Author: Ann Petry
Characters: Harriet, the slaves, the masters, Thomas Garrett, William Still.
Setting: The main ones are the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Ontario, Canada in the 1850s.
Exposition: The masters knew about the existence of a man named Moses who kept running off slaves, but they had never seen him. In December 1851, Harriet Tubman planned to take eleven fugitives to Canada, so she announced her arrival and started their journey as soon as she got there.
Rising action: As days went by, they started feeling very hungry and tired, so Harriet kept telling them about the place where they would stay to keep them going. When they arrived at the farmhouse, the man told them that they couldn’t stay there because it wasn’t safe, so they had to continue walking without getting any rest.
Climax: They stayed the night at a farm that belonged to a German where they got food and sleep. But after that they had to leave and continue their journey, and Harriet kept telling them stories about people who had successfully escaped slavery as well to motivate them.
Falling action: They reached Philadelphia, where William Still supplied Harriet with money and sent her and her fugitives on to New Jersey. And from there they reached all their stops till they finally got to Canada.
Resolution: After arriving in what is now Ontario, Harriet rented a house, found her fugitives jobs, gave them food and prayed for them. She made that city her home and continued to help more slaves for the next six years.
New resolution: After arriving in Canada, Harriet decided to go back to Maryland to see a friend of hers. She travelled in a steamboat, but there was a storm that made the ship move strongly, and all the passengers fell into the water. No one ever heard from them again.
Theme: Freedom.
Voice: Third person omniscient.
Mood: Compassionate, sad, worried, admiring.
Tone: Informal, optimistic.
Conflicts:
Man vs self (Internal) Harriet had to be strong to achieve her goal even though she was exhausted. External:
Man vs society The slavery. The fact that the slaves were escaping from their masters.
Man vs nature It was very cold both during the journey and in Canada.
Man vs man When the man didn’t let them stay at the farmhouse because it wasn’t safe. When one of the runaways wanted to go back so Harriet had to threaten him with a gun.
By Verónica Duque, Step 8 Yellow.
