Honors English 10
Regular English 10
Mrs. Shantazio
Think about the last time you read or saw something—
an article, a news report, or a documentary—that
upset you and moved you to action. What made the
message effective? If you wanted to bring about great
change in the world, what would you write to spread
the word and persuade others to act?
Write at least two paragraphs.
T.A.G. the question.
 Author of The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the
African
 Born in 'Eboe' in Guinea to the
chief of the tribe; Ibo (or Igbo)
language of present day Nigeria
 Kidnapped at age 11 and sold to
African masters
 Endured the Middle Passage
(the journey between Africa and
the New World)
 Sold to Michael Pascal, a British




naval officer while in the West
Indies
Pascal renames him Gustavus
Vassa showing his dominion
over his “possession”
Gustavus Vassa was a 16th
century nobleman who led the
Swedes out of slavery
Learned to read and write while
attending school in London
Fought for the British in the
Seven Years War with France; a
gunpowder carrier
 After the war, he is sold to a sea
captain who travels to
Montserrat where Equiano
witnessed unimaginable slave
terrors
 Next, he was sold to Robert
King, a Quaker merchant who
trained Equiano as a gauger
(quality control inspector)
 In 1766, he saved up £40 to buy
his own freedom and moves
back to London
 In the late 1770s, Equiano
converted to Christianity and
joined the antislavery movement
 He was trying to help his friend
John Annis, a former slave who
was kidnapped by his former
owner
 Equiano meets Granville Sharp,
the first British abolitionist while
trying to free Annis
 In 1775, he works to establish a
new colony in present-day
Nicaragua
**a Christian missionary
**a slave owner/ameliorationist
“[I did] 'every thing I could to
comfort the poor creatures, and
render their condition easy‘”.
 Published his slave narrative as
the antislavery debate was
beginning in Britain
 Traveled the British Isles
promoting his book (a financial
success)
 Transformed his entire life into a
sort of anti-slavery document
 In 1792 he married an
Englishwoman, Susanna Cullen
and had two daughters; one of
whom survived to inherit a
substantial estate of £950 from
her father (equivalent to about
£100,000 or $160,000 today)
 One of four traditional types of early American
narratives
 Slave Narratives – an autobiographical account of the
life of an enslaved person
 These narratives supported the abolitionist cause by
revealing the horrors of slavery.
3 part structure
1) Sin
2) conversion
3) Spiritual rebirth
Reproduced in slave narrative
1) Slavery
2) Escape
3) Freedom
Equiano goes from innocence in Edenic Africa to cruel
experience of slavery in the West.
 Equiano's reading audience was mostly composed of
American and European abolitionists. His immediate
purpose was to influence the British political leaders
who were debating the slave trade issue in Parliament
in the late 1780s. However, Equiano's work was read
and discussed by numerous religious and
humanitarian readers on both sides of the Atlantic.
 Apologists for slavery argue that it is a “household”
economy in which the laborer becomes part of a
master/patriarch’s extended family
 In reality, slaves are human commodities at the whim
of a powerful market; they are sent to wherever there is
greatest demand, often separated from their families
 Writing marks the difference between slave and
animal.
 The slave narrative enables the slave to recreate the
image of “race” in the minds of its audience and
reassert the humanity of displaced Africans.
 Slavery has existed since
antiquity
 It became common in
Africa after the Bantu
migrations spread
agriculture to all parts of
the continent
 Most slaves in Africa were
war captives
 Once enslaved, an
individual had no personal
or civil rights
 Owners could order slaves
to do any kind of work,
punish them, and sell
them as chattel
 Most slaves worked as
cultivators
 By the time Europeans arrived in Sub-Saharan Africa in the
15th and 16th Centuries, the slave trade was a wellestablished feature in African society
 A detailed system for capturing, selling, and distributing
slaves had been in place for over 500 years
 With the arrival of the Europeans and the demand for
slaves in the Americas, the slave trade expanded
dramatically
 Typical Triangular Trade
Route
 The original capture of
slaves was almost always
violent
 As European demand
grew, African chieftains
organized raiding parties
to seize individuals from
neighboring societies
 Others launched wars
specifically for the
purpose of capturing
slaves
 Following capture,
slaves were forcemarched to holding
pens before being
loaded on ships
 The trans-Atlantic
journey was called the
“Middle Passage”
 The ships were filthy,
hot, and crowded
 Most ships provided slaves with enough room to
sit upright, but not enough to stand
 Others forced slaves to lie in chains with barely
20 inches space between them
 1. What was the “Middle
Passage”?
 2. What were the three
major items used by
European traders as
payment for slaves?
 Describe the conditions
and common practices
aboard a typical slave
ship bound for the
Middle Passage.
 Contrast the
philosophies of “loose
packers” and “tight
packers”.
 How did the European
 How did “slaves become
factors participate in the
Transatlantic slave trade?
 What was the
significance of the
United States Supreme
Court decision regarding
the Amistad affair?
more valuable than gold”
to Europeans?
