1. David Sedaris, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim: His previous book, Me Talk Pretty One Day formed the basis of Sedaris' work. Though he had previous works published prior to Me Talk Pretty… this book signified his introduction into literary fame. His follow-up Dress Your Family… is a continuation of his sarcastic tone about the society and life in which he grew up. It is a heartfelt book that focuses not only on the societal pressures of one being homosexual and trying to hide it, but rather being trapped in a world where walls closed in around him. Sedaris brings about the injustices and cruelty of human nature no matter our race, gender, religion, or background.
2. Sarah Vowell, Take the Cannoli: This humorous book of essays truly identifies one woman's struggle growing up in small town USA to big life USA. Her comparison of life on the farm to life in New York are humorous and goes to show that no matter where we grow up or how we're raised, we end up, ultimately, where we want to be. This is a coming of age story that's not as subtle as some might think.
3. Joan Didion, Political Fictions: This vicious commentary on our political process and politicians is chilling and offers solutions to our problems. But also, the book is a looking glass into our future as a people. Didion's prose in this book is that of a fiction novel, and offers a glimpse into our future, politically. It is controversial and conversational. Political Fictions helps us ask the question, “How far does the rabbit hole go?”
4. Norman Mailer, Countless number of essays: While Mailer was an author of fiction, he made his statements through personal essays. His most famous essay, “The White Negro” Mailer discusses violence and sex in 1960's America. Like so many of his essays, which have been attempted to be anthologized, but to no avail, are, much like Jack Kerouac, counter cultural. Mailer's controversial lifestyle extended itself into his writings about the hatred of government and policy.
5. Tom Wolfe, The Pump House Gang: This book was a critique on society post-WWII. It emphasized the basis of American life in regards to our economy, politics, and society as a whole in regards to economic prosperity. This book caused much controversy due to his offensive language toward policy; however, his approach was heralded as unique and impactful playing off the Beat style of writing.

Muske asks, “The question of self, for a woman poet…is continually vexing…what is a woman’s self?” (Muske 3). Women have historically had their self created for them by the patriarchal society in which they live, which leaves contemporary women wondering how to define a woman’s self at all. Even if they, as women, can create a self, how accurate is it? Muske muses on what is a truth telling self since a woman’s perception of truth is colored always by what the patriarchal society is telling her is truth. Muske says in her poem “A Private Matter”, “…there are the words, dialogue of people you once became or not…”. It is in these words that a woman finds herself, a poem of all the selves in a self, but not without a cost. In “Epith”, Muske muses:

You forget yourself
with each glittering pin,
each chip off the old rock,
each sip of the long toast

to your famous independence,
negotiated at such cost—
and still refusing to fit.

 “The inclination to bear witness seems aligned with the missing self” (Muske 4). Women create the ‘missing’ self by telling their stories, not the stories that have been told to them by a male dominated society, but those stories that define that missing self. In so doing, Muske reiterates the statement James Olney makes when he says, “... even as the autobiographer fixes limits in the past, a new experiment in living, a new experience in consciousness ... and a new projection or metaphor of a new self is under way” (Olney). Muske encourages contemporary women writers to produce a text that is “a model, a shape of poetic discourse based roughly on the act of testimony” (Muske 11). Harjo notes the many selves of a self who are fighting to be heard in her poem, “She Had Some Horses”:

She had horses who screamed out of fear of the silence, who carried knives to protect themselves from ghosts.
She had horses who waited for destruction.
She had horses who waited for resurrection.
She had some horses.

Harjo breaks the silence of the “missing” self by recording each self in this poem. She continues:

She had horses who tried to save her, who climbed in her bed at night and prayed as they raped her.
She had some horses.
She had some horses she loved.
She had some horses she hated.

The missing self is aligned with the self and made whole. . The poem concludes, “They were the same horses”. Harjo integrates through her poem all the selves into a whole.

