Why are you allowed to tell me what to do? Who put you in charge? How is it fair that I am told what to do with myself, my own body and my own life? Why am I taught only how to do household chores rather than important job skills? Why did I have to learn how to cook and wash clothes and clean the house at such a young age? Why do I have to respect men even though I have no respect for them at all? Even after treating them politely, why are they still allowed to disrespect me? Why do people think they have the right to judge me and call me a ‘slut’ when I have done nothing to harm them or affect their life? How am I expected to love a man when I am allowed to be bullied by him with no way of fighting back?

These unfair, unwritten rules that we are given only weaken us against men. From a young age, being taught that we are put here solely to be slaves to men makes us powerless. Worse than that, it discourages girls from believing, imaging and even thinking that we can be powerful and dominant. We have the power to be so strong, we simply lack the support and encouragement that boys constantly received growing up. It’s a big obstacle that we face as girls but it is important to overcome it.

Catherine drove her car to the train station and realized that the garbage men were driving behind her while, usually, she is stuck behind them waiting. She got on the 8:26 am train going towards Penn Station with her friend Valerie. Valerie was carrying a Kate Spade shopping bag that she had received when she bought a wallet from the outlets over the summer. When the two girls arrived at Penn Station, Catherine noticed that the normal violinist that plays music was replaced with a guitarist. They walked down the street towards the N train which arrived quicker than normal and was unusually empty. Catherine realized they got there faster than usual which might explain the lack of a crowd on the train. After getting off at 23rd street, the girls noticed a dog barking at a squirrel and it reminded Catherine that she has to go to the pet store later that night.

The dominant theme of both “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass and “Discourse on the Logic of Language” by M. NourbeSe Philip deals with the struggles of African Americans and their oppression. Though Frederick Douglass tells his story of the horror of being a slave, Philip speaks on the more general obstacles and oppression faced by African Americans throughout history and today.

NourbeSe Philip uses repetition to convey important ideas and messages in her poem. She explains that she has “no mother tongue”. To compare this to Frederick Douglass’ story, Douglass has no mother. His mother is a slave on a different plantation and can only visit at night when she travels alone through the dark woods. Though she made this valiant and courageous effort to visit her son as much as she could, Frederick Douglass was too young and the contact between the two was too few and far between to recognize her has a mother. He further explains that when his mother died, he was not any more saddened by the news than he would be had a stranger died. In “Discourse on the Logic of Language”, Philip concludes that because she has no “mother tongue”, she is “dumb tongued”. She does not know her origins of where she came from. This is a result of the oppression and white washing faced by African Americans in society. Frederick Douglass relates to this with his lack of knowledge of his own life. He did not know where he came from, who his family was, his birthday or where and when he was born. “What is my mother tongue?” asks Philip. Slaves were not taught to read, speak or write to guarantee that they would not be knowledgeable. It was also a way to dehumanize them. By refusing slaves access to language, they could not question authority and oppression. Whites feared that knowledge would lead to the downfall and enslavement of whites. Along with having a lack of human connection with his mother, Frederick Douglass was unsure of who his father was. Many people told him that his Master was his father which was extremely conflicting. He explained that his Master would be extra hard on him so that he would not get accused of favoring or going easy on his son. This lack of love and human connection from his supposed father made Frederick feel like they were strangers and that his father was foreign. In “Discourse on the Logic of Language”, Philip states, “English is my father tongue, a father tongue is a foreign language, therefore English is a foreign language …” She knows that English is foreign and not her original language – her father language is a stranger.

NourbeSe Philip cleverly turns the word “language” to “anguish” to “foreign anguish” throughout the poem. By transforming this word, Philip connects language to suffering. The loss of her language leads to and is the cause of her suffering or “anguish”. Throughout the novel, Frederick Douglass describes his literal suffering as a slave. He vividly depicts the abuse and horror that he and his fellow slaves faced under the rule of a foreign oppressor – the white male Master.

“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1 King James Version)

• Long Beach is one of the most scenic places that I’m proud to call my home. In this excerpt from Genesis, God created the Seas. Seeing as the beach is one of the most peaceful places, this passage suits as a good description for Long Beach. Reading this quote illustrates the great feeling of standing on the dry sand and looking out onto the immense sea.

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years … And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night … God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness … And the evening and the morning were the fourth day” (Genesis 1 King James Version)

• This passage reminded me of my daily commute on the train to Penn Station. As I am in school for two long days a week, my days start early and end late. Waking up for my 8:00 am train is like getting up with the sun. While leaving school for my 7:00 pm train is like going home as the sun goes down.

“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars” (Song of Myself, 7)

• Madison Square Park is a place I visit every day on my way to and from school. Being there so often allows me to see the diversity of activities and people that also enjoy the park. I interpreted this line from Song of Myself as celebrating a single blade of grass just as you would celebrate the stars. An individual entity is no more or less important than the whole group of entities. To interpret this literally, the grass, trees, sand and rocks that are all individually existing in the park make up a beautiful place for people to exercise, eat, socialize, and walk. These individual activities make up the parks’ society.