WH0 M3? *T3H3*

Rosie Charles
AP ENG III
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl




Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an autobiography inscribing the life of being a black woman in America at a specified time. Harriet Jacobs (or Lisa Brent), had to be persuaded it to publish this autobiography. All in all, throughout the rest of the story, many aspects of the rhetorical triangle are applied.


The first concept of this story is pathos, which is emotion. The prime example of this is the how she was raped and harassed. No one, men and women, both, dislike the fact of any one being violated. As of me, it sparked my interest because the author was very honest and straight forward. Another example of the emotional setting of the story was environment in which she hid for 7 years. That is an emotional quote. No one likes to watch their children from afar. This also heightened the anger.


The next concept of the autobiography is diction. In this story Jacob’s diction was normal. But I believe that was intentional. Jacobs wanted to appeal to all crowds. By her talking in the “white” man’s term, blacks might start to think that she believes she is just too raw. Also, look at it vise versa. If it was written in pure black lingo, whites most likely would not read, or even care.


In conclusion the story by Jacobs was a wonderful one. This novel is so different in many ways. You have emotion that is portrayed in the story. There is also happiness and despair. Emotions are the backbone to a good story.