Poetry Analysis Assignment

Dr. Thornsberry

Literature 221

Test #2

Part I (10 pts) MATCHING

_____Sojourner TruthA.Linda Brent

_____mulattoesB.oppositional character, main rival, foil

_____antagonistC.protect the rights/lives of blacks in South

_____1st African American female novelD.time period just before the Civil War

_____Freedmen’s BureauE.light skinned, biracial slaves

_____AntebellumF.main character which action revolves

_____Jim Crow LawsG.Harriet Wilson

_____protagonistH.illiterate

_____Great House FarmI.legalized racial segregation

_____Harriet JacobsJ.Frederick Douglass

Part II (10 pts) Poetry Analysis—tell me everything you can

Turn to pg 451-452. Read and analyze Harper’s “Vashti.”

Part II ( 20 pts) Short Answer—2 pts each

1. What is the central theme (not what the story is about) behind Wilson’s “Our Nig?”

2. What was the purpose of Truth’s speech, “Ar’n’t I a Woman?”

3. List two “feminist” perspectives from Jacob’s “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.”

4. What pressing desires did Washington mention in his narrative? List two.

5. List two areas in which the “authenticity” of slave narrative may be questioned.

6. What college did Washington attend?

7. What Amendment gave black men the right to vote?

8. What was Sojourner Truth’s real name?

9. Who taught Harriet Jacobs how to read and sew?

10. What family did Frado stay and work for?

Part IV (20 pts) SHORT ANSWER PT II

11. How is “freedom” different for Douglass, Jacobs, Wilson, and Washington? (4pts)

12. In Harriet Wilson’s narrative, what is Alfrado’s fundamental motivation through her story? (4 pts)

13. What is sentimentalism? (4 pts)

14. What does the term Reconstruction mean? (4 pts)

Part V (10 pts) IDENTIFICATION – Work, Author, Significance

***Please write down the Author, Work, and Importance of the passage for each selection.

1. “Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing a light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds—faithfully relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my humble efforts—and solemnly pledging myself anew to the sacred cause,–I subscribe myself.”

2. “I sincerely appeal to my colored brethren universally for patronage, hoping they will not condemn this attempt of their sister to be erudite, but rally around me a faithful band of supporters and defenders.”

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3. “I have never been able to understand how the slaves throughout the South, completely ignorant as were the masses so far as books or newspapers were concerned, were able to keep themselves so accurately and completely informed about the great National questions that were agitating the country.”

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Part IV (30 pts) ESSAY ***Please choose ONE of the following options***Please construct an essay (not a paragraph) that argues for your answer. Completeness is of the utmost importance.

A. Examine the role of educationin our readings. Discuss why and how (with examples that you’ve read) authors conveyed social meanings in their writings. Be sure to discuss their characteristics.

B. Compare and contrast the slave narratives of Jacobs, Douglass, Wilson, and Washington.

C. Are slave narratives credible sources of historical information? How do they represent America? Define, analyze, reference works that support your understanding and explain.

D. Discuss a theme (religion, self-identity, race..etc) that has worked throughout the stories that we covered in the last 4 weeks. Why is this theme so important to everyone? How do different authors with different works discuss their themes?