A NARRATIVE ON THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE

Content 1. 2. Introduction to the story Section A i. ii. 3. Identify the culture aspect Identify the theme

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Section B i. ii. Identify the A (i) problem Identify the A (ii) problem 5 6

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Section C i. ii Activity for B (i) Activity for B (ii) 7 8 9 10

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Conclusion References Attachments

Introduction to the story Douglass begins his autobiography in a traditional fashion, giving his parentage and information about his birthplace and early formative events. However, his birth and childhood differed demonstrably from those of most Americans. He was born a slave. He lamented the fact that he did not know his birthday and thus hid own age, and that he had no ideas who his father was, despite a few suspicions. His relationship with his mother was practically nonexistent; they were severed from each other very early in his life and met only a handful of times before she died of a long illness on the Holmes Hill Farm in Tuckahoe Creek. These meetings were difficult because she was only able to steal away to see him at night, and their communication was very sparse. When she died, Douglass remarked that he did not feel much emotion since she was like a stranger to him; he had never enjoyed to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful car (14). The systematic estrangement of mothers and children is one of the most pernicious, the most lamentable, and the most wrenching and dehumanizing realities of slave life. Douglasss birthplace was Tuckahoe, a near Hillsborough, part of Talbot County on Marylands eastern shore. It was an important tobacco-growing region since the 17th century. His first master, Aaron Anthony ( called Captain Anthony) was the captain of the small schooner Sally Lloyd, belonging to Colonel Edward Lloyd.The first taste of slave brutality that he witness is with the whipping of Aunt Hester. Although Aunt Hester disobeyed her masters orders by going out at night with Lloyd Ned, this is no excuse for such cruelty. Her punishment for this doesnt seem to sit the crime. She is taken into the kitchen, stripped to her waist, and then tied up with her arms on the top of the head. Then the master hangs her from a hook and beat her with heavy cow skin. The horrific scene terrified him. He is stricken at the sight, he had to hid himself in the closet, and dared not to venture out till long after the bloody transaction was over. Through this short introduction, Frederick Douglass describes the condition in he and other slaves live. The horrifying of brutality beating, the murder of a slave, the physical abuse and rape of women, the separation of family, are ignored by the law or the community at large. Thus he did not tell how the community think about the in humanism, we could tell the culture of the community in that era.

SECTION A (i) Identify and describe ONE cultural aspect in the short story that you want Form Five students to be able to recognize and understand. It is easy to understand the focus of the narrative through the short introduction in appendix 1. He began his story with his birth and immediately ran into a problem specific to the life of a slave. Although he knew where he was born, he had no exact knowledge of the date, a fact that set him apart from the white children of the plantation who knew their ages and could celebrate their birthdays. This confession showed us the power of education in the society. Through this, we see that Education is one of the culture aspects that can be found in the story. It is a custom for the white children to be learning and be literate but as for the slaves children, they are left to ignorant so they will stay loyalty to their masters without thinking of leaving and rebelling. Without education, they have no freedom of their thought and to accept their fate as slaves. In his narrative, Douglass told the audience that he also wants to learn just like the white children, but they are denied the right to do so. We can see his need through his words, A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it. He deemed all such inquiries on the part of a slave improper and impertinent, and evidence of a restless spirit. Seeing the answer given by his master, we can assumed that educations is only for the white but forbidden for the slaves. This culture is accepted by the law and the community. People accustomed to this discrimination and become a part of their life. Without the education, the slaves have no where to go but to live as low as a horse in the eyes of the community. The culture of education is important in the story as if the white give the right for the slaves to learn, it will open their eyes to the horrible pit of slavery that fraught with danger and disappointment. With this shifting meaning and important of education we can conclude that Education and slavery are incompatible culture in society.

(ii)

Identify and discuss ONE theme of the short story that you want these students to understand.

