Name
Date
Irving and the Predecessors of the American Story
English 11 - Morris
“The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” by Benjamin Franklin (p. 20)
1. What do you already know
about Benjamin Franklin?
2. What is Miss Polly Baker in
trouble for?
3. How does Miss Baker criticize
the charges? What evidence
does she offer to prove that she
has done nothing wrong?
4. What social values are being
made fun of in this story?
5. The first paragraph tells the
ending of the story. How is this
different from most stories you
read today?
6. Would the ending be better if it
were actually revealed at the
end of the story? Why or why
not?
Day/Block
Name
Date
Day/Block
“Adventure of a Young English Officer among the Abenakee Savages” by Anonymous
(p. 22)
1. Many stories in this section are
by anonymous authors. What
does this suggest about the
reputation of short story
writers?
2. How does the young English
officer come to be with the old
Abenakee man?
3. Why does the old man take no
pleasure in the beauty of nature
anymore?
4. Why does the old man let the
young officer go?
5. What is the author trying to say
about Native Americans?
“Anecdote [An Argument against the Ownership of Slaves]” by Anonymous (p. 53)
1. Explain Cesar’s argument that
the white man is a thief as much
as Cesar is.
2. What point is the author trying
to make?
3. Put the story in context – when
was it first published? When
was slavery abolished in the
USA?