Discussion 2: Representations of Slavery

• By creating awareness of oppression and arousing sympathy of supporters, the arts can be a form of protest. Identify and describe an example of how either black slaves or white abolitionists used the arts as a form of protest against slavery.

• Explain whether you think an autobiographical or fictional account by a slave (such as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano) is more persuasive than a biographical or fictional account by a white author (such as John Gabriel Stedman or Aphra Behn).

• Explain whether you think the representations of slavery in the visual arts (such as William Blake's illustrations, William Hackwood's cameo, or John Singleton Copley's painting) were more compelling and convincing of the injustices of slavery than literary representations.