A Troubled Young Nation: Texts to Know
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
by Frederick Douglass
Douglass Assignment #1: Watch the video, "Frederick Douglass" and answer the video response questions.
Thoreau Assignment #2: Read "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." As you read this text keep a SMILES chart of your annotations. Then, complete the "Frederick Douglass" comprehension questions.
by Frederick Douglass
Douglass Assignment #1: Watch the video, "Frederick Douglass" and answer the video response questions.
Thoreau Assignment #2: Read "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." As you read this text keep a SMILES chart of your annotations. Then, complete the "Frederick Douglass" comprehension questions.
I did not, when a slave, understand the deep meanings of those rude, and apparently incoherent songs. I was myself within the circle, so that I neither saw or heard as those without might see and hear. They told a tale which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones, loud, long and deep, breathing the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirits, and filled my heart with ineffable sadness. The mere recurrence, even now, afflicts my spirit, and while I am writing these lines, my tears are falling. To those songs I trace my first glimmering conceptions of the dehumanizing character of slavery. I can never get rid of that conception. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds. -- Frederick Douglass
African American Spiritual Songs
What are spirituals, and how did they begin? -- Background Information
Glogster Project Information -- .PDF | .doc
Find an example of a Glogster poster I started here!
What are spirituals, and how did they begin? -- Background Information
Glogster Project Information -- .PDF | .doc
Find an example of a Glogster poster I started here!
- "Go Down, Moses" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Set on Freedom" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Moses" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel?" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Didn't It Rain?" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "How Do You Do, Ev'rybody?" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Run, Mary, Run (You Got a Right to the Tree of Life)" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "I Thank God I'm Free at Last" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Heav'n, Heav'n" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Lift Every Voice and Sing" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "All God's Chillun Got Wings" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Follow the Drinking Gourd" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Wade in the Water" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "The Gospel Train" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Song of the Free" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Steal Away to Jesus" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Been in the Storm So Long" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Deep Down in My Heart" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Roll the Old Chariot Along" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
- "My Good Lord Done Been Here" -- Lyrics | MP3/Video
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
Read "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". As you read this text keep a SMILES chart of your annotations (*Thursday, October 31). Then, complete the related comprehension questions (*Friday, November 1).
Read "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". As you read this text keep a SMILES chart of your annotations (*Thursday, October 31). Then, complete the related comprehension questions (*Friday, November 1).
- "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" -- Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
- "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" Comprehension Questions (.PDF) (.docx)
"To Build a Fire" by Jack London
This short story is an example of literature from the Naturalist literary movement which was popular from the 1880s to 1940s. Like other pieces that were written during the Civil War era, Naturalist writing was focused on believable everyday reality (Realism). The goal of Naturalist writing was to show how social conditions, heredity, and the environment had an inescapable force in shaping human character.
Characteristics of naturalism...
Read "To Build a Fire". As you read this text keep a SMILES chart of your annotations (*Thursday, November 7). Then, complete the related comprehension questions (*Friday, November 8). MS. JENSEN'S CLASS: Please check your student e-mail for important information about this assignment from her that pertains to your class only.
This short story is an example of literature from the Naturalist literary movement which was popular from the 1880s to 1940s. Like other pieces that were written during the Civil War era, Naturalist writing was focused on believable everyday reality (Realism). The goal of Naturalist writing was to show how social conditions, heredity, and the environment had an inescapable force in shaping human character.
Characteristics of naturalism...
- Darwinistic (emphasizes "survival of the fittest")
- detached method of narration (as if the writer/reader is just observing what is happening with no emotional connection)
- human beings that are unable to stand up against the enormous weight of circumstances
- characters from a lower socioeconomic class
- a focus on the black, darker side of life
Read "To Build a Fire". As you read this text keep a SMILES chart of your annotations (*Thursday, November 7). Then, complete the related comprehension questions (*Friday, November 8). MS. JENSEN'S CLASS: Please check your student e-mail for important information about this assignment from her that pertains to your class only.
- "To Build a Fire" (.PDF) | Audiobook (41:03)
- "To Build a Fire" Comprehension Questions (.PDF) (.docx)
"The Celebrated Jumping-Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain
Read "To Build a Fire". As you read this text keep a SMILES chart of your annotations. Then, complete the related comprehension questions. November 2013: You do not need to complete the plot diagram.
Read "To Build a Fire". As you read this text keep a SMILES chart of your annotations. Then, complete the related comprehension questions. November 2013: You do not need to complete the plot diagram.