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18th & 19th Century African American Literature Oluwakemi Akinbileje Elizabeth McHenry Writing Assignment Number 1 Whos Real? Imagine writing something about yourself for a magazine, and seeing it presented in a completely different way than you expected it to. Taking away someones true authentic voice by stripping away or changing or taking away words on a page is a manipulative way to construe an audiences perspective. What kind of advantages could publishers have in being able to alter the tone or message of works from 18th and 19th Century African American literature? Can we truly say that its fully the authors work if the publisher came behind them and made minor editions that involved entire meanings and understandings being altered? Even just the simple development of grammatical structure can change the entire meaning of a sentence such as, Go eat grandma. or Go eat, grandma. The placement of a comma makes such a huge difference in what we interpret two sentence with the same words to mean. Similarly, even minor grammatical additions, deletions and alterations can carry a huge impact in the way that a sentence is received in any kind of literature. It is entirely possible that through the publishing process, African American literature from the 18th and 19th Century was construed to the liking of the white publishers. The irony, however, lies within the fact that the white publishers are trying to vouch for the authenticity of the abilities of African Americans, while very likely at the same time, deling the authenticity of their published work by altering the story or vibe of the writing. However, just grammatical changes

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arent the only things that could raise a different understanding of the work in the reader. Facts, minor details, sentences or whole entire sections of the original authors work may have been deleted all together, not just reworded or rephrased. Certain descriptions of scenes could be omitted in order to focus on the more religious aspect of an African Americans struggle. A common use of these African American narratives was to encourage and calm the white slave owners that their property was safe, and there was no air of rebellion brewing among their servants--namely those who could read.

The ability to claim untraceable changes to an African Americans work can change their voice all together, and in essence, remove the parts of the past.

The views being expressed in these various works of literature could affect a publishers reputation or in some cases even their lives.

Being able to control what is expressed in a work of literature exhibits dominance and control over an African Americans will to say what he wants to say. There is an air of censorship that is in play.