While navigating through both the website and readings I noticed that each had its benefits and detriments. For example, the website does an excellent job of using visual image association to the text it provides. This significantly helps the reader associate the factual text to an image in which they can remember and hold in their mind. This also allows the reader to understand and appreciate the text as well. The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” really holds true here. One perfect example of this excellent use of words and image is the photo of the cramped quarters of the slave ships. Yes, reading the statistic “Over 40,000 ships brought slaves across the ocean” is difficult to comprehend on its own but the image of the actual ship and the way African Americans were stuffed into the ship without any concern for their well-being really hits home. Imagining 40,000 of these ships magnifies the severity of the slave trade simply by providing one sentence and a picture. I truly feel this helps the information stick and emphasizes what a crucial time in history this was.
Continuing to explore the contents of the website, I found myself more interested then when I was reading the documents assigned to us. For example, the website puts an exciting spin on things that captures the readers attention and maintains it throughout their entire experience. The site also provides different methods including a virtual tour. One instance of this is when the site states, “Almost every runaway ad reads like an adventure novel.” This made me look at the accounts of these brave men and women a completely different way, and definitely for the better. This is especially useful when learning about a topic one has studied previously before. Bringing new ideas and perspectives to the surface truly make learning about the accounts of slaves interesting and novel. This is a important change from the usual textbook readings throughout my academic career.
On the contrary, when reading strictly from the articles and documents I had a more difficult time imagining and painting a mental image of the situation. This made it more difficult to comprehend and appreciate. In terms of stating pure fact, the documents from the readings do an excellent job. However, for a student who believes he learns visually through images and pictures, I felt the readings were a bit tedious to read. For example, I feel that the account of George Moses Horton would have been much more effective and easier to comprehend with images of him selling his love poems and progressing through the ranks of life. I do feel that Horton and Horton do accomplish their goal in educating the masses of an extraordinary journey through a very tough time. I just feel it could be done more effectively.