Inherent in discovering the missing self is the act of testimony. Muske talks of Adrienne Rich and Sylvia Plath as women poets who have changed the face of female poetics with their own truth-telling testimonies. She quotes Rich as saying, “…testimony exists to confront a world beyond the self” (Muske 16). Telling the truth, for a woman, is a breaking of imposed silence. The world beyond the self is constantly reminding women of their ‘place’ and women poets need to move beyond the male gaze, they need to move outside and beyond the silence. Muske admonishes the woman poet to break the silence, to speak the forbidden. Muske notes that even this truth-telling testimony can have its problems. “…there is in the writerly imagination a deep ungovernable impulse to invent, fictionalize, to tell the truth, but (tell it) slant” (Muske 25). There are instances when perception of the truth can color the testimony, however, the larger truth is that each perception can carry the seeds of accuracy. As the self encounters changes, so do the truths of that self. A perception of one event can be perceived quite differently at a later time. In Notes from the Underground, Fydor Dostoyevsky says that “…a true autobiography is almost an impossibility, and that man is bound to lie about himself” (Dostoyevsky).

I considered
how we twisted into ourselves to live.
When the storm stopped, I sat still,
listening.

Here were the words of the Blind Poet--
crumpled like wash for the line, to be
dried, pressed flat. Upstairs, someone called
my name. What sense would it ever

make to them, the unread world, the getters and spenders,
if they could not hear what I heard,
not feel what I felt
nothing ruined poetry, a voice revived it,
extremity.

“If they could not hear what I heard…” is a powerful testament to the interpretation of the self and to the poem itself. For Muske, the power of poetry lies in reviving the truth over and over again. The fact that the reader will ‘hear’ or not ‘hear’ the truth is irrelevant, it is the act of testifying that bears the power of “a new language”.

For Harjo, the act of truth-telling testimony is important for a different reason. “The poet is charged with the role of being the truth teller of the culture, of the times” (Harjo 141). Harjo’s poems tell the truth of the Indian Nations loss and their struggle to regain a sense of identity. For Harjo, truth-telling is a way of remembering and she believes that ‘remembering’ is alive and affects the future. “The sheer weight of memory coupled with imagery constructs poems” (Harjo 55), Harjo says. Her poetry certainly accomplishes this as she ‘remembers’ the lives of her ancestors and those who have fallen in their quest for identity. Harjo says, “…there is something about poetry that demands the truth…” (Harjo 141). Through the poetic discourse of testimony, Harjo presents the truth of her people.

Both poets feel that through this act of testimony, this breaking of silence, that a new language is emerging – a language of truth. Harjo says, “I truly feel there is a new language coming about…” (Harjo 63). By reconnecting with the past and having the courage to ‘speak’ the truth of that past, poets achieve a level of understanding of lost cultures – the culture of silenced women and the culture of silenced Native Americans.

Muske notes in her review of Talking to Strangers by Patricia Dobler that “In most assimilation stories, to succeed at being American is to fail to be one’s true (traditional) self” (Muske 119). This is certainly true of the Native Americans who were forcibly assimilated. Harjo offers her people a new voice to speak with, a voice that is allowed to speak of “one’s true self”.

Joy Harjo deeply feels the presence of those forgotten in her poetry. Harjo feels that it is very important for writers of all genders, races, and nationalities to have an understanding of their cultural and personal histories. “Sometimes I feel like specters of forgotten ones roam the literature of some of these American writers who don’t understand where they come from, who they are, where they are going…” (Harjo 70). Harjo discusses the importance of recording one’s roots and remembering, both of which are central to Native Americans. Harjo believes that memory is alive and affects the future. “I believe myth is an alive, interactive event that is present in the everyday” (Harjo 130).

