Final answer:
Hometown refers to a person's birthplace or where they grew up, but accounts from history, like those of slaves, often show a lack of personal records like birth dates, leading to uncertainties about one's birthday and a sense of lost identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term 'hometown' refers to the place where a person is born or where they have lived during their formative years. Specific information, such as the name of one's hometown, birth date, or details about siblings, is often part of personal histories. In historical contexts, especially related to accounts from slaves like Frederick Douglass, exact birth dates and family records were frequently not kept or provided, leaving individuals without accurate knowledge of their ages or the ability to celebrate a birthday. This was a common strategy to maintain control and minimize personal identity among slaves, as Douglass noted in his narrative expressing his lack of knowledge about his own birthday and its significant emotional impact on him.
When discussing the idea of 'hometown' in literature, it can be connected to feelings of nostalgia or homesickness, as seen in the poem that speaks about someone's yearning for their hometown and the emotional connections that tie them to it.