The History of Mary Prince - 1 Reflection

1. Reading the narrative from Mary Prince interested me a lot more than Equiano. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy Equiano, but I think it was because of gender that drew me into Prince more. Prince heavily focused on the pathos, or emotional, element in her narrative. I think reading about the abuse and violence very much struck me. It was interesting to read how in depth she made the violence, especially from a woman’s perspective. Although, because Prince is a female, I think writing about abuse and violence is such a strong concept. Many readers would think that violence would be an idea that is typically addressed by a man, but on the other hand, writing about such ideas from a woman’s perspective draws in the female audience with feelings of guilt and disheartenment. Overall, I really enjoyed reading Mary Prince’s narrative because it was directed more to my kind of audience – a female perspective. Reading about how she had a family, and knew who her parents were – something that many slaves did not know – was really fascinating. Also the fact that she wasn’t separated from her mother and siblings until she was a little older wasn’t known. I felt like I could almost feel the same pain and suffering that Prince went through just because the words she wrote were so strong and believable. Both Equiano and Prince wrote their narratives to make an argument that slavery was a horrible thing, but Prince wrote with an emotional tone while Equiano wrote with a more legal tone. Prince chose to have her audience be women, and since she is a woman, it was easier to write for women and make them persuade their husbands to abolish slavery. She tends to come right out and say this is how it is, and it is a horrible thing that must be abolished. I really loved how much mother/daughter relationship was written into this story, especially in the beginning. Prince seemed like she really loved her mother, and I can only imagine how hard it would be to be sold away from a parent. Obviously, I did not grow up in a time of slavery, but I don’t know how I would be if I was sold to work on a plantation, and owned as property. On page 262, Prince writes the line, “How can slaves be happy when they have the halter round their neck and the whip upon their back?” I found this quote to really stick out to me because it’s so truthful. There couldn’t have been any way that a slave was truly happy working on a plantation, and getting beaten every time they disobeyed their master. I think it stood out to me because it shows how Prince focused on attracting her audience to side with her through the use of emotions. She seemed smart enough to make her audience women who could be drawn into the emotional affect, and persuade their husbands to side with the abolitionists.

The Life of Oludah Equiano - 2 Reflections

1. In the introductory chapter, Equiano mentions his father, and also the culture within his country while he was growing up. Equiano’s father was a part of the Embrenché – which was a set of chief men who decided the punishments for people who committed crimes. He listed a few examples of what type of punishments would be given, such as adultery and kidnappings. Then he went on to write about the culture within the country. He talks about the African culture is heavily influenced on dancing, music, and poetry, but also writes about how the living style is very plain and simple. Agriculture was the main employment, and everyone did something to contribute to it. They believed in one Creator, and though there weren’t any places to worship, there were still priests around for worship. He goes on writing about how he shipped from Africa with his sister, but it was not long until he was separated from her. Equiano writes about the kind of masters he was sold to, and I couldn’t believe what kinds of punishments slave owners acted upon their slaves. In his narrative, Equiano tends to steer towards a more logical stance for his audience is more the abolitionists acquired in the legal fields. I think Equiano’s writing had more of an informational style to it; it seemed to have logic mixed with a little emotion. I think it was amazing to read that Equiano did not stay within North America during his time as slave. He was shipped from Africa, but each time he was sold to a new slave owner, it could have been in somewhere in the south, or in a different country in Central America. It is also really interesting to read about the friendships that were created between the slaves and the slave owners’ children. Reading about Equiano’s friend, Dick, was an inspiring story. It was fascinating to see how much Equiano thought of Dick as a friend, and as a person of a different race. He thought of Dick to be his “best interpreter”, and he could be “free with him”. I think it’s inspiring that as children, slaves could befriend the children of their masters and be open and create a close friendship with one another. The thing that I feel like I get most out of reading these slave narratives is that the writings are so personal to the authors, and as a reader, I feel like I should be the one doing something about this horrible time. I’ve never read a slave narrative before, so I never really knew what to expect from it – other than the idea that it would be the slave’s story. However, I feel as though it is so much more than just a story. It’s an emotional, informational piece of writing that makes you feel guilty for what the slaves went through, and during the time of slavery, it made readers want to put an end to such a terrible event.