The act of creating one’s own personal myth is rewarding and not only connects one with their heritage but serves to provide future generations with an accurate description of a life lived within time. “I feel that any writer serves many aspects of culture, including language, but you also serve history, you serve the mythic structure that you’re part of, the people, the earth, and so on—and none of these are separate” (Harjo 111). The recording of a life within history also creates us. It is through the telling of stories that we justify our emotions at any given time. “…the poem of witness must exist—because it is necessary to refresh moral life” (Muske 24). It is through the act of truth-telling testimony that we find our self, that we find our truths.

As I grew older, my love of writing increased. In 1978, my first book was published “Enter Fredrick K Bower”. Ten years later, I was married in Hong Kong to a wonderful woman named Jill Green. She has helped me with many of the books I have written, reading, proofreading, researching, and giving me ideas. My two sons, Nicholas Mark and Cassian, James have also helped me very much with my books. I am also a prolific writer for television. “Foyle's war” and “Midsomer murders” are two shows for television that I have made. My most successful books, the Alex Rider Series, are based on the James Bond books and movies that I have enjoyed.

A very compelling and inspiring read and I highly recommend it.

Mr. Bykovski is a worker from Homer's father's supply office, who supplied Homer and his friends with the materials they needed. Jake gave the boys some knowledge about rockets, along with suggestions about how they could improve. At the same time, they come across many obstacles. First, the townspeople humiliated them for having a dream that would never come true. Homer's father, the principal of the high school, and others opposed them. Though they never gave up. One day, they were accused of setting a forest on fire by a lost rocket. Homer and his friends were very upset after hearing this. Their parents were ashamed of them. For a very long time there was no more advancement on rockets for the boys because Homer was expelled from school and had to work down in the mines to help his family meet ends.

It was about that time that Mr. Bykovski died in a coal shaft at the mine after being ordered down there by Homer's father as punishment for helping Homer building his rockets. Homer felt very guilty, but after giving it a lot of thought, he decided that he did not belong in the mine, leading a futile life. After working diligently, he found out it was not possible for the rocket that the boys had created to have caused the fire in the woods and found the culprit to be a flare instead. For this, they were all relieved of blame. The principal of the school for the first time realized how intelligent Homer truly was and allowed him to reenroll, so that he could represent the school at the national science fair. Since only one person could go, the rocket boys decided Homer would be the best fit for the trip.

Once he was there, someone vandalized the display presenting the rockets Homer and the rocket boys had created, stealing most of the equipment. He had to phone home in order to get his father to end a strike and make new supplies. Their science project won the nationwide science fair, and all the rocket boys were given scholarships to attend college and escape the poor coalmining town like they had all wanted to. They had dreamed big and become successful, after overcoming many obstacles. Homer, after graduating college, became an engineer at NASA.

We enjoyed this book because it relates to the lives of normal people like us. It shows that with hard work and determination, dreams that seem impossible can be reached. The book was very interesting and dramatic, so it was easy to stay amused while reading it. All in all, it was a joy to read. Also, it was based on a true story which was nice as well, knowing that it wasn't just made up, it actually happened. It proves that impossible things can happen not only just for people in books. We would recommend this story to anyone, especially students who have their sight and dreams set high, but can't seem to reach their goals. This book could serve as the necessary inspiration for people to reach out and do amazing things, just like Homer, working hard to leave his sad life in a mining town to becoming an influential NASA rocket engineer.

“No words, no tears, no prayers from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped the longest.”

This line is found on page 11 as he describes one of his master's sick, cruel punishments. When first reading over this line, it sounds just like another ploy at trying to inform the unaware citizens of the time the truth about life on a plantation. If the line is read multiple times, it sounds almost poetic. The words used and how they are arranged gives the line a certain lyrical rhythm. Analyzing this use of poetry closer can give a definite insight to what Douglass was trying to get across to his reader's.

The first three nouns we read all have “no” in front of them, “No words, no tears, no prayers...” This repetition was used by Douglass stresses the fact that the master showed no mercy to anyone for any reason. There was no way to escape the fate of the woman expressed in the line. Just a few words after, we see the word “victim” being used to describe what the woman was to the master. This is an odd word to use in any sense because a human never really has a “victim”. Douglass' use of this word shows how brutal the master's were and how little respect was shown to the slaves.

