"Incidents In the Life Of a Slave Girl" Journal Entry Chapters 16-19

 This section in "Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl" has been the most interesting and exciting section so far. Linda has just run away from Dr. Flint, and is now being concealed in an attic in the house of one of her grandmother's good friends. I was a bit surprised that Linda decided to run away, knowing how cruel her master was. She knew the things he had done out of anger and revenge before, and even though he had such control over Linda's children, whom could be harmed in an act of revenge, she still decided it was best to run away. As a result of her escape, Dr. Flint did indeed use her children, and put them in a jail, along with her aunt and brother. Before she leaves, Linda says that she "was about to risk everything on the throw of a die,"(Brent 97). This shows she did actually realize the possible consequences of her running away, but decided to take the risk. Something that Linda has kept bringing up was how she wished she'd rather have her children die than to go through a terrible life of slavery. I understand why she said this, but it to me was a very sad thought. When her daughter, Ellen, cried herself sick and was resting in Linda's arms, she says "I thought how well it would have been for her if she never waked up,"(89). This is just another of many examples why slavery was especially terrible for mothers, that they should even have to have such a thought.

"Incidents In the Life Of a Slave Girl" Journal Entry Chapters 12-17

 In this section of "Incidents In the Life Of a Slave Girl", a couple things interested me. One thing that strikes me was how the houses of blacks were searched by such low, poorly educated whites, as a result of the Nat Turner rebellion. These ignorant men just came in and took whatever they thought the slaves shouldn't have, which was a lot. They didn't even know what they were really searching for; one of the men said "We's got 'em! Dis 'ere yaller gal's got letters!". (Brent 67) This just shows how foolish these men are. The men couldn't even read, so when they saw the letters they thought they had discovered letters that had something to do with the rebellion. Really they were just letters from family and friends. Another part of this section that interested me was the clergyman who gave sermons to the slaves. The slaves loved him, because he understood their pain. Although he and his wife had slaves, they were taught to read and write, and were treated well. They were set free eventually. It was hard to find to a man like that back then. One thing that really surprised me was when the clergyman admitted that he gave better sermons to the slaves than the white people; "He honestly confessed that he bestowed more pains upon those sermons than upon any others; for the slaves were reared in such ignorance that it was a difficult task to adapt himself to their comprehension." (73-74) He did this because he felt so strongly about letting the slave know that they were humans beings too.  It took courage to admit to that, and to share those feelings.

An Ideal School.

 At the moment, school sucks. At least in my opinion. Classes are to long, the school day is to long, and there is WAY too much homework. The teachers however I do like; they are nice, not too strict, and good at teaching me what I need to know. I am alright with the tests as well. They're not too hard but still good evaluations of what we learned that unit. Assignments can be a bit tough though, and can take a while. The reading assignments are okay though. In my opinion, an Ideal school would have shorter class's, a school day from around 8-1, and alot less, if any homework. Thats all I would change, as I said, I like the teachers and assignments as they are. Also, I would allow kids to use iPods or other devices, as long as they arent out in their hands or being distracting. And there would be open lunches aswell.