c. 1725 / Atlantic Ocean

Talking Book

Tags:: books,; education,; oceans,; speech

My master used to read prayers in public to the ship’s crew every Sabbath day, and when I first saw him read, I was never so surprised in my life as when I saw the book talk to my master, for I thought it did, as I observed him to look upon it and move his lips. I wished it would do so with me. As soon as my master had done reading, I followed him to the place where he put the book, being mightily delighted with it, and when nobody saw me, I opened it and put my ear down close upon it, in great hopes that it would say something to me; but I was very sorry and greatly disappointed when I found that it would not speak. This thought immediately presented itself to me, that everybody and everything despised me because I was black.

Single page /
Email

First Name Please enter a first name.

Last Name Please enter a last name.

Address Please enter an address.

Apt./Suite

City Please enter a city.

State Please select a state.

Postal/ZIP Code Please enter a valid
zip code.

Email Address Please enter a valid email address.

Country Please select a country.

Canadian subscribers add $10; All other international subscribers add $40.

More Voices in Time

Post a Comment

Name
Email
Remember personal info?

Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)
Verification

Note: Several minutes will pass while the system is processing and posting your comment. Do not resubmit during this time or your comment will post multiple times.

Published In

Means of Communication

About the Author

James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, from his autobiography. Born around 1710 in modern-day Nigeria, Gronniosaw was brought as a slave from Africa to Barbados to New York City, where he was bought by a minister who taught him Christianity and how to read Dutch. After being freed upon his master’s death around 1747, immigrating to England in 1762, and marrying a widowed weaver, he dictated his life’s story to “a young lady.” It was printed in 1772, the first slave narrative published in English.

Making a film means, first of all, to tell a story. That story can be an improbable one, but it should never be banal. It must be dramatic and human. What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out?