There were a lot of characters in the novel "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman". The protagonist is Miss Jane Pittman. Jane Pittman is a spirited woman who has always fought for what she wants. She is a physically strong woman that eventually becomes a leader on her plantation because of her strength and character. Another character is Ned Douglass. Ned is Jane's adopted son. In the beginning, Ned is a child that travels with Jane because his mom got killed. Later in the novel, Ned becomes an intelligent young man that desires change in society, however; his push for a change puts him in his own grave. Ned was killed on his way home after picking up some wood for the school. Another character in this novel is Joe Pittman. Joe Pittman was Jane's husband. Joe has a huge desire to break horses.

He is excellent at his work and can almost break any horse, however; Jane kept on having dreams of a black horse killing Joe. When that black horse comes, she tries to stop Joe from breaking it by releasing it. Still, Joe gets killed by the horse when they corner it. Another character is Robert Samson. Robert is the owner of Samson plantation. He is kind of stubborn and self centered. His wife is Miss Amma Dean Samson. Miss Amma Dean doesn't like Robert's son Timmy, however; she loves her other son, Tee Bob. Another character is Albert Cluveau. Albert is somewhat of a hit man. The higher class white people tell him to kill people so that blacks won't think of trying to make a difference. When Albert killed Ned, he believed that Jane put a curse on him.

He beat his innocent daughter and screamed for days until he died. Another character is Tee Bob. Tee Bob is one of the sons' of Robert Samson. Tee Bob did two thinks that Robert thought was dishonorable: he forced his half- brother, Timmy, off the plantation, and he fell in love with Mary Agnes, a teacher that was almost white. Tee Bob killed himself after knowing that Mary would not leave with him. The last character that I'm specifying is Jimmy Aaron. Jimmy was chosen from birth as the “One”. Jimmy read to the people on the plantation and wrote their letters. He was the person who tried to lift the old soul. When he got older he came back saying how he wanted to make a change. He gathered people to go and riot at the capital building in Bayonne. The day of the riot, Jimmy was shot before anyone could get there, however; the people still went.

Crucial Events

Jane Pittman was born into slavery on a plantation in Louisiana. Since she was in slavery, her name was Ticey. One some fleeing confederate soldiers arrive, followed by some union soldiers. While Jane was serving water, one Union soldier named Corporal Brown tells her that she will be free and she can come visit him in Ohio. He tells her to change her name because Ticey was a slave's name. He gave her his daughter name, which was Jane Brown. After the soldiers leave, Jane refuses to go by the name Ticey so her mistress whips her until she bleeds. For this she is sent into the fields. On the day of the Emancipation Proclamation, Jane's master frees all of them. Since Jane was now free she decides to leave that day with a bunch of ex-slaves. The only person that took the lead of this group of leaders was Big Laura. Jane wants to go to Ohio to find Corporal Brown. After the first night, a bunch of slave hunters found and killed everyone except for Jane and Big Laura's son, Ned. Even with this tragedy they continue their journey. After a while of traveling, they catch a ride with a poor white man named Job.

Job lets Jane and Ned sleep at his house for one night and then takes them to a plantation ran by Mr. Bone. Since she was staying at the plantation, Mr. Bone gave Jane a job and paid her six dollars, however; Jane had to give fifty cents back so Ned could go to school. Jane and Ned get a cabin and after one month on the job, Mr. Bone raises her pay to ten dollars because she is doing as much work as the older women. For a couple of year, life was good at Mr. Bone's place, however; things went kind of back to slavery when Colonel Dye took over. After a while, Ned joins a committee that helps blacks leave. Since he joined the committee, the whites were going to kill Ned, so he left. Ned goes to Kansas, gets an education, and eventually joins the U.S. Army to fight in Cuba. Later on, Jane marries Joe Pittman without an official wedding because they thought they didn't need it. Joe wanted to move so he found a place near the Louisiana-Texas border. His job there was breaking horses.

