Presenter Status
Graduate Student, English Department
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Buller Hall, Room 250
Start Date
24-5-2019 9:40 AM
Presentation Abstract
The intellectual influence given to Phillis Wheatley by her white owners allowed for the young slave to cultivate her craft of poetry, which led to her achievement in becoming the first African woman to publish a book. Wheatley’s accomplishments earned her international popularity and eventual freedom from her life as a slave. However, her emancipation proved detrimental for her career as she lost the support and resources needed to publish another book of poetry. Regardless, the poetry she crafted in her short lifetime, and the boundaries she surpassed as an African slave in the 18thcentury, led to a much larger establishment of accomplishments that paved the way for African American writers for centuries to come.
Biographical Sketch
Alyssa Hunt is a first-year graduate student at La Sierra University, currently pursuing her MA in English (Literature and Composition). Alyssa teaches the first year composition series at the university, and after graduation she hopes to attain a PhD.
The Bondage of Freedom: Phillis Wheatley’s Struggle in Slavery and Emancipation
Buller Hall, Room 250
The intellectual influence given to Phillis Wheatley by her white owners allowed for the young slave to cultivate her craft of poetry, which led to her achievement in becoming the first African woman to publish a book. Wheatley’s accomplishments earned her international popularity and eventual freedom from her life as a slave. However, her emancipation proved detrimental for her career as she lost the support and resources needed to publish another book of poetry. Regardless, the poetry she crafted in her short lifetime, and the boundaries she surpassed as an African slave in the 18thcentury, led to a much larger establishment of accomplishments that paved the way for African American writers for centuries to come.