Ronald E. McNair Program

Kristie Cole

Name: Kristie K. Cole
Institution: Tougaloo College
Discipline: English
Mentor: Dr. Annette Trefzer
Expected Graduation Date: May 2007
Organizations & Honors:

• Ronald E. McNair Scholar
• O.A.S.I.S (Orientation Assistants
Serving Incoming Students)
• Sigma Tau Delta (English Honor Program)
• Vice-President’s List
• Student Support Services (Special
Assistant to President)
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
• MAEOPP Scholarship recipient
• Student Support Services Scholarship Recipient
• English Club
• Humanities Club

E-MAIL: distinguished68@yahoo.com

COMMENTS
The Ronald E. McNair Program has been a blessing to me. I give special thanks to my mentor Annette Trefzer, Demetria Hereford and Dr. Cole for giving me a slice of their warm embrace.

ABSTRACT

“Rise up ye Women”: Female Representation in Frederick Douglass and
Harriet Jacobs

This study focuses on slave narratives that are written by two distinguished authors: Frederick Douglass, the author of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), and Harriet Jacobs the author of her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861). My research examines how Douglass as a male writer and Jacobs as a female writer treat women in their narratives. This project compares and contrasts the authors’ attitudes towards freedom, sexual exploitation, and seduction. My argument is that Douglass labels women in his narrative as victims and never illustrates how they retaliate whereas Jacobs portrays women as strong defenders of their honor, body, and children.