Chapter 1- The
Pathway to
Freedom
Writing a Personal Narrative
Freewriting
• Freewriting- Just write what is on your
mind.
• Don’t worry about errors, grammar, and if
it doesn’t make sense. Just write!
What is the relationship between these
two people?
How do you think they feel about each
other?
Slavery
• What do you know about slavery?
• What does the word slavery mean to
you?
• Are there different kinds of slavery?
Brief History of Slavery
Harriet Tubman- “Moses” of the
Underground Railroad
History of Slavery
Sojourner Truth- Abolitionist
“Ain’t I A Woman” speech
History of Slavery
• John Brown- “Abolitionist”
• Advocated fighting (insurrection) as a
means to end slavery
• Led “Bleeding Kansas” and “Harper’s
Ferry”
Frederick Douglass
• Aboltionist
• Firm belief in the equality of all people
Identifying Nouns and
Adjectives
• A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.
• Examples?
Can you identify the nouns in this sentence?
Douglass’ cleverness helped him to escape
slavery in the South.
Identifying Nouns and
Adjectives
• An adjective describes a noun.
• Examples?
1) Identify the adjective in this sentence.
2) Then, identify the noun.
Frederick Douglass was a courageous hero.
Adjectives can be nouns?
• Adjectives have corresponding noun
forms.
For example:
Childish (adj.)-
childishness (n.)
Stop acting childish!
Cruel (adj.)-
Cruelty (n.)
Teachers can be cruel sometimes.
I oppose cruelty to animals.
Noun or adjective?
Don’t be foolish! Suzanne is not going to
fail you.
Your foolishness in class is getting out of
control.
Koreans have been very generous to me so
far.
Giving food to the poor is a sign of
generosity.
Point of View Writing
Choose one situation and write a letter as if you
were a character from Douglass’ Narrative.
Situation 1
You are Mr. or Mrs. Auld. Describe in a letter to a
friend what happened when Frederick Douglass
began learning to read. Explain how you feel
about this situation and why.
Situation 2
You are one of the young people who let Frederick
Douglass use your books. Write a letter to your
parents explaining why you helped a slave learn
to read and how you feel about what you did.
Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
Articles
Point of View Writing
Discussion and Summary?
Paragraph Unity
Peer Editing
Habitual Past
Articles (in a nutshell)
• A/AN= Something that is general.
Example= This is a book.
This is an egg.
• THE= Something that is specific.
Example= Take out your writing book.
Open the book to pg. 5.
Point of View Writing
Exchange letters with a partner. Read your
partner’s letter and write a reply to it in
your notebook.
Reply 1
If your partner wrote as Mr. or Mrs. Auld,
write a reply as a friend.
Reply 2
If your partner wrote as a young person who
helped Frederick Douglass learn to read,
write a reply as one of the young person’s
parents.
Open for Discussion
• Discuss these questions in a small
group.
• Each member of the group should
choose one question and take notes
on the group’s answers.
• Afterwards, write a four to five
sentence summary of your group’s
discussion on the question you
selected.
Discussion Questions
1. Consider the statement, “Work is freedom.”
Would Frederick Douglass agree or disagree
with this statement? Do you think work is
freedom?
2. Did Frederick Douglass think that education
is the pathway to freedom? Do you agree? Is
education enough to make someone free?
3. How are childhood and slavery similar to or
different from each other?
4. Who is made less human by slavery, the
master or the slave? Explain your answer.
First Writing Assignment
Your Task:
• Write a personal narrative in one or two
paragraphs. Each paragraph should have at
least five sentences.
Two choices. Choose one
1. Tell a story about your past that describes
your personality and the people around you
at that time. Explain how your life
experiences influenced you.
2. Write one or two paragraphs about a
problem you had to overcome or decision
that you had to make. Write in the first
person using the pronoun I.
Paragraph Unity
• Each paragraph of an essay must
have unity.
• A paragraph must have one
main idea.
• Every sentence in the paragraph
must be relevant to that main
idea.
Paragraph Unity-Example
As you manage your time, think about how
long certain activities will take. A
common mistake is to underestimate the
time needed to do something simple. For
example, when you are planning to go to
the store, there may be a line of people.
Last week in line I met a woman I went to
high school with, so we chatted. It turns
out she has two children just the same age
as mine. When you are estimating time
for a more complex activity, such as
reading, block out more time than you
think you will need. It is better to allow
too much time than too little.
Homework
• For Thursday, please work on a rough
draft of your personal narrative.
• Print out one copy of your narrative and
bring it to class.
• Please e-mail me a copy of your personal
narrative before Thursday’s class
(suzanne.bardasz@gmail.com). Write the
subject “Personal Narrative” on your email.
Instructions for Peer
Evaluation
1. Read your first draft to a partner and
allow your partner to see your
paragraph(s). Then listen to your partner
read his or her personal narrative and
read it yourself.
2. Write down the detail that is the most
interesting to you.
3. Do not comment on grammar at this
time unless an error makes the ideas
difficult to understand.
4. Write your comments as suggestions.
Habitual Past vs. Simple Past
What are the differences between these three
sentences?
1.I watch the children.
2. I watched the children.
3. I used to watch the children.
Habitual Past with Used to and
Would
• Used to describes something that
happened many times in the past.
• No longer do it in the present.
Structure: used to + base form of verb
I used to carry bread with me every day.
Any other examples?
Practice
Write five sentences that describe what you
used to do when you were a child.
When I was a child, I used to…
1. Dance around the house.
2.
3.
4.
Habitual past vs. Simple Past
• Simple Past- Describes something that
happened only once in the past.
• Habitual Past- Describes something that
happened many times in the past.
Examples:
I used to carry bread with me every day.
I carried bread with me.
Which style is better?
• My mother made her journeys to see me
at night. My mother would lie down and
go to sleep. My mother left in the
morning.
• My mother made her journeys to see me
at night. She would lie down and go to
sleep, but she left in the morning.