decision. Being a slave, he wasn't allowed the simple freedom of making a decision. Equiano is also more of a historical account of what was happening to the slave population in his time. Wheatley seemed to echo Equiano's words of the harsh reality of being black in this world. There is a common theme of slavery that envelopes both of the works.

Corey Snyder:

I felt that Franklin was far more heavy-handed in what he wanted to get across. Equiano just uses description and images to show the wrongness of his slavery. Franklin has to beat the reader over the head with his preaching, in typical christian fashion. Franklin's piece does have a bit more practical value to me than Equiano's, but it is not as politically important to recognize the inhumanity of slavery than it is to have a cubby hole for all of your stuff and keep your stuff in the cubby hole (Franklin, to Adams: "Well, John, you know you wouldn't keep having these problems if you would get organized. Here. Take a look at my new pamphlet, "Yaffa Blocks and the Colonial Revolutionary: Organize to Revolutionize.") It just shows where both men's heads were. Equiano was far-sighted and Franklin was near-sighted. Until he invented the bifocal, anyway.

Kris Desormeaux:

In response to Kristin's A.B. writing, I never thought of that perspective on her life and her writings. It makes it a little clearer to understand now that you pointed that out.

Jeremy Baksht:

1) A.B. came from a time where mere existence was very difficult, and she was a strong and proud women inspite of her frail health. She distanced herself from the negative thinking of the time, and looked past her harsh reality and perservered. This gave her a very unique perspective on life. She deemed it important that she leave her mind to her children to give them the strength to live in their extraordinary new world. Her writings are indeed autobiographical. This is readily evident in both her poetry and prose. She gives her accounts about her faith in God, and demonstrates how when her faith waivers, her life suffers as a result. Her poetry is much more negative than her prose. She is very critical of her writing, and very observant of other people. She generally doesn't seem to enjoy the mindset of the people she writes about.

Sharron Rush:

I think Garrett made a very good point in that Anne Bradstreet's religion was her essential motivation in writing. It was her spiritual journey that she most wanted to communicate to her children. I also agree with the fact that the Bible influenced her writing style.

Kenneth Direkly:

Billy, what do you think about her numerous statements about death? In her prose she states that we don't want to die and leave this world because we, as humans, are involved in the material world. How does this conflict with her views of the spiritual world?

Jennifer Walder:

I think that Sharron's acount Franklin's and Eqiano's work was interesting. I agree that Equiano's work was more emotional and that Franklin's work was a lot more rational. I don't see however where Wheatley was more accepting of her slavery. She seemed to use religion as her coping mechanism to slavery but I don't know if she was really accepting of it.

Audra Leifeste:

1) It was important for A.B. to leave what she did behind so others, especially her family, could learn and know Anne for what she really possessed inside. It is very obvious what was important to her. This was Anne's way of expressing herself, a more complex way than the average person. I believe her writings were autobiographical indeed. She has such an intriguing way of expressing herself. For those of you who are like me and do not care for poetry that much, I believe that once you can get past the fact that it is poetry and begin to understand her, then you find it very interesting what she has to say. Her prose writings to me seem to be more religious than her poetry. Her faith was very concrete to her.

Cynthia Hill:

Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography was originally intended for his son thus is very detailed and specific. I think for readers like us who are not part or do not have as much interest in his genelogy this is hard to read and very detailed. This piece is reflective upon many events in his life. It is not an overall, broad, general story from beginning to end about his life. He goes into great detail about certain events. Olaudah Equiano's autobiography is very differnt from Franklin's because it is not as detailed about certain events in his life. I feel Equiano wrote more about his feelings and about events that had great impact upon his life unlike Franklin who I feel wrote about some obselete events that he seemed to remember in detail but seemed to have on his emotions. Equiano was much. much easier to read because he seemed to write from his heart where as Franklin wrote from his mind. Both of these were written in first person but only Equiano was personal.