As time goes on at there new place, Jane becomes worried about Joe and his job. She begins having reoccurring dream about being thrown off a horse. As the dream continues, a new black stallion is brought to the ranch. Jane knows this is the one from her dream. Jane tries to stop Joe, however; he says he will be fine. Since she couldn't figure it out, she decides to go to see a fortune teller. The fortune teller says that Joe will die. Later that night Jane releases the horse and Joe gets killed was trying to recapture it. Ned soon moves back to where Jane is, and he brings his wife, Vivian, and three young children. Ned decides he will build a school to educate the young about political views. The local whites fear Ned's teaching will start something, so they hire a Cajun that Jane knows, Albert Cluveau, to shoot Ned. When Ned was on his way home from getting some wood for the school, Cluveau shot him. After Ned's death, Jane tells Cluveau that the chariot of hell will come for him and Cluveau later dies a fearful, painful death.

Jane then goes to live on the Samson plantation. Robert Samson runs the place with his wife, Miss Amma Dean. After the white overseer, Tom Joe, severely beats Timmy, Robert son, in response to Timmy's insults, Robert Samson gives Timmy money and tells him to leave the plantation. Later on, Tee Bob falls in love with the Creole schoolteacher, Mary Agnes LeFarbre, who appears to be white. One night he goes to her house and asks her run away with him. After she rejects him, he runs home and commits suicide. In the final part of the book, Jane talks about a boy named Jimmy Aaron. The people on the plantation believe he is the “One” to save them. Eventually, Jimmy gets involved in the civil rights movement. After a long time away from the plantation, he returns home and plans a movement to try to make equal civil rights. First a young girl is arrested for drinking from a white water fountain. On the day that they were going to march at the courthouse, Jimmy is shot. The people who were planning to march had already gathered when they heard about it. Even though their leader was shot, Jane bravely encourages the people to march and takes the lead.

Things might have been different if one event in the sequence didn't happen. If the Emancipation Proclamation was never written, the whole story would be about a girl in slavery. It would just be pages and pages about her suffering. Also, it might mention about her dieing from trying to escape. Who knows what the entire novel would be like if that one document was never issued.

Emotions

The novel, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman", pulled some distinct emotions from me. One of those emotions was sadness for all the slaves that were hurt by their masters. To read about that made me notice how great my life is. Another emotion that I felt while read the novel was anger. This emotion emerged when the ex-slaves were killed for just being free. I would hate for the world to still be like that because anyone could get killed for standing out. Another emotion that emerged was happiness. This emotion emerged whenever the ex-slaves got a big break. Also, I felt very happy for Jane and Joe when they got married. I bet Jane was happy too. Those are the emotions that I felt while reading "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman".

While reading the novel, I believe my values were affirmed. I know this because the entire story was about getting freedom and fighting for what is right. I believe that if you fight for your rights, things can change for the better. Each time the black society fought for equal rights, they got closer and closer to equality. Since they fought for their rights, this shows you that they are strong and want a world without fighting. The ex-slaves in the novel wanted peace between races so they could live without worrying that they were going to get killed the next day. Even though they knew that might happen, they kept on fighting for equality. Therefore, while reading The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, my values were affirmed.

Setting

The setting played a huge role in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Since it went from the time of slavery to the time of civil rights, the novel gives the reader a full experience of the events that took place in those times. The setting helps the reader understand what was going on in those times and how places look back then. Since the setting was in the south, the reader can tell that it was hot during the summer. Since it was hot during the summer, Jane and Ned couldn't travel very far without getting tired from the heat. They needed water and a lot of breaks to keep themselves going. Also, since the setting was in Louisiana, there must have been a lot of rivers. Without the rivers, Jane couldn't have gotten water. If there wouldn't have been water, there might not even have been a story. That is why the setting played a huge role in the novel, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman".

