The Narrative of the Life of an American Slave

Identify each statement that is a main idea. There may be more than one of each.

• The slaves sang in unison as they expressed their feelings.

• The slaves' songs could result in a strong emotional connection to the slaves.

• The slaves showed increased energy as they went to the Great House Farm.

• The slaves' songs could be misinterpreted as expressions of joy.

• The slaves could express themselves in both joyful and mournful ways through their songs.

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Select the two details from the passage that best support Douglass's claim that the sentiment behind the slaves' songs was their unhappiness.

• They sang loudly as they walked on lengthy trips.

• Their songs allowed them to express stories of hardship.

• Their songs could not be completely understood by all who heard them.

• They expressed sounds of deep distress through their songs.

• Their songs were sometimes confused as evidence of their satisfaction.

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Why did Douglass include this excerpt in his narrative?

• to evaluate the type of singing done by slaves going to the Great House Farm

• to persuade the reader that slavery is a source of pain and sorrow for slaves

• to inform the reader about the way slaves communicate and pass their time

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Which detail from the excerpt best supports the answer for Question 3?

• "While on their way, they would make the dense old woods, for miles around, reverberate with their wild songs, revealing at once the highest joy and the deepest sadness." (paragraph 1)

• "They told a tale of woe which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones loud, long, and deep; they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish." (paragraph 3)

• "The singing of a man cast away upon a desolate island might be as appropriately considered as evidence of contentment and happiness, as the singing of a slave; the songs of the one and of the other are prompted by the same emotion." (paragraph 4)

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Read the following excerpt from paragraph 3.

Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds.

Select two words which mean the same as quicken as it is used in the sentence.

• accelerate

• strengthen

• diminish

• reinforce

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CCSS.RI.6.4

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_________________, Frederick Douglass best helps the reader understand the slaves' point-of-view about allowance-day.

• By connecting the event to the slaves' emotions

• By detailing the songs' sounds through the woods

• By highlighting the specific verses of slaves' songs

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CCSS.RI.5.2

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Read the quote below from paragraph 1.

"I am going away to the Great House Farm! O, yea! O, yea! O!"

This example contributes to the development of the excerpt by ____________.

• depicting the content of the songs that slaves would sing

• illustrating the presence of harmony in the slaves' singing

• forcing the reader to share the hesitation that Douglass feels

• giving insight into the dialect slaves used during this time

  Close

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CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

What does jargon mean as used in paragraph 2?

• an ancient language

• an accented language

• a magical language

• a specialized language

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Which line best states the central idea of the excerpt?

• "The slaves selected to go to the Great House Farm, for the monthly allowance for themselves and their fellow-slaves, were particularly enthusiastic." (paragraph 1)

• "They would sometimes sing the most pathetic sentiment is the most rapturous tone, and the most rapturous sentiment in the most pathetic tone." (paragraph 1)

• "I have sometimes thought that the mere hearing of those songs would do more to impress some minds with the horrible character of slavery, than the reading of whole volumes of philosophy could do." (paragraph 2)

• "I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness."(paragraph 4)

  Close

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