The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Essays

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745 31 March 1797),[3] known in his lifetime as Gustavus Vassa (/vs/),[4] was a prominent African in London, a freed slave who supported the British movement to end the slave trade. His autobiography, published in 1789 and attracting wide attention, was considered highly influential in gaining passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which ended the African trade for Britain and its colonies. Since the late 20th century, there has been some debate on his origins, but most of his account has been extensively documented. [5] His last master was Robert King, an American Quaker merchant who allowed Equiano to trade on his own account and purchase his freedom in 1766. Equiano settled in England in 1767 and worked and traveled for another 20 years as a seafarer, merchant, and explorer in the Caribbean, the Arctic, the American colonies, South and Central America, and the United Kingdom. In London, Equiano (identifying as Gustavus Vassa during his lifetime) was part of the Sons of Africa, a black group who opposed the slave trade, and he was active among leaders of the anti-slave trade movement in the 1780s. He published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789), which depicted the horrors of slavery. The first-known slave narrative, it went through nine editions and aided passage of the British Slave Trade Act of 1807, which abolished the African slave trade.[6] Since 1967, his memoir has been regarded as the "true beginning of modern African literature."[7] As a free man, Equiano had a stressful life; he had suffered suicidal thoughts before he became a born again Christian and found peace in his faith. After settling in London, in 1792 Equiano married an English woman named Susannah Cullen and they had two daughters. He died in 1797 in London; his gravesite is unknown. Equiano's death was recognized in Britain as well as by American newspapers.[8] Plaques commemorating his life have been placed at buildings where he lived in London. Since the late 20th century, when his autobiography was published in a new edition, he has been increasingly studied by a range of scholars, including many from Nigeria. Early life and enslavementEdit Show table IJzeren voetring voor gevangenen transparent background.png According to his own account, Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 to the Igbo people in the region now known as Nigeria. His name, Olaudah, means one who has a loud voice and is well spoken, and signifies good fortune. He was the youngest son, with six brothers and sisters. His father was a man of dignity, given the title "Embrench" (modern Igbo: mgburichi), a man whom he remembers bearing scarifications on his forehead, which signified his father's status. Equiano expected to receive such scarification when he came of age among the males of his community. Equiano recollects his mother teaching him self-defence, and he witnessed her taking part in communal wars. His mother particularly impressed on him the religious rites of his community. She often carried him along to an ancestral shrine in the wild where his maternal grandmother was buried; she would give offerings to the shrine and weep by its side. Equiano said his early life was filled with what his people considered good omens or mysterious signs; for instance, he was on a path in his village when he accidentally stood on a large snake but was left unharmed. Equiano recounted an incident when an attempted kidnapping of children was thwarted by adults in his villages. When he was around the age of eleven, he and his sister were left alone to look after their family's compound, as was common when adults went out of the house for work. They were both kidnapped and taken far away from their hometown, separated, and sold to slave traders. After changing hands several times, Equiano met his sister again, but they were separated and he was taken over a large river to the coast, where he was held by European slave traders.[3][9] He was transported with 244 other enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados in the West Indies. He and a few other slaves were sent on to the British colony of Virginia. Literary scholar Vincent

The Analytic Method of Teaching Phonics

The Analytic Method of Teaching Phonics Are you looking for ideas for teaching phonics to your elementary students? The analytic method is a simple approach that has been around for nearly one hundred years. Here is a quick resource for you to learn about the method, and how to teach it. What Is Analytic Phonics? The Analytic Phonics method teaches children the phonic relationships among words. Children are taught to analyze letter-sound relationships and look to decode words based upon spelling and letter patterns and their sounds. For example, if the child knows bat, cat and hat, then the word mat will be easy to read. What Is the Appropriate Age Range? This method is appropriate for first and second graders and struggling readers. How to Teach It First, the students must know all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. The child will need to be able to identify the sounds in the beginning, middle and end of a word. Once the students are able to do that, the teacher then selects a text that has a lot of letter sounds.Next, the teacher presents the words to the students (usually site words are selected to start). For example, the teacher places these words on the board: light, bright, night or green, grass, grow.The teacher then asks the students how these words are alike. The student would respond, They all have ight at the end of the word. or They all have gr at the beginning of the word.Next, the teacher focuses on the sound of the words make by saying, How does the ight sound in these words? or How does the gr sound in these words?The teacher picks a text for the students to read that has the sound they are focusing on. For example, choose a text that has the word family, ight (light, might, fight, right) or choose a text that has the word family, gr (green, grass, grow, gray, great, grape). Finally, the teacher reinforces to the students that they just used a decoding strategy to help them read and understand words based upon the relationships letters have with one another. Tips for Success Use books that have predictable, repetitive sentences.Encourage children to use picture clues for any unknown words.Teach students about word families. (now, how cow) (down, frown, brown)Encourage students to look for consonant clusters at the beginning and ends of words. ( bl,fr,st, nd)When teaching analytic phonics, make sure to emphasize  the importance of each sound.