Incidents Part 4

One point I really enjoyed during the book was that Jacobs continually talks about how there is no such thing as a good slave master.  I mean this by saying that Jacobs continually talks about how being a master corrupts you and the power you have often takes over your morals and beliefs.   One example of this is when Mr.Sands says hes gonna free their children, but he doesn't until very much later.  No slave masters have any morals.  They all claim to be Christian yet treat human beings as animals and use them for personal profit. Jacobs states that "Pity me, and pardon me, O virtuous reader! You never knew what it is to be a slave; to be entirely unprotected by law or custom; to have the laws reduce you to the condition of a chattel, entirely subject to the will of another"(Jacobs 21),  And it shows how the slaves experience is never fully understood.  I do enjoy the ending where Jacobs and her family finally become free and when she says, "Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage. I and my children are now free! We are as free from the power of slave holders as are the white people of the north; and though that, according to my ideas, is not saying a great deal, it is a vast improvement in my condition"(216), because it shows that slavery can still be overcome to some extent   

Incidents Part 3

As I keep on reading into the book I realize that Jacobs' is a very selfish person.  What I mean by this, is that she is running up north while Dr.Flint tries to throw her children in jail in order to get her to come back.  Jacobs, "was about to risk everything on the throw of a die" ( Jacobs 97) with the possibility that she might have her children face the consequences for her actions.  This is the complete opposite of Margaret Gardener.  Margaret Gardner did whatever she had to do in order to have her children not face the hardships of slavery.  Jacobs' says that "Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own"(32) with is true because she has to deal with the lives of her children. 

Yesterday

I pick it up, I sweat it out

I endure through, I want to shout,

Yet I don’t know what I shout about

And I sing like women who are so stout

Where it began, from Kim to Stan

But I come home for some PB and Jam

Like I don’t know what I want to be

Like flying man Darth, can I please see?

A shortcut another way, is this how it outta go

If so, why shower with no money to blow,

Yet I choose sometimes I lose to blue

Blue mystery, so influential and true

Yet before we learn we have brains

Our folly makes us so insane

Turn red on your face, or like Mary Jane,

Looking for a sunny day, go away rain

And take away pain for another day,

Why I gotta stay, I never get to play,

Go move Far East, and 2 letters make your way

Couldn’t said its better green monster, no jay

They say make it rain, and then is your day gray?

Or does the cold wind blow away, the trees that sway?

My state of mind is but just a small Ville

Yet how powerful a glare can instill

Send you chills, no air with those gills

First comes the smokes, no money for bills

And if black is good why cant I breathe with it

Blinded, they wonder what I can sees with it

Call me poet crazy, I killed trees with it

Like how a teenager can seize it lit

But its patience, best to ease up a bit,

Performance of my life, better not forget

Today

The slaves, the masters, standing in the eve

The masters took the hunters, being so naïve

The greed took the masters, filled with vain

Greed married war with what became,

Independence hidden between families of hate,

The valley south of the phoenix, the villagers spat

And rode west to meet to fight for their Helen,

While the middle kingdom rediscovered like Magellan

They made the railroads that were already built

Beneath your feet, so the world could tilt

And tremble once again the opposite of love,

Indifference, the goal, won by the above,

The bird named Jim squawked fiction

So apart like your jaws, the jurisdiction

Yet to bite back and lash with confliction

The men who were blind could not climb

The mountains of gold turned to steel grind

From Virginia to California, non-stop

Rode the rich, former owner of crop

The rooster commanded, the hen tended

But then came jealousy, more than the serpent supplemented

When second became first but first fought back

And killed who is able in the east where love is lack

But Abrahams stars surrounded by gas

Persecution of the young girl lass

Led to the bombing of the land of sun

By the suppliers themselves, who is now one?

As the slaves and master intertwined

By the king of a protestant, so combined

And laid the king of slaves from a master born

As the new world is changing this man is sworn.

Incidents Part 2

As I continue to read this book, I realize that Dr.Flint has a lot of control over her.  One example of this is that she is not allowed to have a husband that is not permitted by Dr.Flint when she says that, " If you must have a husband, you make take up with one of my slaves.' What a situation I should be in, as the wife of one of slaves, even if my heart had been interested"(38).  It shows how enslaved she is and how evil and perverted Dr.Flint is.  I believe this to be a major ploy in the book that Dr.flint will continually stop Jacobs' from being able to gain anything.  I believe that through the sexual plot of Dr.Flint, the mistress is jealous and through that she is going to be attacked either way.  The mistress first pretends to protect her, but then does the opposite like when she, "She now tried the trick of accusing my master of crime, in my presence, and gave my name  as the author of the accusation"(33).  I think this shows how Jacobs' is cornered by both her master and her mistress.  I believe the Dr.flint will be overthrown sometime in the end of the book

Incidents Part 1

When I read incidents, I really already knew that it wouldn't be as emotional as it could've been.  As I started to read, it wasn't so much of a story as a documentary rolling through my mind.  Information was whirling around like a list of facts.  The story that the facts put together seemed both unsurprising and real at the same time.  The book started out on a good note, with Jacobs' saying that her father was allowed to, "Work at his trade and manage his own affairs",(Brent 9), showing that Jacobs' had parents with rights.  This showed the aspect of kinder masters and mistresses.  The book took a turn for worse shortly after.  Once Dr.Flint came into the picture, nothing seemed so predictable anymore.  Dr.Flint to me seems like a perverted man that abuses the power that he was born with.  I believe that he tries to take advantage of people because he is a white man and believes that he can do whatever he wants.  One taking advantage of people is when told Jacobs' grandmother that, "under existing circumstances, it was necessary  that she was sold,"(9) which showed how Dr.Flint was taking advantage of people  In the will of her deceased mistress', she was declared free, yet she was still sold to someone by Dr.Flint.  I am pretty sure that he is the main antagonist of the story and that Jacobs' is probably going to run away from him.  Overall the beginning of this book has been phenomenal.   