If the setting was in the northern part of the United States, then the entire story would be different. Since it would have been in the north, Jane might have been freed earlier on into the story. The story might just consist of a black woman looking for a new place to live because she is actually free. Still, later on in the novel, things might change. Just because the story would be in the north doesn't mean things would be perfect for a black person. There would still be civil right problems because of the new presidents. Also, time might be crowded in the north because of all the slaves that moved from the south. That is why the entire novel would change if the setting was in the north.

Purpose

I believe that the author wrote this story to inform the public about the times of slavery, and after slavery, through a woman who lived through it all and then some. This entire novel shows the public how life could be if the laws never changed. If the laws never changed, then we still might have slaves. The black society would probably still be suffering. Who would want a world like that? I doubt anyone would want to have a world like that. The author is telling the reader that a world like it was back then is bad and shouldn't happen again. If it did, there might be chaos and destruction. That is why I think the author wrote this novel to inform the public about the times of slavery, and after slavery, through a woman who lived through it all.

The theme of the novel, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman", is if you fight for what is right, good things will happen. The entire novel shows that the people are fighting for better civil rights. Closer to the end of the novel, the people on Samson plantation take a huge step toward civil rights. They decide to go and protest for better rights in Bayonne. Also, when they were slaves, the north was fighting for their freedom. All of this shows the reader that sometimes fighting for what is right is good. It can help the public if the protest is successful. Also, it can make the world a better place. If there was a change in society for the better, peace might be made. That is why the theme of the novel, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman", is if you fight for what is right, good things will happen.

Conflict

There were a lot of types of conflicts in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. One of the conflicts was man vs. man. The conflict was man vs. man because the white were against the blacks. They wanted the black society to perish. Another conflict was man vs. himself. It was that because everyday the black people had to keep on pushing themselves to live even through the tough time. They had to try to keep on going even when they were on the fine line of death. They had to stay strong even though they were so weak. Finally, there was man vs. society. This was present in this novel because the people that were white wouldn't consider doing anything with the black people. The blacks just wanted to form a union that race didn't matter. They also wanted to be treated like the whites were treated. Since the laws stated that they couldn't be treated the same, they just had to deal with it or act. Those are the conflicts in the novel.

The main conflict of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman was man vs. society. The entire story was about the attempts to try to create a union that race wouldn't matter. Still, the people sometime wouldn't agree with that. Some of the people would go and kill one another to prove that they would go with the idea. The people that were for the idea that race didn't matter got killed if they got caught protesting it. These acts show the people of this generation that those times were cruel for the good man. Also, it shows that society wasn't what it is now, however; there are still some people out in the world that think that joining races is bad. That is why the main conflict of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" is man vs. society.

Significance of Title

The title of this novel, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman", is very significant to the entire story. This novel is about a one-hundred and ten year old woman telling her life's stories. From slavery to civil rights, this entire story revolves around the time Jane Pittman lived. The title just tells the reader that the book is going to be through the eyes of Jane Pittman. It's almost like a sneak peak of the entire novel. Since it has her name in it, the reader knows the novel is about her life. Also, since it has the word autobiography in the title, the reader knows that it was told by Jane. The entire story was her memories of her childhood and on. That is why the title, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman", is significant to the entire story.

If the publisher requested a new title for the novel, I would choose the new title to be "The Autobiography of a Leader". I would choose that title because Jane Pittman was a leader. She was the one who took the lead on the way to Bayonne to protest for better civil rights. Jane was also the leader when she was trying to get to Ohio with Ned. Jane was strong and caring. Those are the factors of a true leader. Also, she would inspire the people on the plantation to take action when there was no hope. Jane would help the weak to move and cheer on the strong. That is what makes Jane a leader. Even though she was one-hundred and ten years old, she kept on moving to get better civil rights. Therefore, if the publisher requested a new title for the novel, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman", I would choose the title to be "The Autobiography of a Leader".

