SHORT RESPONSE ESSAY

CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TWO QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:

Reading material: Saidiya Hartman’s Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route

1. On pg. 213, Hartman quotes Walter Benjamin, who says “There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time document of barbarism.” What does Benjamin mean, and why is Hartman quoting him here? How does the material we have examined in class help to answer this question? You might note that elsewhere, Hartman talks about the intimacy of civilization and barbarity (pg. 55)

OR:2. Hartman concludes that “My future was entangled with it [Africa], just as it was entangled with every other place on the globe where people were struggling to live and hoping to thrive” (pg. 233). What does she mean? How does the material we have examined in class help toexplain why she comes to this conclusion? Also note on pg. 105 where she quotes Kohain, who says “Everywhere in the world African people are in the struggle.”

FORMAT

3-5 pages

1” margins on all sides

Double-spaced, with no extra space between paragraphs

12-point, Times New Roman font

References to material from class should be clear. Use page #’s in parentheses from readings. No works cited is necessary.