A Mixture of Traditions in Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Although considerable effort has been made to classify Harriet Ann Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by herself as another example of the typical slave narrative, these efforts have largely failed. Strict adherence to this belief limits real appreciation of the depth of the text and allows only a partial understanding of the author herself. Jacobs' story is his own, political yes, but also personal. Although he draws on the genre of his people, the slave narrative, to give life and body to his call for the eradication of slavery in America, he also simultaneously weaves through the text a narrative of captivity, a love story and a novel of seduction. .Initially, the blurring of genre boundaries might appear inconsistent, or contrary to the unity of the work. However, further reflection reveals that this "confusing" is actually Incidents' strength. By fashioning her narrative as a novel of seduction, Jacobs ensured that her story would be read by the Northern female readers she sought to support. The idea of ​​a prisoner in a foreign land closely resembled the author's conception of her life in slavery. And finally, the qualities of a love story make Jacobs' tale an unmistakable "good read." As a result, Harriet Ann Jacobs is more than just another voice among the abolitionist beats of the mid-nineteenth century, she's an astute author with a story of her own. To appreciate how Incidents goes beyond the slave narrative genre, one must first understand how perfectly timed it is. Slave fiction, popularized between 1840 and 1865 largely through the creative efforts of Frederick Doug......middle of paper......sors Comments: Katie, this is a job, this is what I want everyone to succeed in generating, this is my hope and my reward. You set out from the beginning with a clear agenda on the four pillars of your argument on gender and Jacobs and have systematically shown how each of them is evoked and confirmed separately, finding some excellent supporting critical opinions along the way. I think your first two sections on seduction and slave narratives are the strongest, as they show a clearer articulation of the forms. If you had more time, I think you would have developed the narrative conventions of captivity more thoroughly. Only the romantic section needs more support, since romantic conventions are more implicit than articulated. Even so, these concerns are small things. Overall, a thoughtful and scholarly work. Thanks for the effort. Do you want to change specialization? Grade: A