- 28 Mar, 2021
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Equiano’s Narrative Strategies
To prepare for your discussion post, please select ONE of the following to compare with Equiano’s Narrative: Behn’s Oroonoko, the short excerpt from Hawkins’ “Account of His third voyage,” OR the short excerpt from Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals.” Then, write a 300-350-word discussion post in which you carefully explain one key example of how Equiano revises or uses ideas found in that comparison text to argue against the institution of slavery. It might be helpful to think about themes such as the comparison of indigenous people to “barbarians” or to Adam and Eve, or European ideas about ideal governance. Another theme that is of obvious importance in Equiano that is downplayed in the other texts is religion, so another approach to this prompt might be to think about how Equiano brings in religion to complicate or contradict some of the implicit claims made by your comparison text. You are welcome to select and highlight any other shared theme that Equiano uses to help make his case against the unjust and morally repugnant institution of slavery.
Make sure to quote at least once from Equiano and at least once from your chosen comparison text in order to illustrate and back up the comparison you are making!
As you read and prepare for this discussion post, I’d like you to focus on the ways Equiano’s Narrative responds to, revises, or makes use of key ideas about cultural “others” in European writings about exploration/foreign encounters or in Aphra Behn’s fictional narrative Oroonoko.
Before you begin, you might want to review your notes on “Contexts: Other Lands, Other Cultures” and Behn’sOroonoko. Then, please read the attached excerpts from Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Oluadah Equiano. (Be aware that this is a little more reading than usual and plan your time accordingly!)