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NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS STUDY GUIDE

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This book is a little different in that it is an autobiography.  A whole different set of rules goes into place when autobiography is involved.  Autobiographies often hinge on authenticity, so much of the analysis focuses on accuracy and trustworthiness.  You want to see if what’s in the autobiography lines up with what is known about the history.  That’s quite important.

Otherwise, treat an autobiography exactly like you would any other history book.  Apply the same types of higher-order thinking and conduct a normal book review.

 

To use this study guide, learn all the names/subjects listed.  For the higher-learning questions, consider them.  You don’t need to write out an answer for each one.  Give each question a consideration.

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You should be familiar with the following:

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The basic information:

  • The introduction is rather important.  Have a look at what it ways about how Douglass came to write his book, when our nation first took an interest in the book

  • The introduction mentions the plantation legend in American history.  What was that?

  • What type of book is this?  That's important as well. 

  • Be familiar with the terms slave narrative and jeremiad

  • The introduction will also discuss how Douglass came to write his book.  How long it took, why did wrote it, the activities he was involved with before he wrote the book.  It looks at William Lloyd Garrison and his relationship to Douglass.

  • The introduction mentions Douglass' anti slavery speeches tand the book includes some of his speeches.  Take a look at them. 

  • The time period covered in this book

  • The chronology provided in the Narrative.In the chronology, don’t memorize everything, but be aware of what happened to family members (some were sold away and eventually reunited), Douglass’ two owners, some of his activities after the Civil War, his death.

  • Douglass' age when he wrote the narrative and when he escaped. 

  • The issue of age in slavery in general.

  • The locations in which the autobiography takes place

  • The basic story unfolded in the Narrative

  • All significant dates – when the Narrative was written and published, when Douglass escaped from slavery, when he escaped, when he died.

  • The introduction – don’t go crazy with this lengthy introduction, but it has interesting details about Douglass’ life – where he was born, his full name, how he learned to read, his wife, how he became an orator and a writer.The introduction is also useful for putting the slave narrative in context.

 

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The major/significant players in the book:

  • Frederick Douglass

  • Harriet Bailey

  • Douglass' father - Issac Bailey and what Douglass believed about his father.

  • Mr. Covey 

  • Captain Aaron Anthony
    Demby's story 
    Harriet Bailey
    Douglass’ grandmother
    Mr. Freeland 

  • Mr. Gore

  • Mrs. Hicks and what she did
    Mr. Severe 
    Slave childhood 
    Colonel Lloyd

  • Thomas Auld and Thomas Auld and their relationship to Captain Anthony and each other.  

  • Great House Farm and Colonel Lloyd's wealth in general
    Sophia Auld

  • Douglass’ Owners

  • The various men Douglass served in slavery.  Remember, all men he served were called masters.  His owners was his master as well.

  • Anna Douglass

  • The Columbian Orator and its importance to Douglass.

  • Henny's story 
    Mr. Ruggles

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Slavery. 

​This is a huge subject, so you need to know the following:

  • Slavery’s effects on families – Douglass’ family in particular.The chronology is useful here.

  • The jobs performed by slaves

  • The living conditions in slavery

  • Slavery’s effects on masters

  • Singing in slavery – what it meant

  • Slavery’s effects on the psychology of those who were enslaved

  • Slave breeding

  • Douglass’ opinions about religion in slavery

  • Holidays on slave plantations

  • Holidays in general - what slaves could do on the Christmas break, what they liked to do on their time off.

  • The violence in slavery – the punishments involved and the reasons slaves were punished. (Don’t forget what Douglass says in “My Slave Experience in Maryland.)

  • Murders of slaves.

  • Overseers and their function

  • Douglass’ feelings about being enslaved - the anguish he felt and when he first began to feel

  • The food and clothing of those who were enslaved

  • Childhood in slavery

  • The relationship between slaves and masters

 

HIGHER-LEARNING QUESTIONS:

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UNDERSTANDING:

  • Compare and contrast Douglass’ experiences with Mr. Freeland and Mr. Covey.

  • Describe how Douglass came to live with the Auld family in Baltimore.

  • Summarize Mr. Auld’s argument against teaching Douglass how to read and write.Then explain how Douglass learned to read anyway.

  • What is a Jeremiad?

  • Describe how Douglass escaped from slavery.

  • Explain Douglass’ take on the role of religion in slavery.

 

APPLICATION - Apply content to answer questions or to understand similar situations.

  • How did the Narrative come to be written?

  • When Douglass said he had been reduced to a “brute” in slavery, what did he mean had happened to him?