 Why did Africans
participate in the
enslavement of their own
people. Provide at least
two reasons.
 http://app.discoveryeducation.com/core:player/view/a
ssetGuid/CF562AE1-9660-45AF-B11B-A8DF2C45D3F5
 Complete the questions that are posted as you watch
the video
 historical narrative – an account of a significant
event in history
 inference – an educated guess based on what you
already know and what you learn from reading a text.
 Look beyond what the author states directly.
 Think about what is hinted, or implied.
copious
avarice
render
procured
nominal
 Adj. More than enough; plentiful
 Synonyms: ample, bountiful, plentiful
 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/copious
 n. greed; desire for wealth
 Synonyms: greediness, covetousness, stinginess
 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/avarice
 v. cause to become; make
 Synonyms: make
 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/render
 v. brought about; caused
 Synonyms: induce
 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/procured
 adj.: existing in name only; not real
 Synonyms: honorary, professed
 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nominal
 How does this narrative differ from an article written
for a history textbook?
 It is written in the first person and is something that
happened to the author.
 Why do you think Equiano fainted?
 He thought he would be killed in the furnace. He says
he “no longer doubted of [his] fate.”
 Why were Equiano and the other prisoners whipped
for refusing to eat?
 They were considered property. If a captive died of
starvation, the slave traders lost money because they
could not sell him or her.
 Why might Equiano imagine that the slave traders
have no country of their own?
 He thinks the traders live on the ship.
 Why does Equiano call the ship “the hollow place”?
What does this tell you about Equiano’s understanding
of what is happening to him?
 He has never seen a ship and does not know what one
is. He is not quite sure what is happening to him.
 Why might Equiano believe that his captors are spirits
rather than human beings?
 They seem like spirits to him because of the “magic”
they worked by making the boat move.
 Why do you think Equiano included the detail that
“the strangers also shook hands with us black people”?
 He wants to show that the strangers were kinder to
them than the crew members were.
 Why didn’t the crew want the slaves to see how they
managed the ship? How does this detail add to your
understanding of the way slave traders viewed slaves?
 It was in their interest to keep the slaves ignorant so
that they would be scared of the sailors and afraid to
mutiny.
 What does Equiano mean when he says that he envies
“the inhabitants of the deep”?
 The deceased “inhabitants of the deep” were free from
the bonds and limitations of slavery, unlike the slaves
on the ship.
 Based on this selection, describe the conditions aboard
an eighteenth-century slave ship.
 Conditions were crowded and filthy, with unclean air
leading to the death of slaves. Cruelty reigned, and the
slaves were hungry and scared.
 At first, Equiano is shocked to see men on horseback.
How does his attitude change after he speaks to other
Africans?
 He finds out that other Africans have seen and done
this before, so it no longer seems strange to him.
 Equiano writes, “we were all pent up together like so
many sheep in a fold without regard to sex or age.”
What does this comparison reveal about people’s
perspectives toward Africans at the time?
 It reveals that the slavers believed that the Africans
were no better than animals and treated them the same
as animals.
 In the final paragraph, what do you think Equiano is
trying to convince his readers to believe or do? How
can you tell?
 He wants to persuade readers that slavery and the slave
trade are unnecessarily cruel and contrary to the
teachings of their religion.
1.
Who is Olaudah Equiano? From where does he
come? To where is he taken?
2.
What does Equiano see when he first looks
around the ship? How does he react?
3.
Why wasn’t Equiano chained up during the
journey, as many of the other prisoners were?
4.
Which of Equiano’s reactions to his experiences
as a slave did you find surprising or unexpected?
Why?
5.
While you read, you recorded major events in
the narrative and Equiano’s reactions to them.
Add another column to your chart, and write
inferences about Equiano’s beliefs. Think about
how inferring the author’s beliefs, thoughts, and
emotions enhances your comprehension.
7.
Analyze Equiano uses the words amazed and
astonishment several times. What effect do these
words have on the mood of the narrative?
8.
Interpret Paraphrase the last sentence of the
selection, in which Equiano responds to the
forced separation of enslaved families. What
motive does he see in this cruel practice?
8.
Extend How did reading about historical events in
the form of a personal narrative help you
understand the events? What insights did you gain
from Equiano’s perspective that you might not have
gained from an encyclopedia article on the
treatment of slaves? Explain.
9.
Analyze The process by which a writer reveals the
personality of a character is characterization.
Think about the character Equiano, not Equiano the
writer, in the narrative. What do his actions and
thoughts tell you about his perspective on life?
What words would you use to describe him?
 How do you think the slave trade shaped the beliefs of
those who were enslaved? How did it shape the beliefs
of those who captured, bought, and sold slaves?
1.
What do we learn about conditions in Africa from
Equiano’s account?
2.
What are Equiano’s impressions of white men? Why
does he think they will eat him?
3.
What elements of slavery does he seem to think will
most outrage his readers?
4.
Is Equiano’s account a persuasive argument against
slavery?
 5. Which extra chapter did you and each member
of your group read?
From your individual reading of a separate chapter,
answer this question:
 What information did this chapter add to your
understanding of slavery in the 18th Century?