Phillis Wheatley Essay

Words: 633
Pages: 3

Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753, she was the first published African American female poet. She was born in the west of Africa. Wheatley was sold into slavery at the age of seven and was later transported to North America. Phillis was purchased by the Wheatley family which was of Boston. They whom taught her to read and write and encouraged her to do poetry once they saw the talent she had.
Phillis was married to John Peters during their marriage they had three children. She was purchased by John Wheatley whom considered her as a companion for his wife Susanna and was named after the vessel that carried her to America. Phillis was 19 or 20 when her poems on various subjects, religious and moral was published in London. She became internationally
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First, even though the poem was short it was a very powerful poem about slavery. Throughout the poem she shared the change in her belief system and she also tells in so many words that it was only after coming to America that she realized how Africans are treated while outside their country. I found that Wheatley was stating she had been redeemed and had been enlightened as to God’s redemptive plan. I realized in the poem it is some what structured into two different parts. The first portion I found that it is speaking directly from the speakers personal experience of coming to America as a slave already. The second portion writing is about some people rather than herself. Wheatley used forceful language to give her readers somewhat a moral lesson. After reading Wheatley poems I learned that if they consider yourself good Christian you must remember that Africans can be educated, enlightened, and spiritual as well. After doing research about different rhymes and meters and poems I learned that Wheatley’s poem is written in iambic pentameter. One word that stood out to me in the poem was "Benighted" Benighted literally just means being in a state of darkness or night or even overtaken by darkness or night. I feel like she used this term not only to indicate her color of skin, but to reflect the current slave status of her life. Wheatley title to me symbolizes she was kid napped but during the time of her kid napping