2. Society can be heavily influenced on religion. Separation of Church and state, in my mind, may still exist today. The laws created by the government aren’t the laws that the Church agrees with. When Equiano came to consensus that he couldn’t rely on the human laws, he made the decision to turn to God for help because he knew that God would always give him the answer. His religion plays out a lot throughout his narratives because of the time that he lived in. Equiano wants to convict society for being discriminatory and harsh. He sees God as the overseer over all people – that when a person does something bad, God will know because he knows all. As much as Equiano is an Evangelical Christian, he is conflicted between two different sides of Christianity. God is being used in different ways by different groups of people, but Equiano knows that his audience will consist of abolitionists that are Christian and will agree with him. Society is also heavily influenced on race. The idea of the system is a horrible creation, yet society is the one who created it in the beginning. Though the system was destroyed, it not only affected the slaves, but it destroyed all humanity including owners, too. This system affects all, and is most likely the reason for Equiano’s reliance on God and Christianity. I thought it was interesting for Equiano to reference religion and God so much within his narrative. His audience would have most likely been Christian and abolitionists, so to plant several religious aspects allows his audience to feel the emotion through a Christian viewpoint, and take a side with him. I always thought that slavery was a horrible time. For me, as someone who is a Christian, I can understand how Equiano trying to persuade his audience through religion could work. Humans created this system of slavery, and humans could only end it too. Seeing as the state was the ones that were creating this horrible time, the Church was the thing that could defend slavery as something immorally wrong. Equiano was a strong believer in Christianity, and that was what he turned to every time the state would defeat him and shoot him down. 

"Harry Potter and the Emerald Isle".

Last weekend, Alisa and I took a weekend trip to Dublin. The Emerald Isle was gorgeous, and I can’t wait to go back over Christmas with my family.

We left from Liverpool because RyanAir plane tickets were cheap – and it was only a thirty-minute trip! When we arrived in Dublin, it was about 9:30PM, so we headed straight to our hostel. The hostel was interesting. Overall, it was pretty decent. However, the room was an interesting experience. We went for the 18-bed room because it was cheaper in the long run. Needless to say, I think if we ever book an 18-bed room again, we should be with a larger group of people that we know. It was awkward, and every time I wanted to say something, I felt like I had to whisper. Honestly, I’m glad that we tried it out because now we know what exactly to feel.

On Sunday (11/2), we had booked a day trip to the Wicklow Mountains. This was a lovely way to get to see the countryside of Dublin. The shuttle stopped at Powerscourt Gardens, which we decided to take a walk around. The Gardens were beautiful, and there was so much green around. During the trip, we stopped for lunch in Enniskerry at a restaurant called Poppies. After lunch, we continued the day tour into the Wicklow Mountains – which were beautiful – and then into a little town called Glendalough. When we arrived back in Dublin, Alisa and I found a nice little restaurant called Crackbird for dinner. It was pretty good, but the exciting part was that we found a cute little café that had a huge selection of various hot chocolates. We couldn’t not go in and get some hot chocolate.

 On Monday (11/3), we had booked tickets to tour the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness Storehouse was really amazing. It was interesting to see how the beer is made, and we even attended the Guinness Academy – where we learned how to properly pour a Guinness. It was pretty neat stuff. I admit, when I tasted Guinness in the United States, I hated it. But when I had a pint in Ireland, I loved it! Touring the Guinness Storehouse took most of the afternoon, but it was worth it!

On Tuesday (11/4), before we left and headed back to London, we walked around the campus of Trinity College – the oldest universities around. It was super pretty to look at, and the architecture was beautifully created. We had lunch, and then headed off to catch a bus to the Dublin Airport, where we were on our way back to London.

It was a lovely little vacation.

One Friday (11/7), Emily, Alisa, Tess, Tyler, and I all took a little trip outside of zones one and two to visit the Warner Brothers’ Studio and see The Making of Harry Potter. As a fellow Harry Potter nerd, I was ecstatic about this trip. It was so worth it. We were walking on the same ground that the cast and crew of Harry Potter walked on! It was amazing to see the real props, set pieces, costumes, wigs, and everything that was actually used in the films. I had a butterbeer too – which was just cream soda with a little whipped cream on top. (They had to keep it kid-friendly). I bought myself two little souvenirs from the gift shop – a time-turner keychain, and a journal with the Hogwarts crest on it. It might have been a journey to get to, but I loved every second.

Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry

Six weeks left in the semester. Time is winding down, folks. Keep checking in for more blog posts.

My Thoughts on the International Slavery Museum.

Last week concluded Integrated Theatre History and Shakespeare in Performance. While I am sad to no longer experience these courses, the next two courses coming up sound interesting. For the month of November, Slave Narratives will be new course.

On Friday, we took an overnight class trip to Liverpool. The main reason for going on this overnight trip was to attend the International Slavery Museum as an introduction for Anglo-American Slave Narratives.

I am going to be honest – I did not have high expectations for this museum. I think slavery was a horrible time, and I do not agree with any of it, but I also was not sure how I would feel about looking at an exhibit all about it either. However, I got more out of this museum than I expected. I left with a better knowledge of what happened, and how slavery all began.

I walked into the Slavery Museum, thinking that there would be lots of repetition going on throughout the exhibit. The only knowledge that I had of slavery was the events that took place within the United States. I did not know that England was the start of it all. I thought that was interesting because the British were the ones who sent the ships out to fetch the slaves from Africa, and send them along the Middle Passage. In this museum, there were videos playing of historians talking about slavery and everything that went on during that time. It was really interesting to see and read about how ships departed from Liverpool and traveled to Africa to ship slaves off to the Americas.

A lot of things in this Slavery Museum stood out to me. One thing, in particular, was seeing the shackles that had been chained around the slaves’ wrists and ankles. It made me feel horrible inside because not only were there adult-sized chains, but there were smaller ones – the size for children. Slavery is horrible, and no human being ought to be put through such atrocious conditions, but to put children through such a time makes me sick to my stomach. It’s appalling learning about how those who could own property were able to own slaves. No person ought to be owned by anyone.

I was disappointed that I didn’t get to take many pictures while at the Slavery Museum, but I wasn’t sure if photography was allowed. If I went back, I would have captured some of the things that I thought were interesting and really stood out to me. Another thing that really stood out to me was a video that was playing repeatedly in the museum. It was a clip of the slaves on the ships during their transport on the Middle Passage. I stood watching the clip for a good three minutes, and it made me feel for the slaves back then. I can only imagine the pain and suffering that these slaves went through – just watching the clip made me feel horrible. Slavery was a tragedy in itself, and the idea of a person as property is wrong. As I watched the clip of the slaves in transport, I felt myself being punched in the gut because thought it wasn’t me who put those slaves on a ship and sailed off to the Americas, I feel the guilt of putting the innocent Africans to work until death.

Something else that I found quite intriguing from this museum was there was a window that you could look out. This sounds weird, but the view from this window was where the ships would dock and depart to Africa to trade goods for people. I found this to be interesting because it isn’t every day that I get to look out and see the location of where the ships that transported slaves to the Americas. It was a repulsive time to live in, especially for Africans who were being traded into working until death. Looking out this window, I could only imagine being back in time when slavery still existed and watching ships depart from the dock with trade goods to Africa.

As I made my through the Slavery Museum, I noticed that it began to focus a lot on African culture. It started off with culture from when Africans were slaves and progressed to today’s society.

There was one picture that I took, and it was off a piece of artwork with the faces of Martin Luther King Jr. and President Barack Obama enlarged in front of the American flag with the caption, “We the people… Have a dream”. I took this picture because I thought it represented equality – in the United States, but everywhere really – in all people. I particularly liked that this picture captured two very well known African American political figures. I think that it was vital that this be included in this Slavery Museum because both of these to political figures have done powerful deeds to the United States.

"We the People... Have A Dream!" 

After visiting the International Slavery Museum, I have a better knowledge for how slavery started, and just how bad it really was for the slaves. This has helped me prepare for what is to come the next few weeks of November.

How Do I Spend Fall Break in London?

