Product Description

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

With help from CliffsNotes on Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, you explore the first book–length narrative by an ex–slave that reveals the unique brutalities inflicted on enslaved African women in the South.

The chapter summaries and commentaries in this study guide expose you to a harrowing story of degradation and sexual exploitation; the struggle for freedom and self–definition; community and family; and writing as a means of freedom. Other features that help you study include

• An in–depth look at the life of the author, Harriet A. Jacobs
• Character analyses of major players
• A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
• Critical essays
• Glossaries of key words and terms
• A review section that tests your knowledge

Classic literature or modern modern–day treasure — you′ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51267 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

From the Back Cover
39 New and Revised Titles. The Best Just Got Better! Plus Glossary from Webster's new world^™ Dictionary Anthem Atlas Shrugged Beowulf Brave New World The Canterbury Tales The Catcher in the Rye The Contender The Crucible The Fountainhead Frankenstein The Grapes of Wrath Great Expectations The Great Gatsby Hamlet Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer Huckleberry Finn The Iliad Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Inherit the Wind Jane Eyre Julius Caesar The Killer Angels King Lear The Lord of the Flies Macbeth 1984 The Odyssey The Oedipus Trilogy The Once and Future King Othello The Outsiders Pride and Prejudice The Red Badge of Courage Romeo and Juliet The Scarlet Letter A Separate Peace A Tale of Two Cities To Kill a Mockingbird Wuthering Heights See inside for the complete line–up of available CliffsNotes! Check Out the All–New CliffsNotes Guides To AOL^®, iMacs^™, eBay^®, Windows^® 98, Investing, Creating Web Pages, and more! More Than Notes! CliffsComplete^™ CliffsTestPrep^™ CliffsQuickReview^™ CliffsAP^™ Over 300 CliffsNotes Available @ cliffsnotes.com Downloadable 24 hours a day Free daily e–mail newsletters Free tips, tricks, and trivia Free online CliffsNotes catalog Free self–assessment tools Freeware and shareware downloads

About the Author
Durthy A. Washington has published numerous articles, essays, and book reviews. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she currently serves as English Instructor and Writing Center Director at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Customer Reviews

A Lesson From the Heart
It took me a few days to track down this book, but thankfully, Amazom.Com had it, and was able to send it to me within a few days. I picked it up, expecting to be a long, dry read as most of the fiction (not just slave narratives, mind you) has a tendency to take on such characteristics. Just the style of the period, I suppose.

Boy, was I surprised. Harriet Jacobs, writing under a pseudonym, published this book in 1861 after spending many, many years in hiding from her "master," Dr. Charles Flint, a lecherous, sexually-aggressive man determined to break her spirit. Seven years in a cramped, ten-by-seven foot attic crawlspace, however, did little to crush this woman, for she not only managed to escape North Carolina herself, but her children and uncle escaped as well. Her grandmother, freed when she was fifty years old upon the death of her mistress, died during Jacobs' exile in Boston.

What I most enjoyed about this text was its style and frankness with the material. Written as a part slave narrative, part journal, and part epistle to the reader, Incidents tells a remarkable tale of the callousness of white men to slaves, who were deemed subhuman and ignorant. Harriet Jacobs demonstrates an enormous capacity for intelligence through her careful, brutally honest memoirs. Although the names of friends, family, and enemies were changed, perhaps to protect the innocent, perhaps to protect the guilty, there is no doubt in my mind that the horrors Jacobs describes occurred, and while my family arrived in America at the early part of this century, I still experienced a great embarassment and shame. Not because I had anything to do with those horrid crimes. No... I feel shame because I know it still continues today, and it saddens my heart to know it will probably continue tomorrow.

Rest in peace, Harriet Jacobs.

Gripping and realistic
I've read this book a few times over the years. The first being for a college course. It stayed with me then as it did each and every time I've read it. I highly recommend this novel as it is so frighteningly realistic and poignant. I have found myself many times recommending this novel to friends and family. It is rich in culture, history and plot. I highly recommend it.

A personal and intimate view of slavery
In the words of a born slave, who after a decade-long struggle achieves freedom, written to women of her own time, Linda Brent writes of her life in slavery and her long plight towards freedom.

Her experiences rise from the page and are now grounded in my memory. There are experiences of ruthless masters and mistresses, but also of family and friends, deep trust and helpfulness.

The strength of this autobiography is the author's use of her own words, shaped my time, culture, and the wish to protect certain parties.

I learned from this book, which gives a personal and intimate view at slavery and The United States circa 1860. Recommendable.

Louise.