Voices of the Oppressed & Free Content

“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”

A spiritual

Talks about longing for heaven and death’s release

Uses Biblical references and imagery to symbolize deliverance to freedom

The song expresses deep faith, focusing on the biblical story of the prophet Elijah being carried to heaven in a "chariot of fire”

Uses symbolism such as the Jordan River:

Refers to the Mississippi or Ohio River, which separated enslaved people from freedom, analogous to the biblical Jordan separating the Israelites from the Promised Land

“Go Down, Moses”

A spiritual

Talks about getting freedom from slavery

Uses Biblical references and allusions to convey the message - draws parallels between Moses freeing the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and African Americans earning freedom from slavery in the United States

The song highlights God’s role as a deliverer of the oppressed and the eventual hope for release from slavery and suffering

Frederick Douglass's "My Bondage and My Freedom"

An autobiography that detailed his journey from Maryland enslavement to his rise as a prominent abolitionist, orator, and writer

It explores the deeper psychological, social, and intellectual degradation of slavery - more than his first book

Talks about him learning to read, a lot about his first masters who taught him to read and write

Theme:

Douglass never gives up his dream of being free and learning to read and write - even after his master stopped teaching him, he continued to preserve and continue to learn

Paul Laurence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask"

Although published after slavery was abolished, talks about how African Americans and former enslaved people still are facing the repercussions of slavery

Many people were not able to get jobs

African Americans wear the mask because they do not want to open up about their trauma

Theme: everyone wears a mask, there will never be a world where no one wears a mask

Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"

About Louise Mallard, a woman with heart trouble who learns her husband has died in a train accident - at first she is devastated and sobs

After this, she realizes that her life may not be over and her life is just beginning

They did not have a bad marriage, but she realizes that she feels free to live her life as she wanted it

After she accepts this, her husband walks through the door, as he escaped the train accident safely - Mrs. Mallard dies of heart “joy” when he walks in - dramatic irony: the reader understands she died from the sudden loss of her freedom

*Mrs. Mallard’s sister calls her Louise, which symbolizes her new life because people only ever called her Mrs. Mallard in the other parts of the story

Theme:

Freedom and independence

The complex of identity