The Usage of Humanization in Up From Slavery and Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl
Compare and contrast one element of Black autobiography between Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Washington's Up from Slavery. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs vividly recapitulates the story of her life, starting when she was born into slavery, and continuing into her journey to freedom. Throughout her story, Jacobs goes into great detail concerning lots of gruesome and horrible events that happened to her. She describes experiences like sexual assault, abuse, and loss of family. She tells these traumatic anecdotes through a first-person perspective which uniquely touches with the reader in a way that humanizes herself and helps the reader understand what she personally went through first hand. Humanization is an important aspect that Jacobs makes sure to prioritize within Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and this is evident from the very beginning, where Jacobs starts chapter 1 with the sentence “I was born a slave; but I never k...