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Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl

validity of his writings will almost always be argued with. On the other hand, Harriet Jacobs faces what Rafia Zafar calls a ?double negative of black race and female gender?(). Incidents has not received any sort of awards for literature although the book cover itself states it as ?one of the most important books ever written documenting the traumas and horrors of slavery in the antebellum South?(). Jacobs?s novel has yet to be recognized as a ?justly renowned autobiography?() over 100 years after its conception. Some may argue that Jacobs gains strength in the literary world due to many universities adding it to their reading lists in courses such as Women?s Literature and African American Studies. Zafar also presents a debate to the assumption that this is progress stating that schools are ?merely add[ing] Jacobs, without reimaging the context of that syllabus?(). In other words, the reason people are reading the text has not changed because of its merited value, but because of its identity politics. For example, when a professor chooses a list of potential books for the required reading list of a course, he wants to diversify the list as to include all walks of life. Thus, Eliot?s name appears on most required reading lists in various courses on account of his reputation. On the other hand, a professor might add Harriet Jacobs to the reading list not because of her reputation or widespread merit, but because of her race and gender. Interesting how the determination of required reading relies on merit for some but convenience for others. A large proportion of this inexplicable unfairness leads to questions of merit because Incidents is an account of actions that actually took place. T.S. Eliot never states whether his poetry is based on real-life experience yet rarely an issue. Conversely, debates over Jacobs?s validity as to what actually took place continue to this day. Clearly, even after slavery has been abolished and raci...

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