Draft
Edward P. Jones writes of Moses in the novel The Known World. Through the characters odd and simplistic actions along with the deep monologuesque trails of thought, a reader is able to interpret Moses’s gentle and thoughtful way of life. As he tends to leave his family and others to seek solace and relief in the natural world.
Edward P. Jones writes of Moses in the novel The Known World. Through the characters odd and simplistic actions along with the deep monologuesque trails of thought, a reader is able to interpret Moses’s gentle and thoughtful way of life. As he tends to leave his family and others to seek solace and relief in the natural world.
Great detail placed into a common thing can give life and meaning to an almost meaningless thing. To some readers dirt may be just a nuisance that dirties one’s carpet, yet Moses studies and worships the dirt of the field he works. Knowing it by testing it for he “ate dirt” not for the sustenance but for the knowledge and for the ties to the earth “Discovering the strengths and weaknesses of the fields.” While studying how the falls and springs affected the soil, “This was July, and July dirt tasted even more like sweetened metal than the dirt of June or May” being able to hold the knowledge and work for the land of his own past owner brings him pride and blissful thoughts of knowledge.
While Moses sends his workers bac, “sent them back with hunger and tiredness to their cabins” being kind to the hard worked individuals and sweet for the children allowing them “to play in the few minutes of sunshine that was left.” His compassion for the people expresses his leadership and love of mankind for he thought of “bondage women” and “slaves” and the sadness of the world and wanted to better it in his own community, “he could see some of the smoke rising from the world… home.” For he valued his family but also needed his solemnly peaceful times.
Connecting himself with nature in the confined chains of human life, he used nature to quell the pains, “blame the chains on evenings such as these alone nights when he lost himself completely fell asleep… covered in dew.” Using nature as his bed with hope and serenity. Finding home life lovely but constricted he often did not return home, “his wife knew enough now to not wait for him to come and eat with them.” He found happy life and community in connection with the nature in his past state of human reality, “He turned his head slightly to the right… was the sound of children playing… he could hear far more clearly the last bird of day as its evening chirped in the small forest far out to his left.” Seeing the forest and it’s natural beauty more clearly than the playing children turning to the beautiful world he rests naturally in “his nakedness” to rest in the forest. “Believing he was alone, he smiled” comforting from the natural world but of the opposite of its inhabitants. Being untainted in the natural world was his living paradise.
While he “ate dirt” to bring himself down to the proper running of the fields, he did it to form his connection to “his small world that meant almost as much as his own life” to burrow and love and devote his life to earth before his own family. Revealing his devotion to the natural world and the simplistic and blissful blessings he receives from it.
Score: 5.5
Story board
Shifts Chart
Three Sentence Thesis
In The Known World, Edward P. Jones expands about the human concept of personal freedom and the irony of human social oppression. As Moses, a slave to man, seeks his socale in the dangers and serenity of nature. With a detailed and personified tether of metaphorical love to the earth and the faux sense of freedom left within its grasp. The author follows Moses along with his deep monologues of intellectual triumph over the land, a mourning tone of the loss of true humanity with the bondage on his life loosed by the sentimental and melancholy call of nature.
Revision
In The Known World, Edward P. Jones expands about the human concept of personal freedom and the irony of human social oppression with development of his main character, Moses. A slave to man, he seeks his solace in the dangers and serenity of nature. With a detailed and personified tether of metaphorical love to the earth and the faux sense of freedom left within its grasp. The author follows Moses along with his deep monologues of intellectual triumph over the land, a mourning tone of the loss of true humanity with the omission point of view on bondage with this Moses’s life is loosed by the sentimental and melancholy call of nature.
With reluctant revelation it is shared with the audience that Moses finds no freedom within the confines of others like himself but finds his freedom within the loneliness of nature. While coldly compassionate he sends his fellow men and women away from work to the home, “he ended the day for the other adults, his own wife among them, and sent them back… to their cabins. The young ones, his son among them, had been sent out of the fields an hour or so before” (ll. 2-6). Expressing this love and care for his people we learn he is not spiteful nor hateful of family but is just not entranced by the companionship of others.
The reader's perspective changes from the past time to the present hour with him standing alone in the field, our omissive third person view watching down on Moses as he had “been working in the fields for all of fifteen hours” (ll. 14-15) with the last “five-inch-long memory of red orange laid out in still waves across the horizon” (ll. 11-13) changing to a “strip of sun [which] fade[d] to dark blue and then nothing” (ll. 22-23). The symbolism of the sky reflecting how Moses is viewed by his fellow slave men and the audience, during the day he is strong, hard working and has a fiery passion for the right of the land, though as we move closer to the dark of night he becomes more secluded, mysterious and secretive, just himself in the cool of night. With fellow man in the broad daylight, alone in the dark of night.