I decided to stay in London for Fall Break. Honestly, I wanted to save my money for the trips I’m taking in November, but I also decided that some “me time” would be nice, too. Of course, I spent time during the day with Tess and Tyler, too. This post will most likely be a long one as I write about all the things I did over break. If you can, try to bear with me. 

Day 1 (10/16) – I woke up at 4:15AM, to help Alisa out for her trip to Paris. I made sure she had everything she needed, and that she found the Eurostar with no problems. On my way back to the flat, I couldn’t resist any longer, so I stopped by a Starbucks and bought a Pumpkin Spice Latte. (I know, why Starbucks? It was the first day of fall break). By this point, it was about 7AM, and I still had the whole day ahead of me. Because of that latte, I didn’t bother going back to sleep when I got to the flat.

Around 1PM, Tess, Tyler, and I decided to get out of the flat for a while, and headed to the Science Museum (which we had started a few weeks ago, but never got to finish). The Science Museum was really interesting. There were so many different floors with lots of different things to see. Honestly, you know you’re a child at heart when one of the best moments was playing with kid activities in the Science Museum (Ha!). After the Science Museum, we took a walk (and pictures!) by the Prince Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall. I finally got my cheesy, stereotypical picture of me standing in a red London phone booth, too!

I finally got my stereotypical London phone booth picture! 

After that, we came back to the flat to regenerate for a few minutes. Then we decide to explore a store called Primark (which, to me, was something like a JC Penny’s in the U.S.). I bought a pair of cheap skinny jeans and nylon footy socks to wear with flats. Primark was such an awesome store, and I wouldn’t mind going back there.

When we finished at Primark, we decided it was time for dinner. Tess’ sister had told her to try a bar called Belushi’s, and that’s where we decided to eat. It wasn’t dirt cheap, but it wasn’t extremely expensive either. All three of us decided on splitting some appetizers because it was a better budget route to go, but the food was really amazing!

After dinner, I needed to go grocery shopping because I realized I had almost no food for the entire fall break. We made a run to Tesco for all of that fun stuff, and then we were in for the night.

That, in a nutshell, concludes day one of fall break.

Day 2 (10/17) – Today was a lazy day. I woke up around 8AM (I’m not exactly why I woke up so early, but I did). I started the morning off just getting starting and getting caught up on TV shows. I got to have a short, but wonderful Skype call with my friend, Rachel, from back in the States, too! It was lovely to catch up with her, and tell her what all I’ve done here.

In the afternoon, Tess knocked on my door and asked me if I’d like to talk a walk about Westminster with her and Tyler. I decided that I should get out of the flat for a little while, so I agreed. It ended up just being Tess and I. Westminster is such a beautiful area – I got to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament again, along with the London Eye. We just kept walking along Westminster, until we saw a food truck that was selling ten mini donuts for just £2! We agreed that it was such a good deal. It turns out, we were right; the donuts were so good! Anyways, we continued walking along Westminster until we reached a familiar location… Blackfriars! This is the tube stop that we get off to go to the Globe every Tuesday and Thursday. I had no clue that Westminster led right to Blackfriars!

Taking a walk along Westminster. Beautiful!

We took Blackfriars back to Earl’s Court, and that concluded day two of fall break.

Day 3 (10/18) – This morning, Tess and I decided to go to the Brixton Market. Brixton is the place where we usually buy all of our produce, and now, Ramen. This Brixton trip was a quick one, since we didn’t seem to need very much there. We came back, made lunch, and then headed off to a museum.

Tess, Tyler, and I headed off the Museum of London. The museum had just opened a Sherlock Holmes exhibit (which Tess found very, very exciting). I was extremely intrigued by this Sherlock exhibit. Now I have a huge inclination to go home and read some of the Sherlock Holmes novels. It was upsetting that no photography was allowed, but we have our memories of the exhibit. Then we toured the rest of the Museum of London. This was really interesting, because there were so many different facts about London. It dated back all the way to when the Roman Empire was in London to the twenty-first century of today.

Since photography wasn't allowed in the exhibit, this is the best I could get. It was awesome! 

After the museum, we all headed back to the flat, made dinner, and were in for the night. I got to Skype my friend, Claire, from back home. It was lovely because I’ve never gotten to Skype call her before. I also decided to give my parents a call via FaceTime. It was nice to talk to people back and catch up.

