Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Name: _________________________________________________ Period: _______
1. The author is Frederick Douglass, black writer born a slave in Maryland
in 1817 who escaped to the North in 1838. How does he feel about his
experience?
2. What tone words come to mind to describe this piece? (Think of different
but complimentary tone words.
3. Now make a list of complimentary tone words and then discuss your
choices with 1 or 2 other classmates and fill in the chart below,
categorizing the group’s tone words into two groups.
4. Now fill in the blanks in the following sentence. You will choose 2
different but complimentary tones for blanks #1 and #2 and then fill in
blank # 3 with commentary to complete the thought.
The (#1) _______________________________ and (#2) _____________________________
Tones in Douglass’ passage reflect his (#3) ___________________________________
5. Now add two sentences to your introduction – remember that the thesis
above is sentence #1 – and write those sentences below.
6. Now, copy your work on a separate piece of paper and hand it in as your
final copy.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Examples of a thesis sentence:
a. The elated but distrustful tones in Douglass’ passage reflected his newfound joy but also his fear of capture and his inability to trust as well.
b. The tone of thankful elation in Douglass’ passage was transformed into
a scene of inescapable loneliness.
Examples of additional sentences to the introductory thesis:
a. The elated but distrustful tones in Douglass’ passage reflected his newfound joy but also his fear of capture and his inability to trust as well.
After being tortured by his white owners, Douglass relishes his liberty,
but he was constantly cowering in the shadows, knowing that the
possibility of enslavement was always present.
b. The tone of thankful elation in Douglass’ passage was transformed into
a scene of inescapable loneliness. He awakened with a sense of
triumph, caged by his own emotions. Though released from physical
slavery, though, Douglass’ release was bittersweet.