harriet jacobs
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In "Incidents in the life of a slave girl" Harriet Jacobs uses this narrative as a platform, speaking to mainly white women of the north in an effort to get them involved in the abolition movement. Her purpose in writing and publishing her experiences was to also send a message to all people, black and white, free and slave, that slavery was an evil institution and that there were many people suffering and dying because of it. Jacobs uses sentimental language in order to appeal to her main audience by talking about the how hard it was to be a slave as a child and especially as a woman.
One of the first times that Jacobs uses sentiment as a way to draw her reader in is when she peaks of her unfortunate childhood. She lost both her parents at a young age and learned that she was a slave. Her audience is definitely sucked into this child's misery and feels so sorry for her. A sheltered child like her would unquestionably take the death of her sweet mother as a terrible blow, luckily she had her caring grandmother to care for her and this comforts the reader. They are assured that "Linda" will be fine. Then came the death of her mistress. "When I was nearly twelve years old, my kind mistress sickened and died...