#4 "The Known World" Essay and Reflection

"He was the only man in the realm, slave or free, who ate dirt.”

 With careful selection of detail, this is one of the many ways Edward P. Jones reveals the character of Moses in his novel, The Known World. Throughout the excerpt, Jones uses elements such as point of view, selection of detail, and imagery to show that Moses is a caring character, deeply attached to the world around him.

The imagery of Moses closing his eyes, bending down, and pinching the soil to eat it as “if it were a spot of cornbread” brings up an interesting visual scenario. It portrays a situation of poverty – as a slave, perhaps Moses cannot afford the basic necessity of food. Poor or not, however, the text goes on to include details about Moses purpose: The dirt helps him know the “strengths and weakness of the field” and ties him to the only thing that means “as much as his own life.” Moses has an attachment to the Earth and an appreciation for all it has to offer, a concept again displayed when he compares the taste of “July dirt” and “the dirt of June or May.”

With more selection of detail, Jones shows that Moses is hard working. Jones purposefully chooses to include how Moses continued to work even after he “sent [the other adults] back with hunger and tiredness.” Jones does not include anything about Moses’ own hunger or tiredness, which reveals a selfless character, a diligent man. Even Moses’ mule wanted “home and rest,” and despite the fact that he had been out on the fields for fifteen hours, he does not once complain in text.

In fact, this lack of personal discourse might come from the text’s third person point of view. Using third person limited, Jones did not want the reader to get too deeply engaged in Moses’ inner dialogue. He wanted the audience to only see Moses in a distant, admirable light, which reinforces Moses’ `positive characterization.

 

Reflection:

Compared to my first prose passage essay, I had a lot more to say in this essay because I was able to address more topics. This prompt made it easier, compared to the first one, because it gave suggestions of things to analyze such as point of view and selection of detail. I was able to take advantage of that and do a better job of answering “how?’ Regarding complexity, however, I felt I was consistent with my previous essay. I was at the surface level, for example when I talked about Moses being a hard worker and “deeply attached to the world around him.” I did not, however, delve deeper into the complexity of him finding freedom in nature, even while being a slave. This lack of complexity would lend itself to a lower score, so I hope to improve in this area.

I believe starting with a quote, even though it’s not always suggested, brings something unique to the essay. Along with that hook, I also had various other examples to support my claims. Despite the fact that I didn’t recognize the complexity and didn’t finish due to time, I did a good job of making this essay well-organized and well-written.

For these reasons, I would give myself a score in the 4-5 range. In terms of writing, I think I have a strong place, but regarding the text, I think I have more to work on in  understanding and recognizing complexity in the text.