Sydney's Blog

In the first four books, we are also introduced to Telemachus’ mother and Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. Using textual evidence, discuss her roles in the story so far.     Penelope being the wife of Odysseus and the mother of Telemachus, she already plays a big part in the story. Medon, her herald, tells her that the suitors are planning to kill Telemachus on his secret voyage. “When Medon said these things, Penelope felt that her heart had been unstrung. Her eyes filled with tears, and she was unable to speak for a long time.” (Homer, 65). This was the first she was hearing that Telemachus had left on a voyage to find his father who everyone thought was dead. She was heartbroken by the fact that Telemachus had snuck off, but also by the fact that the suitors were going to try and kill him just to get the riches and treasures of Odysseus, including his wife.     “And Penelope spoke to them through her tears: ‘Hear me, my friends, for the god on Olympus has given me pain...

Frederick Douglass was constantly abused growing up. Almost every master he had was not very nice. They have whipped him, he talks alot about them whipping other slaves right in front of him. He was not treated fairly at all. The majority of his masters were rude, unkind, uncaring, and just not very nice people. For example, Colonel Lloyd put tar on his fences just so slaves wouldn’t take food to keep them from starving. If they were caught, they were whipped. Some of the masters just went into the fields and started whipping people. Slaves would have gashes on their backs all the time. Frederick Douglass was strong and brave through all of this. He talked about how he sang with other slaves to help him cope, and he was brave enough to face his past again to write his autobiography so that other people knew what he went through.