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I think that word choice has a lot to do with the theme of the story. It can slo help with some points. For example, in "NightJohn" Sarney said a lot of slang and had poor grammar. Which helped enforce the theme of slaves not being able to learn reading or writing. Well not being to do much at all in general. Sarney was curious and wanted to know/learn more. She picked up words from listening to gossip too.
When John talked to her he seemed to have better grammar and knew more words. Since he knew how to read and write. The word choice for him implied he was educated. He explained his story, of escaping to the North. Then, he came back to teach and got caught. It was important that he taught because the words used were very simple, like bag and fib.
In the book there's a lot of dialogue for John that reveals information. For example, "We all have to read and write so we can write about this- what they doing to us." John's dialogue helps improve his morals and character. We know based off of the line that he thinks reading and writing is important. Which adds to his background information of coming back after achieving freedom to teach how to read and write.
"Let her be. She don't know nothing about it. It was all me." This quote was taken from when Sarney's mom was being punished because Waller, the owner, suspected it was her that taught Sarney to write. John said the quote and took the punishment before Sarney's mom got hurt too badly. After 3 nights since the punishment John continued teaching.
"'It's all my doings.' I pulled at the chains but they don't give."This quote is from Sarney when she's crying at her mother's side. Before the punishment. It shows that Sarney cared about her mother. She was also regretting writing the word that got her caught. She was resentful towards herself and Waller.
I commented on Jenna, Gustavo, and Steven's blogs
ReplyDeleteThe quotes you chose could say a lot about the characters in the book and shows what knowledge they have or what they would do in a situation. I thought you did an excellent job when it came to talking about John because you could clearly see his personality. Amazing blog!
ReplyDeleteGreat job. I like how you use direct quotes from the story. This helps make your writing more solid. It also helped me better understand. Great job!
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