What follows is the assignment that is mailed out to students who registered for Honors US History 9. It is expected that this be completed by September 6th, 2016.

Click here to download this assignment in .pdf form

Welcome to Honors US History 9! I look forward to getting to know you all next school year. In the meantime, before we meet . . .

In order to help you prepare for the class, and as your first assignment, please read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (pseudonym Linda Brent) and/or The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass. Jacobs and Douglass wrote their stories with the hope that others would come to better understand the specific and grim realities of slavery and both have distinctly interesting and important perspectives of the ‘peculiar institution’ of slavery and who it hurt. While you read, pay special attention to what Jacobs and Douglass had to say about the role of family, power, education, religion, and rebellion in their lives as slaves. Also, please think about the way in which each coped with slavery, reacted to places, and historical events. Your task is to summarize the ideas you feel that Jacobs and/or Douglass most wanted their readers to understand. Please type your summary (12 point font, 1.5 spacing) or write it out in ink by September 6th, 2016. Be as precise in your writing as possible and use specific examples and ideas from the text(s) to support your views. I will be expecting a thoughtful and thorough understanding of the narrative(s) so that we can better discuss the text and the very complex nature of slavery when this assignment is due. 

Both Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass are available in several editions and forms and can be easily located in libraries and bookstores. The Classic Slave Narratives edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a nice edition and includes both the story of Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. However, both slave narratives are also available in full text online at the following addresses.

Links to these sites can be found below, but both Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass are available in several editions and forms and can be easily located in libraries and bookstores. The Classic Slave Narratives edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a nice edition and includes both the story of Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. However, both slave narratives are also available in full text online at the following addresses.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Again, welcome to Honors U.S. History 9. I look forward to seeing you when school begins.

 

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