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The American PapersA Master of Eloquence: How Phillis Wheatley Poetically Advanced the AntislaveryCause by Humanizing African AmericansLillie BosfieldThere is a common phrase known as “actions speak louder than words” and while it can be truein certain circumstances, words can speak just as loudly. Words have the power to reach massaudiences and important figures, especially if they have compelling messages behind them.Phillis Wheatley was an example of an individual who used her literary talent to influence howpeople thought about complex concepts. She was a slave girl who learned how to read andwrite at an early age. Her masters felt that she would grow up to be a genius, especially becausethe idea of a slave being educated was simply unheard of at the time (Raphael, 100). By usingthe medium of poetry and savvy word choices, Phillis Wheatley was able to form a connection between African Americans and the colonists, and make the argument that African slavesdeserved the right to equality.The way Phillis Wheatley wrote her various poems and elegies made her become apopular name among different groups of people, during the American Revolution. Her worktitled, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is an excellent illustration of how sheinfused the concepts of slavery, politics, and religion in her poems. Her ultimate goal was tofight for anti-slavery and anti-racism, but the only way she could properly do so was by writingin a clever way (aimed toward the colonists). She opened the poem by writing, “’Twas mercybrought me from my Pagan land.” This line illustrates that she was taken away from Africa, aland that believed in Paganism, an outsider religion. This opening line put a subtly negativeemphasis on Paganism, since “Pagan” was the only italicized word and “mercy” implies thatbeing taken away was a good thing. If a colonist read that, he would infer that she was thanking them for bringing her to America from Africa, as Paganism was commonly disapproved bycolonists. She proceeds her poem with, “Taught my benighted soul to understand. That there’sa God, that there’s a Saviour too.” These lines show that she is trying to appease her superiorsby implying that they saved her through the conversion of Christianity. She was implying thatslavery was a blessing in disguise. Even if Wheatley personally did not feel this way, seeing aslave woman write about slavery this way made the Colonists hypothetically pat themselves onthe back. By incorporating religion in the beginning of her poem, she began to establish thefoundation of a new potential relationship.Following the introductory lines of the poem, she really began to develop her arguments regarding slavery and race. The last few lines were essential to her argument becauseshe then tried to get the colonists to see things from her perspective, and identify with her andthe slave population. The fifth line, “Some view our sable race with a scornful eye,” was whereshe blatantly addressed the fact that blacks were considered the outsider race compared towhite Americans, and were hardly seen as people. It is possible that she used the phrase “some”instead of “all”, to help the colonists understand that not all people view blacks with contempt;and to also avoid having the reader feel attacked by an overgeneralized statement. Throughout her work, Wheatley was trying to convey the idea that blacks could be as politically andracially aware as whites, and could have the potential to succeed when given the opportunity.The last two lines of her poem were where the argument really reached its high point. It is apparent that she was responding to her earlier statement regarding the opinions of some whiteAmericans when she said, “Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin’d, andjoin th’ angelic train.” Although in the first part she compares blacks to a negative bible figure,Cain, she used these powerful phrases to reiterate the argument that blacks and whites are14Master of Eloquencethe same in the eyes of God. Through Christianity, all people can be saved and go to heavenregardless of skin color, so the two groups should be seen as equals. Although she switched herdiction style toward the end, she still used bible references to prove to the revolutionists thatthey do indeed have commonalities with Africans. From the moment that blacks realized thatthere was a God and savior, their once “diabolic” skin color could no longer be used againstthem.One of the sole reasons why the colonists decided to have the American Revolution in the first place, was because they wanted to gain independence from Britain. One of themain reasons why Phillis Wheatley wrote “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” wasto subtly point out the hypocrisy within the revolutionaries. Although she clearly used religionto form a connection between the two groups, she used the notion of freedom to enhance herargument. The colonists wanted their freedom from Britain, just like blacks wanted freedomfrom slavery. By using this tactic, Africans became humanized. The revolutionaries becameaware of their property’s desires and capabilities, so slavery became harder to justify. A bigunderlying theme within the poem was that, it was hypocritical for the revolutionaries to wantfreedom yet continue to take freedom away from others.Phillis Wheatley grew to be a slave woman with extreme ambition and determination. She was vital during the Revolution because although women during the time did nothave a voice, she still managed to make hers heard. Poetry was an outlet that became largelyaccepted for women to use because of its emotional connotation and its convenience. Wheatley’s poetry went through more of an unconventional and political path. She understood howto subtly mix politics, religion, and anti-slavery, and lobby her work to derive responses frominfluential political figures. Wheatley’s intention was to bring out the voice of blacks andshow that through the help of God, Africans can finally be seen as equals (Raphael, 98).1 Thetime of the American Revolution was a time for change and reconstruction. Wheatley tookadvantage of that. It was time for a fresh start, and like many others, Phillis Wheatley wishedfor racism to be a thing of the past and for Americans to be united in equality.References1 Ray Raphael, Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Makingof the Nation (New York, NY: Random House Inc., 2012), 98-10015

