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          In the two poems “On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley, and “Bars Fight” by Lucy Terry, both authors act as a griot. Both authors retell their firsthand experiences through tone and diction. Phillis Wheatley’s poem can be misinterpreted by the reader if her experience isn’t properly analyzed. 

          Phillis Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America” discusses her experience being taken from her homeland and brought to America enslaved by the white man. She was introduced and surrounded by Christianity as she speaks of “redemption” and “salvation.” Wheatley says “Mercy brought me from my Pagan land…Christian, Negros, black as Cain” she was raised around this view and convinced she should be thankful for being brought to America. Wheatley uses positive diction as she says “Mercy” brought her from Africa. This obviously shocks the reader, but if you really analyze the Kairos the author employs, you can understand the reason that she is in a way thankful for being kidnapped and brought to America. She is thankful for being literate and for having a Christian upbringing because majority of the enslaved Africans were illiterate, and Christianity was not a common practice in Africa, so she a grateful for her abductors. The poem has a serious tone showing actual gratitude and passion. Wheatley goes on to say that the negro “ may be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train” as she believes that people can be refined to join the white man which she believes is the “angelic team”. Phillis Wheatley is a griot as she uses her personal experience to pass on her ideas, however, her message and story could be interpreted in many different ways and is not so clear.   

          “Bars Fight” by Lucy Terry talks about an attack on two white families by native Americans. This was one of the earliest poems by an African American woman. Terry uses the first four lines to employ Kairos stating, “August ‘twas the twenty-fifth Seventeen hundred forty-six.” So some white settlers came upon native Americans and were killed. Terry uses each line to describe a different attack.. Terry is a griot and a historic witness through her use of first hand story telling. Terry’s use of rhyme couplet really helped the poem flow, giving the poem a nursery rhyme rhythm to it. The tone is almost upbeat despite the gruesome actions she’s describing. The tone of the poem leaves out her emotion or biased as a enslaved black women in 1746.

           Much like “Bars Fight” by Lucy Terry, “On being brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley, uses positive connotation to almost praise the white Americans. Terry uses words such as “valiant men” and “he was so brave and bold.” It is odd for an enslaved black woman in 1746 to describe a white man with such praise. This is because both Terry and Wheatley understood their audience. At the time Wheatley and Terry’s main readers were white men as most African American’s were not literate. This form of diction worked for their audience.

          In conclusion, both Lucy Terry in “Bars Fight” and Phillis Wheatley in “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, act as griots and retell their stories through the use of tone and diction, which helps them reach their target audience. Both of these poems were written by literate African Americans, unlike most enslaved African Americans who were illiterate. This made the audience predominantly white men, thus explaining the praise of white Americans in Terry and Wheatley’s literary work.