Tales of theTerrible Past

It is not the job offiction writers to analyze and interpret history.Yet by writing about the pastin a vivid and compelling manner,storytellers can bring earlier eras to lifeand

force readers toconsider them seriously.Among those taking on the task of recounting historyare some black writers who attempt to examine slavery from different points of

view.

Nobel Prize-winningauthor Toni Morrison deals specifically with the legacy of slavery in her bookBeloved.The main character in this novel,a former slave called Sethe,lives

in Ohio in the years following the CivilWar,but she cannot free herself from her horrific memories.Through a series offlashbacks and bitter reminiscences,the reader learns

how and why Setheescaped from the plantation she had lived on;the fate of her husband,who alsotried.to escape;and finally,what happened to the child called

Beloved.Morrison'sscenes of torture and murder are vivid and strongly convey the desperation ofthe slaves and the cruelty of their owners.

Charles Johnson'sMiddle Passage approaches slavery from a different,yet no less violent,vantagepoint.His main character,Rutherford Calhoun,is a ne'er-do-well free black

American who stowsaway on a slave ship bound for Africa tocollect its"cargo".Put to work after he is discovered,Calhounwitnesses first- hand the appalling conditions in

which the capturedAfricans are transported.When they finally rebel and take over the ship,hefinds himself in the middle-and is forced to come to terms with who he is and

what his values are.

Neither Beloved norMiddle Passage is an easy read,but both exemplify African American writers,attempts to bring significant historical situations alive for a modern

audience.The word appallingin Paragraph 3 means______.

A.terrible

B.surprising

C.guilty

D.unrealistic