M.C.: Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

The main purpose of the passage is to:

• Document the mistreatment of slaves by slave masters

• Argue how the treatment of slaves is far worse in the South than in the North

• Support the idea that slave owner's children are impervious to their father's behavior

• Present the experience of slaves from many perspectives

• Contend that slavery as an institution destroys both slave owners and slaves alike

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

The rhetorical function of the personification of the lash and foul talk in lines 3-4 is:

• to show the cruelty of the masters

• to show he viciousness of the master's sons

• to show the "all-pervading corruption produced by slavery"

• to show the powerlessness of slave girls

• to mirror the personification of the pen in the first line

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

The rhetorical function of the syntax of the last two sentences of the paragraph (lines 7-11) is:

• the short sentence at the end serves as an answer to the question posed in the longer sentence before it

• the longer sentence mirrors the line that listed the men that could exert power over the slave girl

• the longer sentence presents the list of evidence to the claim presented in the final sentence

• the last sentence serves as a transition from discussing the slave girl to discussing the slave owner's children

• the short sentence at the end shows the finality of her conclusion regardless of the options described in the longer sentence before it

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

In context, the word "vitiated" in line 15 most nearly means:

• made ineffective

• invalidated

• corrupted

• devalued

• buoyed

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

The anecdote in paragraph two (lines 15-33) is mainly meant to illustrate:

• the cruelness of the fathers

• the violence of the sons

• the contamination of the daughters

• the wretchedness of the wives

• the degradation of the slaves

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

The tone of the line: "And as for the colored race, it needs an abler pen than mine to describe the extremity of their sufferings, the depth of their degradation" (43-44) can best be described as:

• Modest

• Forthright

• Skeptical

• Laudatory

• Penitent

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

The thesis of the passage is most clearly stated in the following line:

• "No pen can give an adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." (lines 1-2)

• "The slave girl is reared in an atmosphere of licentiousness and fear." (lines 2-3)

• "I can testify, from my own experiences and observation, that slavery is a curse to the whites as well as to the blacks." (lines 39-41)

• "And as for the colored race, it needs to an abler pen than mine to describe the extremity of their sufferings, the depth of their degradation." (lines 43-43)

• "Yet few slaveholders seem to be aware of the widespread moral ruin occasioned by this wicked system." (lines 45-46)

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

All of the following words are used figuratively except:

• blight (line 47)

• cage (line 39)

• storm (line 32)

• pen (lines 1 and 43)

• souls (line 47)

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

The tone of the final paragraphs (lines 48-51) can best be described as:

• inflammatory

• condescending

• apprehensive

• ominous

• cynical

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

The passage uses all of the following strategies except:

• Provocative diction

• Figurative language

• First-person accounts of experiences and observations

• Inclusion of verse

• Expert testimony

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.8

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.11-12.8

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RI.9-10.5