Monday, April 7, 2014

Do Now: Why were many slave owners opposed to teaching a slave to read and write. Use e evidence from Douglass' text to support your opinion.
Classwork: Frederick Douglass
Analysis of Excerpt 2
1. "Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the ~inch,~ and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ~ell.~" 
2. What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn.  
Analysis of Excerpt 3

3. "My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute! You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man."

4. " I felt as I never felt before. It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of slavery, to the heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact."

Homework: Finish the reading questions for this excerpt.