Description
Written Assignment: Narrative Inquiry and Content Analysis—
Between 1936 and 1938, the Federal Writers Project, collected a 17 volume account of Slave
narratives: A folk history of slaves in the US from interviews with former slaves. This
account is documented in several internet accounts, including the following:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html.
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Search Google with the phrase “slave narratives” and read through several titles, including
American slave narratives, Index of narratives, and Born in slavery.
Closely scrutinize these excerpts from slaves, and read their accounts (at least 4 or 5 of them)
in order to focus on the qualitative approach Narrative Inquiry, as discussed by Creswell
(2016). You are to use content analysis as a methodology; commonly used in the social
sciences to analyze recorded transcripts of interviews—content analysis also studies
authorship and authenticity of meaning, or who says what, to whom, why, to what extent, and
with what effect?
Generally speaking content analysis proceeds from a particular framework or point of view,
such as critical theory, or a particular interpretation—in this case—of slavery in general.
Then language is scrutinized for sense making: what is being said, how often, how do the
participants agree and disagree on what is being said, and what is the content of their daily
lived experiences? What is the message of the slave narratives you have read? How do you
understand the participant’s voices? The authors’ collection of participants’ voices? How
are you categorizing and classifying the content of participants’ narratives? What questions
are guiding your narrative inquiry?
The expectation is a 2-3 page final paper in which your answers to the above questions are
grouped and discussed as you have established categories (from content analysis) to explain
the narratives of four or five of the slave narratives you have read). Also, I would like to
have copies (as appendixes) of the particular slave narratives you read, and the process you
used to fix your categories for discussion of the narratives.
-avoid plagiarism
- use text book
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Explanation & Answer
Attached.
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NAME:
INSTITUTION:
PAPER TITLE:
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During this period, 1936-1938 writers took the task of going out to interview slaves. They
used their feedback to come up with various narratives in regards to slave lives. Each author
depending on their encounter writes down different narrative basing their paper on their research
outcome. They adopt the technique of question and answer to get exact information that one was
interested in. The setting of these slavery majorly was small farms, plantations and even cities as
this is where their masters widely lived. Hence, they enslave them around these areas.
Slave narratives act as the voice of the slaves.(Virginia) These authors coin their lives in
an artistic way through their writings that creates a vivid description of how slave life was like.
This paper encompasses several ideas set out in different authors explaining the slavery life in
this country. In as much each author poses their own work, it is evident that they all speak in one
voice bringing out the same picture of slavery during this period in different countries.
Mary. A. Pools: “Charlie Aarons, Oak Grove. Alabama”
“Madam I don’t know but I sure been round here long time”
The ex-slave utters the words above by the name Aaron when asked of how long he has
been a salve by the narrator. Mary A. Pools in her narrative titled “Charlie Aarons, Oak Grove,
Alabama” explains the nature of the slave’s life and their day-to-day activities in her writing
hence the title. These people walk through the oak grove as a duty placed upon them by their
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masters. Charlie Aarons is the slave who gave this feedback to the author. Clearly basing our
conclusion on this writers work, these slaves some of them have been here since their teen hood
and are ageing as slaves in this country.
Charlie Aarons is one of the slaves who could not even give an exact quotation of his age.
(Mary.A.Poole) Some were sold into slavery b people they clearly knew but did not care of their
welfare. Slavery clearly is a source of income and a way of saving people’s money in search of
labor. Slaves are taken to slave block where those who intend to buy them bid several prices and
the highest take the slave home. He is subjected to work from sunrise to sunset without any food
at times’. I strongly agree with this position, as it is evident in so many history books in regards
to slaves’ lives.
Whether young or old, all of them were subject to tiresome work without any beneficial
tutorials concerning life, once a slave always a slave.
Volume 16, Martin Jackson
In volume 16 of these narratives, Martin Jackson an ex slave explains his life as a slave.
Despite his age, he was open to no school life but his self-struggle to know the little he could
gather. All he was entitled to was work, work and work and nothing else. Despite a different
expression, it is evident the type of lives of this slaves was same in that all they were to o was
offer labor services. Slaves were a subject of their masters without any disobedience.
Readings from the slave narratives; Jenny Proctar
Jenny Proctar from “Readings from the slave narratives”: in her interview, it was a crime
for slave children to see a book or learn. Reason being their masters had the notion that they will
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become smart. Slaves were subjected to brutal beating without mercy. Any slave found or those
who had the urge of learning, upon discovery their masters would subject them to heavy
punishment. All slave children by the age of twelve were all working at the plantations farms.
Volume 2 Arkansas, Mary Estes Peters
Volume 2, Arkansas, Mary Estes Peters in her speech makes it clear that not only were
slaves subjected to manual work. Slave women were sexually abused often. Especially married
women who were out rightly forced to have sex in front of their husbands. Any refusal was a call
for brutal beating by these men. Black women were out to be tortured severely. They were highly
terrorized as a way of punishment that clearly was inhumane.
“Readings from the Slave narratives” incorporates speeches and narrative of very many
journalists with various recorded interviews. Slavery is something that deeply roots its backbone
in the society during this period. It is something that ideally affects the blacks in this country.
The whites regard themselves as sovereign. Living like a slave was such an inhuman thing....
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