  • What is the primary argument expressed in the narrative?

    • When did Douglass decide he had to escape from slavery? Why?

    • Why was Douglass sent to Mr. Covey? What was the purpose of sending him to this man? 

    • What kind of a master was Colonel Lloyd?

  • When did Douglass first discover what it meant to be a slave?

    • What things about the North surprised Douglass?

    • What dangers did Douglass face after escaping to the North?Was he truly free from slavery’s grasp or free from racism?

 

ANALYSIS - Start making arguments about the information.

  • Antislavery advocates said that slavery corrupted and destroyed everyone it touched.Do you agree or disagree with this, based on the information in the Narrative?

  • What does the Narrative indicate about what happened to enslaved women?

  • This book is intended to reveal the horrific nature of American slavery.Are there any incidents in the book that stand out as particularly terrible?What are they?Why are they so awful?

  • Why wasn’t there organized rebellion among slaves?What aspects of slavery kept them from unifying?

  • In “My Slave Experiences in Maryland,” does Douglass seem as angry at northerners as he is at southerners?Why and for what reasons?Do you think he feels the North is at fault for slavery?

  • What is the most dramatic or moving moment in the Narrative?

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EVALUATE - Use the information in this book to evaluate someone else’s argument.

  • After the Narrative was published, some people said there was no way Douglass could have been a slave.Evaluate this argument.Why would people believe Douglass had not experienced slavery?And what part of the assigned readings backs up the story that Douglass told?

  • Analyze the effects of being enslaved.

  • Do you agree or disagree with the Introduction’s argument that the Narrative is a jeremiad?

  • After reading the Narrative, what do you think it would take to end slavery?

  • Why was it that slave narratives were initially considered unfit for scholarship?Make an argument about the strength and weaknesses of a slave narrative like Douglass’ in historical scholarship/research.


CREATE:

  • Write an antislavery speech.

  • Compare your childhood to Douglass.’

  • Write your own autobiography and see in what ways Douglass’ life differed from your own.

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BOOK REVIEW:

Autobiographies can be reviewed just like everything else.  It’s just that the evaluation is a little different.  Autobiographical reviews often hinge on CREDIBILITY.  So you ask questions like this:

·        Does the author remember things correctly?   (Are dates accurate?  People?)

·        How much time passed between the experience and the autobiography?

·        Is he/she fabricating?  (Like, what if conversations that took place 50 years ago are recalled perfectly.  What does that suggest?)

·        Are the recollections within norms?  (Look out for the bombshell in an autobiography.  If an author is saying things that completely break with known information, don’t accept what you read until you get another source to back it up.)

·        Are there impossible things recollected?  (Like maybe the author says he was present at every battle of the American Revolution.  That’s not possible.) 

·        Does the author’s recollection match what is largely known and accepted about the time?

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REVIEW CHECKLIST:

Author: Scholar?   Y   N

Author:  If a scholar, do you know his/her experience and affiliations?  Y  N

Author:  Some experience writing?   Y  N

Author:  Explains reason for writing?   Y   N

Autobiography:  Author credible?      Y       N

Autobiography:  Author explains if book was written on the spot or dictated years later?       Y      N

 

 

Book:  Understand argument?   Y  N

Book:  Argument easy to figure out?   Y    N

Book:  Writing easy to follow?    Y      N

Book:  Can you explain why the writing was easy or difficult to follow?  Y  N

(Cite one example.)

Book:  Relevant pictures, etc. present?   Y       N

Book:  Did pictures, etc. help?   Y    N

Book:  Anything you don’t understand?   Y     N

Book:  Bias evident?    Y     N

Book:  I enjoyed reading this book.  Y   N

(Cite example.)

Autobiography book:    Information is credible?      Y    N

Autobiography book:  Comfortable with level of detail?     Y   N
Why?  Too much detail for a recollection?    Y     N

(Cite example - conversations repeated verbatim years later, clothing depicted perfectly years later, etc.  These things may not be evidence of a problem, but should be noted.)

Why?   Not enough detail?    Y       N

(Cite example – is key data missing?) 

 

Research:  Bibliography and notes present?   Y    N

Research:  Bibliography and notes look solid and thorough?   Y  N

Research:  Information cited?    Y     N

Research:  Enough information is present in the book to back up the argument?   Y   N

Autobiography Research:   Information is backup up by outside scholar?     Y    N

Autobiography Research:   Pictures or documents that prove author claims present?  Y    N

Again, go through all this, and you’ll be perfectly ready for the test.

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