Words Do Not Pay

Which of these quotations from "Words Do Not Pay" most clearly uses the persuasive technique of an appeal to reason?

• I do not understand why nothing is done for my people. I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done.

• I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises.

• Too many misrepresentations have been made, too many misunderstandings have come up between the white men about the Indians.

• If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law.

Which word best describes Chief Joseph's tone in these sentences from "Words Do Not Pay"? I do not understand why nothing is done for my people. I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.

• patient

• cheerful

• hopeless

• exasperated

Which persuasive technique does this sentence from "Words Do Not Pay" most clearly illustrate?

Good words will not give me back my children.

• repetition

• appeal to reason

• appeal to emotion

• appeal to authority

Which of these sentences from "Words Do Not Pay" most clearly uses the persuasive technique of an appeal to authority?

• [Words] do not pay for my country, now overrun by white men.

• Good words will not make good the promise of your war chief General Miles.

• Give them [white Americans and Native Americans] all the same law.

• All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief.

Read the follow excerpt from “Words Do Not Pay.”

Let me be a free man—free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself ….

In which of the following does the underlined word or words have a denotation and a connotation closest to the denotation and the connotation of free?

• I am available to meet for lunch on Friday.

• You can refill your drink at the restaurant for no charge.

• A prisoner is allowed to leave jail after serving his sentence.

• Many liberated slaves migrated to the North when the Civil War ended.

In “Words Do Not Pay,” what does Chief Joseph most clearly indicate that white Americans must do in order to live in peace with Native Americans?

• build Native American schools

• adopt Native American traditions

• treat Native Americans as equals 

In “Words Do Not Pay,” what does Chief Joseph say is true about humans from birth?

• All human beings are born to be free. 

• All human beings are born to be faithful

• All human beings are born to suffer harm.

What do the details in “Words Do Not Pay” suggest about the condition of Chief Joseph’s people at the time he made this speech? 

• They were healthy and happy. 

• They were suffering and poorly treated. 

• They were quickly losing their traditions.

Which of these sentences from 'Words Do Not Pay' most clearly uses the persuasive technique of an appeal to emotion?

• A) I do not understand why nothing is done for my people.

• B) I am tired of talk that comes to nothing.

• C) Good words will not give me back my children.

• D) Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law.

What is the main theme of Chief Joseph's speech 'Words Do Not Pay'?

• A) The importance of education

• B) The need for equality and justice

• C) The benefits of technological advancement

• D) The significance of cultural traditions