Study Guide Check: Online Selection Test Frederick Douglass

The selection can best be identified as an autobiography because —

• A) it has a narrator describing real people

• B) it has historical figures in authentic settings

• C) it is told in first person about actual events

• D) it is told in third person with accurate facts

Mark the boxes to match each statement from the text to the author’s reason for writing it.

• To show

• As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. (paragraph 6)

• To explain

• As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. (paragraph 4)

• To illustrate

• “Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?” (paragraph 4)

In paragraph 2 of the selection, Douglass calls his mistress tigerlike to emphasize how —

• A) threatening she became when she decided to deny him an education

• B) confused she was about whether to hate or enjoy being a slave owner

• C) forceful she became when it came to caring for the hungry or needy

• D) angry she was when she noticed her husband mistreating the slaves

Read the sentence from paragraph 6: "The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers." Which word is best used in the place of "abhor" to keep the meaning of the sentence the same?

• Annoy

• Fear

• Impair

• Loathe

Choose the phrase that correctly uses an infinitive phrase in the underlined section in the sentence below: "More than ever, Frederick Douglass wanted to be learned how to read."

• learn how to read

• learning how to read

• to learn how to read

• correct as is

Choose the phrase that correctly uses an infinitive phrase in the underlined section in the sentence below: "He got a lesson from his friends, he brought them bread."

• To get a lesson from his friends

• By getting a lesson from his friends

• He was getting a lesson from his friends

• Correct as is

Read the sentence from paragraph 6: "As I read and contemplated the subject, behold! that very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish." Which word is best used in the place of "discontentment" to keep the meaning of the sentence the same?

• Misery

• Potential

• Sensation

• Uncertainty

What is the most likely reason the author includes paragraph 5 in the text?

• To suggest that a book gave him hope that someday he could be free

• To show that reading a book and debating its ideas would set him free

• To show that he was planning to run away soon from his master

• To suggest that he could talk with his master if he were well-read

Which of these conclusions about Douglass's unutterable anguish is supported by paragraph 6?

• He sees that his life would have been in turmoil even if he had been born free

• He sees that there is no such thing as the truth or human rights in the world

• He realizes that his master was correct about how reading the book was a big mistake

• He realizes that reading the book has shown him what he is missing by being enslaved.

To which column does each effect belong? Write the letter of the effect in the correct column to match it with the corresponding cause.

• B

• Douglass makes friends with the poor white children in his neighborhood.

• C

• Douglass’s mistress teaches him the alphabet.

• A

• Douglass obtains a copy of “The Columbian Orator.”