That concludes day three of fall break. Two more days left.

Day 4 (10/19) – I really didn’t do much on Sunday. This was my “I’m going to start homework” day, and that’s just what I did. I began reading ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, which we had to read for our classes at the Globe.

I guess the only big adventure I had was that I got to meet up with an old friend from high school, Shelby. She is studying abroad in Ireland this semester, and came to London as a weekend trip with a few friends. We went to this cute little café in Earl’s Court called Café du Coin. It was reasonably priced, and quite delicious. It was very nice getting to catch up, and hear all about her adventures this weekend, and in Ireland.

Meeting up with Shelby - high school studies abroad!

Day 5 (10/20) – Monday was the final day of break, and I really didn’t do anything. I ran lines with Tess and Tyler for Comedy of Errors, and finished reading ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore.

I waited up for Alisa and Jaime to get home, to welcome them and let them into the flat. It was about 4AM, but I didn’t mind. My break was coming to end.

Goodness, this was a long post, but I tried to incorporate everything I did during fall break. I hope I didn’t bore you too much! I promise my next post won’t be so tedious and long.

My London Group of Friends.

I’m going to be brutally honest – I came to London extremely nervous. Mostly because it was a new city that I’ve never been to, and just figuring out everything on my own was scary. The flight itself was a new experience. Except for when I came over from Korea as a baby, I hadn’t ever flown alone. I’ll admit it; I feel like most of my life, I’ve been spoiled, but my parents always tell me that I have enough common sense to figure out things for myself too. Now is my chance to prove them right.

The other reason why I was so nervous coming to London was because there were less than a handful of people that I knew well. I’ve always been a shy and introverted person, but it’s never hard for me to make friends. However, it takes me a while to create those friendships. I find it difficult to open up to other people until I know them better, but then again that’s hard to get to know a person if you can’t open up to them. Getting back on topic, I was scared that I wouldn’t create any friendships during my semester in London.

Boy, was I wrong.

First, there’s Alisa. Now, I knew Alisa going into this trip. I mean, we put each other down to be roommates, so we had to have known each other. Since she’s a transfer student, I only just met her last fall. However, I’m glad that I get the chance to get to know her even better this semester by being her roommate, and travel buddy. Hopefully, I don’t drive her too crazy come December! Oh, Alisa – if you’re reading this, hopefully I’m not too annoying as a roommate! And I apologize if I am. Don’t be afraid to call me out on it!

Next, there’s Tess. So I was kind of excited when I realized Tess was going to London this semester. Here’s the thing: I met Tess my very first day when I moved into Hessler Hall at Millikin. She lived across the hall from me! I remember her knocking on my door that day, and then her, my freshman roommate, and I took a walk around Millikin getting to know each other. Unfortunately, as the year went on, we slid into our own groups of friends. Now, I’m glad that I get to reconnect with her, and pick up where we left off! Also the fact that she’s a LV Scholar, like me, makes it even better! Tess – if you read this, I’m glad that we’re reconnecting again, and that I get to spend a semester in London with you!

Last, but certainly not least, there’s Emily. Before London, I didn’t know this girl at all, but I’m glad that I do now. Tess and Emily are best friends and roommates here in London, so I figured that I ought to get to know her. I feel at times we have about the same personality because there will be certain things she says or does that makes me say, “I do the same thing!” I’ve never met someone with the about the same personality as me before, so as soon as I found out what she was like, I was even more excited to get to know her. I’m hoping by the end of the semester, we’ll know each other pretty well. Emily – if you read this, I’m so happy that I knew Tess so I could get to know you!

“Every new friend is a new adventure… the start of more memories.” –Patrick Lindsay

I feel better and more confident about being in London now that I know I have a small group of friends to hang out with here. I miss my best friends back in the States right now more than anything, and these girls will never replace them, but at least I know that I have the ability to hold friendships for as long as I possibly can. Hopefully, the friends I make during my semester in London will carry back to the States, where I can also pick right back up with my best friends too.

I apologize that this blog post may have been sappy and cliché, but I felt it in my heart to send out messages to the group of friends I’ve made here in London. They’re too awesome to not blog about right now.