Room for Improvement

The Ideal system of Education is Where students steadily learn and improve throughtout their childhood, adolescence and into adulthood.  This is not the way that the US school system is structured. 


Real School:  I wake up and look at my clock, it says 6:03.  It may seem early in the morning, but I'm late.  I get dressed, gobble up my breakfast, brush my teeth, wash my hair and my dad drops me off at my bus stop.  Its freezing and its raining as I wait for the bus to come.  I try talking to my friend but hes really tired as he usually is. I sit on the bus and watch the surroundings as it rolls through my eyes until they become unfocused.  People start talking which wakes me up.  Apparently we are stuck in traffic.  I look outside to see a firetruck.  My first reaction is what the heck is a fire truck doing in the middle of the road.  Then I see ambulances, and after I stick my head out the window, I get a look at two buses that collided.  As shallow as it seems, my first thought is that its gonna be a very big inconvenience.  People talk on the bus while I try to get more shut-eye.  I waited a total of 1 hour until the bus finally was able to move.  When i get to school its already 8:50, and I missed most of my first class.  As the bell rings, I move onto my 2nd block, which is math.  My math teacher constantly talks about how MCPS is not preparing students properly.  I agree with him in many aspects, as I did not seem prepared for the hard Pre-Calc class that I am currently enrolled in.  I take a test, constructing numerous calculations, whilst barely finishing before class is over.  I need an A on that test.  The countless hours i spent studying for this test flash through my mind as I roll down the stairs with my friends to Lunch.  Lunch, a place where you can kick back and chill with your friends.  The idea for Lunch is to have students eat and socialize.  That is an idea, not a reality.  I sit and munch on my Cheetos, as I see kids chase each other around.  I also see people copy off of others home work.  I see the latter a lot.  How the heck are kids suppose to learn when the only time they look at their homework is when they need to copy off of someone.  The bell sounds and I head off to French, where my teachers speaks words that I don't understand.  I don't bother to ask what they mean, because I can get an easy A without asking.  And asking would be too much of a hassle.  An A means I was excellent in the class doesn't it?  Who cares anyway, it is not like I'm gonna use French in the real world.  Another bell means another class I have to bear.  This time its US History.  I sit through the class working and memorizing the dates and laws.  I bet after 3 weeks i would forget everything that I learned on this day.  As the bell rings for what seems like the last time I go to PE where I basically just stand around and do nothing because I'm so tired.  And no one cares that I don't play soccer.  No one cares about PE.  Ding, Ding, the bell rings and I race to the buses, so i can finally get school over with.  I savor the bus long bus ride, as it is a time where i can just relax and do nothing.  When I get home I have a pile of homework that I have to do.  Homework that I don't really care if its right or wrong, as long as its done.  This marks my day, as I get ready for bed and think about having to do this all over again tomorrow.  My eyes become heavy, and drops the curtains over reality.


Ideal school: I wake up, yet I really don't.  This is because seconds later I'm back asleep.  After 2 hours I wake up again, this time I stay awake.  I take my time getting ready for school, there no hassle.  I ride the bus, for less than 10 minutes then arrive at school.  I go to my first class which is R&E.  In R&E we work on  building things.  The teachers delivers instructions in a calm but demanding way as I follow diligently and work on my project.  I'm determined to make my project something that i could be proud of.  The day rolls by as Math begins.  My teacher hands me a test that I know I'm, going to get 100% on.  During class I completely understood the material given.  Also, all of my preceding classes emphasized the topics that I'm covering, through correct methods used universally by mathematicians.  I understand and complete each question easily, knowing that as long as I understand the material then grades will follow.  My mindset is that its better to get a B, while understanding all the concepts, than to get an A, and to not understand what I'm learning at all.  At Lunch I just chill and eat my lunch.  Not caring worrying about the French test, because I already studied for it.  I did not study it to get an A, but to better understand the French Language.  That's why I take, French, in order to learn it and to be able to speak it correctly.  I was not forced to take it by my parents or to get French credits.  Its US History time as we work on the concept of westward expansion and the laws based on the gold standard.  I pay full attention as i try to constitute the information in order to be able to recall it from memory.  This is because I aspire to be a Lawyer and the history of our nation is important for me to accomplish that goal.  School ends and I head home with high hopes of completing my work and  accomplishing the goals I have set in my life.  My visions blurs and turn into darkness.  I open my eyes and realize it was just a dream.


Analysis:  The state of education in the US is not very good.  I believe the main reason for that is the mindset that the students have.  School and education are very important in order to succeed in life.  Some people just ignore it and have their mind wonder on others things.  In America, many things are distracting and people are very lenient about how they work.  Some people only do good so that they can get good grades.  That is not the way school should be.  The education should come first and the grades will follow.  As long as students constitute the information they learn for latter purposes, instead of short term memorization.  Schools can help by changing the hours so that students can come to class prepared and to change the mindset of grades.  As long as the students learn from their mistakes and improve, there should be no extra stress put on them to succeed.  They should be fine.