William Apess
Notes:
Native American autobiography, like most "ethnic autobiography," is at once
a chronicle of the individual life, and
the story of the community to which the individual belongs.
Arnold Krupat has argued compellingly that Native American autobiography is a "bicultural composition" -- the narrative is best approached as one that speaks with the voices of two radically different cultures:
While European American influences are present in the narrative use of established literary conventions and Christian references,
Native American oral storytelling relies on cadence, repetition, and powerful imagery to convey its emotional appeal.
To see the "dual identity," study the engraved image of William Apess from the frontispiece of A Son of the Forest (1831) on page 639.
This portrait shows a beardless, brown-skinned man with decidedly Native American features wearing European American garb, including a plain neck cloth and fitted coat -- that calls to mind other portraits such as those of Benjamin Franklin in Quaker dress (pp. 334, 372).
The subject appears to be ensconced in a rather formal armchair, as shown by the rolled arm at the left side of the image.
The importance of rhetorical strategy, including questions of
narrative credibility,
emotional and persuasive appeals, and
the use of faith-based arguments,
is central to the text.
Notice especially:
storytelling (or speech-making) techniques
the importance of repetition and sound in spoken texts
Irony? -- Apess is in the difficult position of arguing his personal case to the same audience (white Christians) that devalues him and native peoples, no matter their religion, and from whom he has received little monetary compensation for his work.
Discussion Questions:
1.) How does this text connect to other Native American texts, such as Samson Occom's?
2.) How does this text connect to the slavery narratives, such as Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs?
3.) How are Emerson's ideas about self-reliance and the transcendental ideal of the divinity of humans a "crucial backdrop" for Apess' text?
4.) According to Apess, what is the relationship -- or even the responsibility -- of the individual to the community? Give examples from the selection to support your opinion.
5.) How does "non-conformity resonate differently" for normative Americans, such as Franklin, Emerson, and Thoreau, than it does for those such as Apess, "who wear the signs of gendered or racialized ' other' on their bodies"?
6.) Using the image of Apess that appeared on the frontispiece of A Son of the Forest (p. 639), identify markers of European and Native American identities. Explain how two or more of these visual markers are present in written form in the body of the text. For example, what aspects of Apess's writing draw on European American conventions? Native American conventions?
7.) Apess consistently refers to "you" and "I" in the text. Who exactly are these identities as Apess defines them? What does the argument gain through use of these seemingly divisive pronouns?
8.) Consider the ways that Apess uses Christian beliefs in his narrative. How would his decisions about the inclusion of scripture, admonition, and assumptions about shared Christian beliefs have affected nineteenth-century readers?
9.) Arnold Krupat argues that Native American autobiography is a "bicultural composition that narrates the coming together of two radically different cultures." Identify passages in the text that uphold, complicate, or negate Krupat's statement.