Homework 11

Read the following passages:

Passage 1

The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential (i.e. awful). The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced  copious (i.e. a lot of) perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration (= breathing), from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves. . . . —First-person account of conditions on a slave ship during the Middle Passage, from Olaudah Equiano, The Life of Gustavus Vassa

Passage 2

The pungent aroma of backed-up toilets, unwashed bodies, decaying food, mold and who knows what else. Sweltering heat. An awful din. Rumors of unspeakable crimes. . . . “I can’t stand to even look at pictures of that time,” said Terrie Green, 41, who went to the Superdome with her three children and infant granddaughter on Tuesday, August 30, after being rescued from their flooded Ninth Ward home. "By the time we got out of there we were all sick. Sick from the heat, sick from that stink that was there. Just worn out.” Because of the heat—outside temperatures soared into the high 90s, and it reached an estimated 125 degrees inside the Superdome—the family, including little Alea, only 2 days old when the storm hit, moved to the concourse that runs around the exterior. The heat took a toll on the baby, who developed a rash and became dehydrated. After they evacuated to Houston, the infant was hospitalized for a week. “She’s still kind of sickly,” said Green, who remains in Houston looking for work. “There was the fear, the heat, the misery, but most of all—the smell,” —Description of conditions in the New Orleans, Superdome during Hurricane Katrina, from Mary Foster,  Associated Press, August 27, 2006

Tasks: 1) Look up all the words you don't know. If you do not know what the Middle Passage was, google that, too. 2) Answer in writing in your notebook: What situation does each passage describe? What similarities can you identify between the two descriptions? Do you think this is a valid comparison?