Coatesville
Slavery is a topic that most people are
aware of, but the information about slavery is often hard to consume and relate
to. John Jay Chapman, an American poet, dramatist, critic, and an activist as
an anti- slavery speaks of the cruel event that took place in Coatesville that
allowed me to touch the deeper aspects of slavery. During the essay, he refers
to the shock he felt when he first found out about a man that was burned alive
and tortured but felt a greater shock when he learned that there were hundreds
of witnesses that saw such a devastating, inhumane action and chose to do
nothing about it. Chapman tells us the consequences of being silent. The
silence that was present in Coatesville in 1911 not only failed to save the man
that was struggling out of the pitchforks that faced him but tolerated the
offenders of their unjust actions.
Out
of many purposes and lessons that were evident in Chapman’s essay, one that
stood out to me the most was to never wait for someone to make the changes you
want to see in the world. After the occurrence, those hundreds of witnesses
blamed everyone else in the crowd except for themselves with an excuse that
they were waiting for someone to stop the murderers. Chapman, after discovering
the consequences of silence that effected slavery in great degree, stands for
not only against slavery, but also for people of all ages to be affected by the
lessons that he was able to learn through the event that occurred in
Coatesville. Chapman successfully achieved his purpose by using two different
but effective rhetorical moods. First one is description mood, where he
visually described an event that took place to a deeper level. The second one
is the exposition mood, where he analyzed the given event to a broader degree that
captivated the readers visually and analytically. Overall, the author
accomplished his purpose in describing the severity of silence in slavery and
leaves us with a lesson to take actions for what we believe in.
Silence Exacerbates Problems
Do not avoid problems by being silent,
but voice your thoughts.
Work Cited
"John Jay Chapman | Biography -
American Writer." Encyclopedia
Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2015.
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