Jane Pittman's Traits

• Dialogs
• Actions
• Descriptions

The dialog in the novel shows that Jane is a strong and caring woman. The actions that Jane does in the novel show that she is courageous and loving. The descriptions that the novel gave about Jane shoes that even though she was old, she still had the strength to protest for her rights

What is it to integrate? It means to come together as a whole.

Times are hard for the non- white and are not going to get easier for a while. Malcolm X who grew up being called “Red” dealt with the business of drugs. He was a peddler.

This business would land him in prison and launch him into new beliefs of the Islamic religion. Before when he worked with a Jew called Hymie he did not necessarily hate the Jews then. He would later learn of a man called Elijah Muhammed, called the Honorable Elijah Muhammed.

This was his mentor and god. The Muslim's resolution with Elijah was clear: break from the white race. Elijah and Malcolm X both looked at the Bible as being confusing and the people as evil and that they came from pigs.

Malcolm's father was killed by clan members. Yet Malcolm learned to move on through his school activities as a child and got a job washing dishes. He moved away from the Christian beliefs of his family and his father's mentor: Garvey.

His hate was Christianity and Jesus. He wondered how they could worship someone who was different or white. He felt the religion of Islam changed his life and he was welcome to any newcomers. New converts had to follow new laws, like not eating pork, and nothing was held more sacred than the great Elijah Muhammed.

Malcolm's trip to Mecca was a trip that made him seek Allah even more.

His craving was to be a minister and he acquired a mosque to convert blacks.

He was against King's teaching and that we needed equality. And that the white was the enemy.

In the end it was said that his own foolish teaching caused his death. Ossie Davis praised him after his death saying: Malcolm was a man!

The fourteen days in the title are described in fourteen chapters through the book. I found this an interesting way to look back on your life - remembering certain key days with absolute clarity and detail because each one of them taught you something important. For Scott Fellows these fourteen days chart his growing up and the important lessons he learnt about life at each stage.

His conversion when he had reached rock bottom is a pivotal section of the book and is followed by days when the recognition of God's activity in his life became a little clearer. Hindsight allows you to see the action of God in your life leading and guiding where in the present moment you are often so full of the living of life that God's influence may not be clear.

Scott often writes with self depreciating humor and sometimes sadness but always in a way that is interesting to a nosey outsider looking into someone else's life, (and if it wasn't for such nosiness why would anyone ever read an autobiography of anyone who wasn't really famous?)

It is not a deep theological tome and does not contain pages of morbid introspection but here is a fairly ordinary Christian person detailing his life and showing in a down to earth and honest way how God can work through the lives of people and give the grace and strength to get through difficult and challenging situations.

Both my wife and I enjoyed reading the book and it is a credit to Bob Davies that his shoestring publishing company truly does what the strap-line on his letter heading promises - "encouraging creative writing - revealing hidden gems".

Both Ben Franklin and Equiano are men who made themselves popular and had their ideas published for the world to see. And more importantly, they are self-made men who looked upon themselves for the achievement of their goals.

Equiano was a slave whose place of birth is still questioned but the fact remains that he made someone of himself even though he was a slave. He was a sailor for years saving money to buy his own freedom, during this time he saw many things that affected him very dearly and made his thinking about freedom nearly vanish at times. Yet, here was a man who had to prove he was a man and not a piece of property to the world so that they could understand him. When he wrote his autobiography it was more than just a story of his life it was also a spiritual autobiography. There are times within it when he speaks of theology and compares Christianity to Judaism and both to his own culture and religion in Africa.

Equiano is someone who even though he was on a ship working as a sailor he took the time to learn the ways of the world and helped make himself stronger. Through his travels he shows that he is a cosmopolitan or citizen of the world thus showing the readers and the outside world that he is not an ignorant savage or a piece of property as the times may have defined him.