Stacie Wright:

Benjamin Franklin wrote about his life in a way that walked the reader through his experiences. His life was interesting and made for a narative that held my attention but didn't make me take a closer look at my life. His life seems to be of interest because of the things he accomplished and not necessarily because he endured great hardships. Equiano seemed to concentrate on the trials in his life and how they shaped him as a person. While reading his accounts I recalled some of the harder times in my own life. He was able to make me feel for his situation. This was especially true when he talked about being separated from his sister. I prefer Equiano's style simple because I gained more from reading his narative. Wheatley seemed to say that slavery brought good things into her life beyond the obvious bad things. She focused on the positive sifference that her hardships have brought her while Equiano simple accounted the negative things that slavery brought into his life bring about the feelings of symmpathy I had as I read.

Heidi Korstad:

I agree with Garrett in that she was especially concerned that her children read her autobiography. I think that it was almost the most important thing in her life to have her children find God.

Jeremy Baksht:

I agree with Billy Lynch. Her final words to her children assume a very prophetic style that lets her kids know that straying from God's path will only cause them unhappiness. She does seem to write in the Bible format. By using her life as the narrative she gives real life accounts to teach her beliefs.

Maria Fuentes:

2. compare and contrast:

Franklin's autobiography was different from Olaudah in that, I think Frankilin's seemed to tell the story of his life from the present looking in on the past. Franklin was very detaile. Olaudah's writing felt more like a soap opera. His story was told not from present looking on the past but , to me at least, it was like his life story was told by just what happened, I felt it was way too rational. Frankilin's was more just facts about his life. I liked the way Olaudah wrote becasue it was a lot more interesting his feelings were described more in depth and his story was just better. Wheatley's poem and Olaudah's writings were similar in that they described the lives os slaves and what they had to indure. Wheatley's poem related a lot with Equiano's work because they were both slaves, but she was more like ok this is my life and accepted it . Equiano on the other hand wanted to change that and like when he ran away he felt it was for his benefit. His writtings told more abotu how slaves were treated harshly and he said how all that was wrong.

Melonie Loeb:

I think Corey's account of the autobiographies was interesting. I never really thought about one being near-sighted and one being far-sighted, but I can understand where that can be read into it. I however don't think that Franklin was as practical as Equiano's.

Kristin Keene:

I respect Anne Bradstreet for her writings about God because she also wrote about her doubts in her religion. This is probably why she wanted it to be read after she died because it was probably a sin in the puritain world to question your believes. It takes a big person to be able to understand their advesary, and know both sides of the religion, life with it and life without it.

James Lo:

I also think Equiano's work is better to read because it's just simply more interesting. So Franklin's work is rather detailed and addressed I'm not sure what he include so much information.

Corey Snyder:

I don't think Wheatly used it as a coping mechanism. It just sounds like she was indoctrinated by the society into which she was placed.

Kimberly Williams:

Franklin and Equiano both wrote autobiographies that were very vivid accounts of some of the most crucial turning points in their lives. Both of their writing styles were very eloquent and formal. However I prefered the style of Equiano because I felt that he let me experience emotionally first hand about what it must be like to be taken away from the security and solace of your family and village and go on to a very tormenting journey being sold to different buyers throughout Africa and eventually end up far away from his homeland into another world and culture of men that he never knew existed. His account of slavery was a very chilling description of cruelty and brutality that he endured. Phyllis Wheatley's journey from Africa to America was not as harsh sounding as Equiano's because she was able to enjoy certain pleasures and rights that he was not able to. For example, her owners allowed her to learn how to read and write. For Equiano, while he was on the ship, the crewman did not even want the slaves to be to close to where the ship was steered for fear that the slaves would one day learn how to command the ship and try to break free.

Kamal Bhuiyan:

First of all I would like to praise Anne Bradstreet for her creative writing which does to things at same time-her autobiography and her advise to the future generation. "To My Dear Children" is a pictorial representation of her life as well as a important advise to her child and for others too. She was a very religious person and she relates every of her work with God and thinks if every one can do that our lives will be much more happy. She gives her son advises in a beautiful and passive way. She describes some of deeds and gives the consequences of those deeds so that it will be easier for others to understand what massege she really wants to convey. I am not sure about the meter.

Billy Lynch:

Kenneth, her views of the spiritual world do conflict with her statements about death. As a Christian, she believes that a better life waits for her when she dies, however she realizes that she does have a connection,

(emotional) with things here on earth.