Why do you think slave-owners want to keep this information from their slaves?
BOOK: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
In approximately 200 words, answer the following questions, supporting your answers with quotations from the text:
Chapter I
In this chapter, Douglass discusses the circumstances of his birth and early childhood, as “representative” of the experience of slaves.
1. Why doesn’t Douglass know his birthday? Why do you think slave-owners want to keep this information from their slaves?
Chapter II This chapter opens with some detail about Douglass’s first master’s family and their plantation.
1. Why does Douglass tell us the details of the slaves’ annual allowance? How would you characterize their “standard of living”?
2. What is Douglass’s attitude towards the singing of slaves? What does he think it expresses?
Chapter IVThis chapter is essentially a detailed portrait of the overseer, Mr. Gore, and as such, he is a “representative overseer” in much the same way that Douglass is a “representative slave.”
1. What are Mr. Gore’s essential qualities? How does he treat the slaves?
