...he made his first close acquaintance with literacy in the shape of books that apparently 'talked'. I had often seen my master and Dick employed in reading,...very much concerned when I found it remained silent [1967: 40].' For non-literate cultures, in northern Ghana as throughout the world, the magic of the...

...well as I was able to speak and ask about things. However, my little friend Dick used to be my best interpreter; for I could make free with him, and he...seven years of age, and she grew prodigiously fond of me, insomuch that we used to eat together, and had servants to wait on us. I was so much caressed by...

...of wonderments that the young African experiences at the marvels of the West. As Equiano narrates: I had often seen my master and Dick employed in reading;...been very much concerned when I found it remained silent.63 A watch, a portrait, a book that speaks: these are the elements of wonder that the young...

...power. Equiano, who was brought to America and the Western world of letters in the late 1750s, writes: "I had often seen my master and Dick employed in reading;...been very much concerned when I found it remained silent."17 This account can be a useful piece of defamiliarization for us in several ways. First, because...

...had often seen my master.. .employed in reading; and I had a great curiosity to talk to the books.... I have often taken up a book, and have talked to it,...very much concerned when I found it remained silent" (Equiano, 1789, pp. 106-107). According to Paul Edwards, Equiano borrowed the metaphor of the "talking...

...effort to imitate what he understands to be the reading process: "I have often taken up a book, and talked to it, and then put my ears to it, when alone,...and I have been very much concerned when I found it remaining silent." Equiano's "talking book" is not just a "preliterate" construct, but as the savvy...

...had a beginning: for that purpose I have often taken up a book, and have talked to it, and then pat my ears to it, when alone, in hopes it would answer...very much concerned when I found it remained silent. (43-44) This telling is in striking contrast to that of Gronniosaw. It is presented in a very anecdotal...

...seeing his master reading, he "had a great curiosity to talk to the books" as he thought his master did: "For that purpose I have often taken up a book, and...very much concerned when I found it remained silent" (p. 62). Just possibly Brackenridge was inspired by Equiano's comsought refuge from the disorders of...

...and so to learn how all things had a beginning. For that purpose I have often taken up a book, and talked to it, and then put my ears to it, when alone,...and I have been very much concerned when I found it remaining silent. [PROFITS OF SLAVERY] I had the good fortune to please my master in every department...

...did; and so to leam how all things had a beginning. For that purpose I have often taken up a book and talked to it, and then put my ears to it, when alone,...hopes it would answer me; and I have been very much concemed when I found it remaining silent. 42. Jesper Rosenmeier, "'With my Own Eyes': William Bradford's...