There are a number of important themes in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. A few which include inequality, education and an urban environment as the keys to freedom are present in the autobiography of Frederick Douglass. These three themes not only occur frequently throughout the story, but are in many ways interconnected. However, based on the short appendix given, only one of the theme will be discussed in the class for the form five student to analyze amongst themselves. Inequality is the most important theme that found at the beginning of his narrative. Although Douglass attempts to show how African American Slaves are simply human being like their white counterparts, there are numerous instances in which it is shown how many whites did not accept slaves as truly human. Frederick Douglass perceives the gross racial inequities at an early age and notes, I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest-time, cherry-time, spring-time, or falltime. A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their age. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. Merely pointing out the fact that he did not know the details of his background is a structurally vital part of the narrative since it defines an early and formative example of inequality, but Douglass takes this observation one step further by remarking upon the differences between the white and black children. Instead of merely accepting this difference, he is keenly aware of the inequality of even the most minor details. These descriptions of inequality plague at the beginning of his story and the students will realize the worth of the slaves and their horrific life they have to face under the white laws. The inequality also noted by the separation of family. While the whites have family, the slaves denied this right. My mother and I were separated when I was an infant, before I knew her as my mother. It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mother at a very early age. This quotation will be the evidence for the form five students to analyze the theme.

SECTION B Identify ONE problem that you anticipate these students may have in understanding (i) The cultural aspect you have mentioned in Section A. Why would students have problems? Justify your answer. As Education is the culture aspect that noted in appendix 1, I can see that the form five students will find problem on how to detect the culture aspect in it. As the text is short and there is no clear evidence as education as the culture aspect that Frederick Douglass want to focus at the beginning of the story, students will find it difficult to do their analysis. However, through the noted quotation, A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it. He deemed all such inquiries on the part of a slave improper and impertinent, and evidence of a restless spirit. With this they will understand why does education is a culture aspect in the story as it is a norm practice accepted by the society.. To the slave owner, the prospect of an educated slave was a dangerous notion since he would be more unmanageable than those without learning. It is by far in the best interest of the slave owner to keep the slaves ignorant of concepts of freedom or education because it might not only make them wistful, and thoughtful, but by proxy, less useful to them as slaves. In order to keep slavery as a stable institution, it was important for many of the slave owners in the text to make educating a slave something that could be punished. Wellmeaning slaves owners were heavily criticized for assisting a slave in her or education and the fact that it was illegal to teach a slave to read indicates the danger the white slave-owning establishment sees as inherent to education. So it is an accepted culture by the white to deny education of slaves.

(ii) The theme you have mentioned in Section A. Why would students have problems? Justify your answer. Just like the culture aspects in question A(i), the theme also will bring a little confusion amongst the students. As stated above, inequality is the major theme at the beginning of the story in appendix one. For the students, inequality is hard to see as a theme as most of the time, Frederick Douglass imposing about slavery and their life as slaves. However, if they are guided to look beyond the story, students will find the hidden meaning he wants to impose in his story. Each cases in his early life emphasis the inequality behind each action and law by the white. It is noted, By far, the larger part of the slaves knows as little of their ages as horses know of theirs and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves hence ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who tells of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest time, cherry-time, springtime, or fall-time. A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. To study the quotation above will show the students that slaves are denied the right to learn and become literate differ to the white children. The longing for information and denying the same privilege with the white children showed the inequality as the theme of the story. And because of the inequality, he was separated from his mother and never knows the love of his mother. Theyre also denied of freedom concerning their body and mind like the whites. It is noted through his first experience of slave brutality to his Aunt Hester. . He had ordered her not to go out evenings, and warned her that she must never let him catch her going out. Aunt Hester disobeyed his orders and he told Aunt Hester to get ready for whipping. He then said to her, Now, Ill teach you how to disobey my orders! and after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to whip her. With the mention quotations, students will understand how the inequality played the major theme in his early story behind the institutions of slavery.

SECTION C Design ONE activity you would use while teaching this short story that would help students understand (i) The cultural aspect you have mentioned in Section A. Identifying culture aspect in A Narrative on the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American in two pages short Introduction is not easy. As the language is too easy to understand and the story line is not abstract to follow, to find the culture aspect is not an easy task for the form five students as the Introduction is too short and more to an autobiography of the writer. To help the students to explore the short story to find the culture aspect behind the text, an activity is prepared to help them to develop their understanding. First of all, students will be divided into 4 groups. Each groups will have to read and prepare an analysis about the story. By