Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Sketches of Southern Life

Terry Novak (Johnson and Wales University)

Ed. by Emory Elliott, University of California, Riverside
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1888

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem collection

Resources

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Frances E.W. Harper’s

Sketches of Southern Life

is a short miscellaneous collection of poems and one short story that was first published in 1888. The collection begins with the long, subdivided poem “Aunt Chloe”, which traces the history of Aunt Chloe’s life as an American slave. The reader learns of Aunt Chloe’s children being sold away from her, of Chloe’s experiences with the war and reconstruction, and of the education and reunion efforts that accompanied Reconstruction. Another long poem in the collection, “The Jewish Grandfather’s Story”, revolves around themes of captivity, struggle and faith outside of the African American struggle.

The one story included in this volume, “Shalmanezer, Prince of Cosman”, is a morality tale using simple symbolism and social

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197 words

Citation: Novak, Terry. "Sketches of Southern Life". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10209, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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