A man in solitude, a man who is oppressed in shackles and held captive by other men. Moses finds clarity and freedom in the intimate surroundings of nature. A relationship with the earth so pure, detached from other humans, Moses gets closer to the earth by eating “ the only thing in his small world that meant almost as much as his own life,” (ll.30-31). The dirt. A tonal shift of spite within the lines 23 through 31 represents the emotional connection Moses has toward the earth. When it is described that pregnant women too eat dirt, Jones shifts to an angry tone, reflecting how Moses feels there is an “incomprehensible need,” (l. 26) for these women to do so. The earth is Moses’ life, those pregnant women do not hold the same appreciation, the same intimacy with the earth that Moses does.
As the sun disappears within the horizon, darkness captures Moses. Yet, unlike the captivity of man, Moses feels comfort in the outside realm. Away from man, consumed by earth and the solitude of darkness. Accompanied by his faithful mule, a symbol for the appreciation of earth and animals more than fellow man. In the blackness of night “Moses smelled the incoming of rain,” (ll. 47-48). A rain also a symbol, a symbol of purity and cleansing. Jones uses such symbols in his writing to elaborate the connections that Moses does have in his life. Not to man. But to the faithful creatures, animals, and nature.
In his mission to seek bliss with his natural surroundings, he reluctantly disregards his family, friends and the creature comforts they provided. This wasn’t unusual behavior for him, however, for he had “turned away, for the third time that week, from the path that led to the narrow lane of the quarters with its people and his own cabin” (ll. 52-54) and that “His wife knew enough now not to wait for him to come and eat with them.” (ll. 55-56) His reluctance is then made obvious as he “turned his head slightly to the right and made out what he thought was the sound of playing children, but when he turned his head back, he could hear far more clearly the last bird of the day as it evening-chirped in the small forest far off from the left.” (ll. 60-64) But despite his doubts about whether or not what he was doing was right, he still treads on towards the forest to find solace in his intimacy with nature.
As Moses immerses himself within the area of woods, he is rained on by an overhead storm. “Well into the forest the rain came in torrents through the trees and their mighty summer leaves, and after a bit Moses and stopped and held out his hands and collected water that he washed over his face. Then he undressed down to his nakedness and lay down.” (ll.77-83). Moses, now in what could be considered his sanctuary, embraces the pouring rain to be present within the moment while he is in the woods. Rather than moving away from the rain, he completely undresses so that he may fully experience the storm within nature. His nakedness- parallel to when “...he finally freed himself of the ancient brittle harness that connected him to the oldest mule his master owned” (ll. 9-10) representing Moses finding freedom, physical freedom from slavery and emotional freedom from his burden of interpersonal relationships. “When he was an old man and rheumatism chained up his body, he would look back and blame the chains on evenings such as these, and on nights when he lost himself completely and fell asleep and didn’t come to until morning, covered with dew.” (ll. 85-90) Moses equally distributes the blame of rheumatism on evenings when he worked in the field, and when he “lost himself completely”. Although he never finds consistent freedom from all of his problems, his rheumatism is undermined by the significance of the emancipation from other people- and himself- when he ventures into his metaphorical haven of the woods.
People operate in different ways, including how they see themselves as oppressed. Despite his serfdom, Moses sees himself in chains by his lack of solitude rather than his actual entanglement in metal shackles. He is content with the life he lives, toiling away, day by day, for no pay. His true north, however, lies in nature, and that’s where he’d rather be, sleeping naked to absorb its essence, enjoying his solitude.
Score: 24/25
Reflection
From moderately organized to a more well organized essay I am proud of the shared results. The chronological order of the essay following along with the passage was a well executed plan. The discussion in class about the shifts and the major importance's about them helped open my eyes to breaking the habit of the five paragraph essay. Expressing that an essay is just a critical line of thought with a logical background and evidence. This skill of noticing shifts will help me expand my essay in length and deepen it in knowledge and understanding.
Though it was odd at first to have a shared essay with my group, the visualization and separate expressions of the piece let of each modify and clarify our own works and ideas. Come round circle to a more self expressive and cohesive piece to which would be better scored and more understood by a grader.
This was a good exercise in expressing new ways to intercept a writing prompt (visualization of storyboards), new ways to think of conflicts within the prompt (abstract and concrete opposites) along with new form of organization (the shifts chart) will help me expand upon my previous essay writing knowledge from AP Language and Composition. Urging me along with my English writing future long term and getting a five on the AP test in short term.
