Name:
Date:
LITERARY NONFICTION
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano
Literary Nonfiction: Persuasive Purpose: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
Equiano is an example of a slave narrative. Most slave narraties, written when slavery ws a
legal practice, have an implicit, or unstated, persuasive purpose: to expose the evils of
slavery and, in so doing, turn the public against the practice. Equiano’s account combines
factual details and personal reflections with powerful descriptive language that constitute
emotional appeals (pathos) to his readers
Directions: As a group, complete the chart below. Identify passages from the autobiography
that give factual details, passages that convey personal reflections, and passages that feature
strong descriptive language. Then, explain the persuasive impact of each passage.
Element of Slave Narrative
Examples From
Text(quotes)
Persuasive Impact
Factual Details
1. “The stench of the
hold while we were on the
coast was so intolerably
loathsome, that it
was dangerous to remain
there for any time”
1. Makes the reader try to
understand the smell and
conditions they were in
2. “The number in the ship,
which was so crowded that
each had scarcely room to
turn himself, almost
suffocated us.”
2. They didn't even have
enough room to turn around
and the reader would not
want that for themself
1. “I envied them the freedom
they enjoyed”
1. He wants the freedom that
the people that jumped off the
ship had
Personal Reflections
2. “I envied them the freedom
they enjoyed”
2. He would rather die than
live on the boat.
Strong descriptive language
1. “​​This wretched situation
was again aggravated by the
galling of the chains, now
become insupportable, and
the filth of the necessary
tubs, into which the children
often fell, and were almost
suffocated.”
2. “intolerably loathsome, that
it was dangerous to remain
there for any time”
Words like “wretched
situation”, “galling of the
chains”, and “intolerably
loathsome” have negative
connotations. Carrying a
heavier meaning than what
just the words mean