The American PapersImmigrant Cinema: How Immigrants inFilm Struggle for the American DreamEvan DangFilm has the power to not only express an artist’s views and intentions about theAmerican Dream as they see it, but also to capture how the American Dream changes fromgeneration to generation. This applies to immigrants of all nationalities especially. The American Dream on film has evolved from Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant (1917), John Crowley’sBrooklyn (2015), and Gregory Nava’s El Norte (1983). Each of these films portray immigrantsstruggling to attain the American Dream through a series of obstacles and challengers thatevolve over time as American society changes throughout history; The Immigrant shows thefinancial difficulties in coming to America at a time when most Americans looked down uponimmigrants, Brooklyn finds drama in the emotional difficulties in assimilating to a distinctlynew culture, and El Norte chronicles how much effort it takes to get the American Dreamwhen laws and society are against immigrants succeeding.The Immigrant first follows Chaplin’s famous character, the Tramp, on an Atlanticsteamer heading for Ellis Island. The Tramp spends his time playing around with the other(presumably European) immigrants on the boat, such as playing poker and getting into fightswith pickpockets. Dedicating such a significant part of the film on the boat shows whatpoor conditions these immigrants had to put up with just to make it to U.S. soil; a scene thathighlights this is the mess hall scene where the boat constantly rocks back and forth to thepoint where everyone is getting seasick and no one can eat the paltry bowls of soup that aresliding around from passenger to passenger. Amidst the chaos is a lady immigrant and hersick mother. When a pickpocket on the ship steals what little money they brought with them,the Tramp is willing to try and sneak some money (his winnings from a poker game he wonearlier) back into her pockets as a way of consoling her without making her feel indebted tohim. What makes this moment representative of the American Dream in the middle of WorldWar I (the film was released shortly after American entry into the war) is how the Dreamstill involves showing the moral traits of “a city on a hill”. Like the truckers at the diner in TheGrapes of Wrath who gave extra change to the waitress for giving away penny candies to theJoad children, the Tramp providing this act of charity helps show why these immigrants areworth accepting as Americans. As immigrants coming together to make a new life in a newcountry, they have a moral responsibility to make sure their neighbors are given the same kindof care and support they would want. While the Tramp is initially presumed to be stealing herby the boat guards, the lady soon corrects the misunderstanding and he is let go. Showing thispresumption of the Tramp being guilty allows for Chaplin to illustrate the stigma Europeanimmigrants had to overcome to be deemed worthy of the American Dream: this wouldn’t bethe last time the Tramp would have to deal with unwarranted prejudice in his time in America.The second half of The Immigrant sees the Tramp struggling to make enough moneyto pay for a decent meal. When he stumbles on a shiny coin on the sidewalk, the first thing hedoes is go into the fancy restaurant nearby and order a hot plate of beans. The waiter, characterized with his obtuse figure and demeaning eyebrows, is immediately suspicious of theTramp based on the tattered clothes he’s wearing. This is in contrast with the patron Chaplinsits next to who closely resembles him, right down to the haircut and mustache. The pompousness the waiter and the patron show how unwelcoming Americans were towards immigrantsat this point in history: the patron leaves the restaurant in disgust when seeing how messy the16Immigrant CinemaTramp is at eating while the waiter shows clear doubt in the Tramp’s ability to pay for his meal,when he invites the lady from the boat to join him (learning that her mother had passed soonafter they parted ways). This recalls a quote from Jim Cullen’s “The American Dream” that critiques “the meaning of liberty, by contrast, sometimes seems all too clear: a celebration of theright to buy-if you’ve got the cash or credit.” The Tramp’s concerns are only exacerbated whenhe sees another patron get thrown out violently for not being able to pay for his meal. Simplybecause neither the Tramp or the lady are dressed properly (the Tramp’s signature outfit ofa tight suit, baggy pants, bowler hat, and cane seem like a satire of what is considered highclass), they are denied basic

Welcome to the 2017-2018 American Papers! First and foremost, the American Papers is a testament to the many faculty men-tors that have spent countless hours of their time to assist students at California State University, Full