Compare Contrast Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano Essay

There are various things that make up a piece of literature. For example: choice of diction, modes of discourse, and figurative language. Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano were great examples of authors that used these elements of literature. There are similarities and differences in A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson and From Africa to America. Though Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano shared similarities in experiences, they had different writing personalities, purposes, attitudes, tones, and relations with their communities. There are four main modes of discourse: expository, narrative, descriptive, and persuasive. In Mary Rowlandson’s A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs.†¦show more content†¦Both narratives are similar in the experiences the two authors possessed. Both Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano were held captive at a time in their lives. White men captured Olaudah Equiano, while Mary Rowlandson had Ind ian captivators. Olaudah’s story tells of the time where he first saw the slave ship he was put on and the journey across great waters to the new world. Rowlandson’s story tells of the apathy of the Indians and her stay with the tribe. It is apparent that the journey across the sea was horrible enough for the ship’s passengers to commit suicide by jumping off of the ship rather than staying on board with the putrid smell of human wastes and lack of ventilation. In a brief paragraph, Equiano wrote of his daily routine before his captivity. He mentioned the relationship he had with his mother, and how he was her favorite child. I became, of course, the greatest favorite with my mother and was always with her. (72) Olaudah and Mary were alike because Olaudah had a great relationship with his mother while Mary was fond of her own child in her narrative. About two hours in the night, my sweet babe like a lamb departed this life; I must and could lie down next to my d ead babe, side by side all the night after. (2) Neither Olaudah Equiano nor Mary Rowlandson ended their stories with the family members they were most fond of. Equiano’s captivity was the reason why he was stripped from his mother while Rowlandson’s baby died during herShow MoreRelatedA Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano1246 Words   |  5 Pagesbeing enslaved by Native Americans and of Africans being enslaved by whites. Two captivity narratives that were widely read during the time are A Narrative of the Capture and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano. They relate the experiences of a married white Puritan woman captured by Native Americans and an African boy captured for the American slave trade at a young age respectively. They were often