http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bury-me-in-a-free-land/ poem "Bury me a Free Land" http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/francesharper.html - Biography http://www.afropoets.net/francesharper1.html - poem "Gods Little Children" My poet was Frances E.W. Harper, she was an African- American writer, lecturer, and political activist her beliefs included abolition, women’s rights, and temperance. She was remembered mostly for her poetry and fiction. Her poems basically talked about how people should feel good about themselves, how slaves should free themselves from the bad state that they are in, racism, and the oppression of women. She also used to help slaves escape along the Underground Railroad. Harper started to focus her poems to women’s right after she realized that slavery was something of the past and should stay the past. She tried to focus more on the women and even men from her own time. A Quote from one of her speeches “Our greatest need is not gold or silver, talent or genius, but true men and true women” I thought this quote was very interesting it is saying be yourself and don’t try to be something you’re not stay true to who you are, don’t betray yourself. In 1873, she became superintendent of the Colored Section of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Women’s Christian Temperance Union. In 1894 she helped start the National Association of Colored Women. She was vice president from 1895-1911, which was the year she past away. Lynching, was something she lectured against, and was a member of the Universal Peace Union. She spent most her time helping churches in north Philadelphia where she grew up it was a black community. She fed the poor, prevented violence in young teens, and also taught Sunday school at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal church. Nine years after her death women were given the right to vote. Her grave fell over and was covered in grass. “I ask no monument, proud and high, to arrest the gaze of passers-by; All that my yearning spirit craves, is bury me not in a land of slaves.” This quote is from “Bury Me In A Free Land” she wanted to be remembered as a woman who believed in freedom. Another Quote stated by W.E.B Du Bois was "She was not a great singer, but she had some sense of song; she was not a great writer, but she wrote much worth reading." Her writings were very true and many people wanted to read them because of the sincerity she tried to convey. The poem “Bury Me In A Free Land” used a lot of rhetorical aspects. Alliteration was used in some stanzas. End rhyme was in every sentence; to me that made the poem keep my attention I love rhyming! Figurative language was used to describe a main detail in certain sentences. Imagery was used throughout the whole poem also. The poem was a picture for me, I felt like I understood her exact words of what slaves went through and how she didn’t want her life to be part of that dead or alive. Harper’s poems show a lot of imagery. I also read “Gods Little Children” which was a really fascinating poem. In both poems Harper worships or focuses on reality in “bury me in a free land” Harper worships freedom and in “Gods little children” she worships children and how they are the joy to peoples lives. The two poems I read give a message to the reader. Her poems are fictional that’s what makes them so interesting I think. That’s what made me so interested in it. The majority of Harpers poems talk about slavery, racism, or an issue that occurred during her lifetime. This makes her poems distinctly American because America is a mix of all different races and she not only talks about just black people, she talks about women’s rights and other issues like that. What makes them American is that in all her poems she states the traditions and cultures of things that she been through in her life.