In such a person you must feel a sense of respect for how far they managed to make it in the world. As a writer of not only a spiritual but also an anti-slavery oration he uses a sense of inequality in his speech. While he knows and wants people to see him as equal he has to use a sense of humility and perform a character than the public sees him as. These stereotypical viewing of slaves were typical of people who based an entire culture on racism and for someone who was nothing in their eyes to be writing something and have it published is a step Equiano uses to prove his humanity.

In terms of cultural expectations, Equiano has stepped out of his confines into a world where his racial identity makes him a piece of property that may be used and discarded when not needed anymore. Equiano himself shows the reader of how unfair the society in which he is trying to progress is. In one instance he uses the example of a free mulatto who was taken back into slavery because some slavers could not stand the sight to see and free Negro. In such an environment where a free man could not move forward or make a life for themselves unless the color of his skin is the same as a white person, Equiano progressed with strives for his freedom. Yet, there are times when he questions if his freedom would be real or if it would matter after such a scene where a free man is not accepted in the world. A world where freedom is a matter of the public acceptance of a person as a human being first and then given rights somewhere later on the line.

Benjamin Franklin however, was not a colored person, he was Caucasian moving ahead in a society he wanted and one that only had obstacles that were created by others in the social and political arena. While his physical struggles may not be comparable to Equiano, he did have a yearn for learning, reading, and the printing press. These were the tools that he used to further educate himself and create an identity that helped mould a nation and a culture.

Ben Franklin was someone who was enterprising and dared to be different. He sought for ways to have his ideas heard and known even though the first part of his autobiography was never intended for public eyes. In everything he did he sought gain and a way to increase his stature building not only a name but a popular as well as social identity for himself in educated as well as other circles. His ambition seemed to be to make something of himself, a goal that he succeeded in achieving. In the process he became very concerned about his image, and keeping up appearances. One of the appearances he managed to keep is that he is a case of someone who came from rags to riches; he was someone who became a self-made American man. He also managed to give the impression that this is who I am and this is how I did it, you may want to try and do something similar for yourself. Through his enterprises, Franklin does something interesting, he made a combination that many would not have done; he combined his sacred Puritan background with that of his secular one to get himself forward and for the world to know him as a person.

When one speaks of cultural expectations about someone like Ben Franklin, you have to understand that it was the focal point of his life. He was a person who was like a celebrity expected to live up to cultural expectations. This, and a few other things such as his writings were things that were needed of him to progress in his society and not only that, but to help bind this new nation that was just founded. His Friend wrote him letters telling him to tell his story because people of foreign lands see him as a representative of the nation and tries to show that writing his autobiography is an essential quality that would bind the nation together. Also, the people need to be led in their newfound journey away from monarch government and this newfound idea of democracy would be able to spread through the writings informing the people that they would be able to govern themselves.

Ben Franklin places no real emphasis on racial identity and slavery but rather, he was a person who sought more to find a change about thinking and thought. His strides were to show that people can help to build themselves and in the process be a founding part of this new nation under construction. In his ideas about thought he uses the idea of convenience to explain his rationale and how a person thinks. In this newfound idea he expresses that we can use reason to uplift the human race. Even in all of this he maintains that he made mistakes and everyone will do so, and it is the person who can improve him or herself over time.

Yet, many of his ideas were not able to take place were it not possible for the printing press since it was print and the concept of a nation that came into being at the same time. It involved the spread of ideas and the use of the term ‘We the people.’

While both Equiano and Ben Franklin are self made men or men who used their own efforts to push themselves forward they are similar in that they both wanted a political and social change but for different ideas. Equiano was a person who had to move from slave into free man and had to establish and prove his identity as a human being. Franklin on the other hand, was someone who educated himself in a society where he became involved in politics and different ideas that would help change a nation. Both men became celebrities of a sort and the are well respected for their strides they made in becoming a person that people remember to this day. Their complex ideas and work show them as industrious, self made men regardless of cultural, racial and identity boundaries that were against them; they are indeed self-made men.