Slave Narratives PowerPoint

Slave Narrative
Objective: After reading a slave narrative,

IWBAT identify at least 4 characteristics of this
type of genre, as well analyze the author’s
purpose, literary devices, and political impact
with 100% accuracy.
"Northerners know nothing at all
about Slavery. They think it is
perpetual bondage only. They have
no conception of the depth of
degradation involved in that
word, SLAVERY; if they had, they
would never cease their efforts
until so horrible a system was
overthrown."
A WOMAN OF NORTH CAROLINA

5 Functions of Slave Narratives:
1. To document the conditions of, or “truth” about, slavery;
2. To encourage the abolition of slavery;
3. To provide religious inspiration;
4. To assert the narrator’s humanity;
5. To challenge stereotypes about blacks.

A slave narrative’s sequence or structure typically involves two or three major
phases, with any number of medial or transitional points.
● Initial stage: Author's description of personal experiences and institution of

slavery, including mental and spiritual awakening to horrors and injustice.
● Transitional stages: Personal crisis faced by author; e.g. separation from

family or loved ones or a challenge to a slave-owner's authority.
● Climactic stage: resolution to escape, successful escape or manumission, and

experiences in the North, often including commitment to Abolitionist
activism.
Political importance of slave narratives:
● They started a dialogue about slavery and freedom in the U.S.

● Enlightened white Americans about the reality of slavery
● Exposed the hypocrisy of democracy when black Americans
were enslaved (the myth of “life, liberty, and pursuit of
happiness)
● While slave owners dismissed these books as propaganda,
they were still widely read, with the power to provoke
discussion and debate about slavery
● Established the humanity of slaves and undermined the
argument that slaves were a lesser species
Literary elements to look for in a slave narrative:
● narratives drew on Biblical allusion and imagery

● the rhetoric of abolitionism
● symbolism
● sarcasm and irony
● similes and metaphors
Notable Slave Narratives
● 1760 Briton Hammon, A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings, and Surprizing

Deliverance of Briton Hammon, A Negro Man (1st known slave narrative)
● 1789 Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or

Gustavus Vassa, the African (prototype of many later slave narratives, especially
in combining of quest for freedom with development of literacy)
● 1845 Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an

American Slave
● 1853 Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave
● 1855 Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom
● 1861 Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
● 1881 Frederick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
● 1901 Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery

Pre-reading Questions:
● What does the title page of a slave narrative tell us?

● What is the significance of the prefaces and introductions found
in many slave narratives?
● How do slave narratives begin?
● What is the plot of most pre-Civil War slave narratives?
● What is the turning-point in a slave narrative? Is it when the
slave resolves to escape or when he or she arrives in the North?
● How do most slave narratives end? How do they portray life in
the North?
Source: From “How to Read a Slave Narrative” by William L. Andrews in Freedom’s Story from the
National Humanities Center
What does the title page of a narrative tell us?
What does this particular title

page tell us?
Turn and talk

"My Bondage and My Freedom," [is] a deep meditation on the
meaning of slavery, race, and freedom, and on the power of faith
and literacy, as well as a portrait of an individual and a nation a
few years before the Civil War. As his narrative unfolds,
Frederick Douglass—abolitionist, journalist, orator, and one of
the most powerful voices to emerge from the American civil
rights movement—transforms himself from slave to fugitive to
reformer, leaving behind a legacy of social, intellectual, and
political thought.
- Foreword by John Stuffer, to the 2003 Modern Library paperback edition

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Slave Narrative

Objective: After reading a slave narrative,

A WOMAN OF NORTH CAROLINA

1. To document the conditions of, or “truth” about, slavery;

2. To encourage the abolition of slavery;

3. To provide religious inspiration;

4. To assert the narrator’s humanity;

5. To challenge stereotypes about blacks.

● Initial stage: Author's description of personal experiences and institution of

● Transitional stages: Personal crisis faced by author; e.g. separation from

● Climactic stage: resolution to escape, successful escape or manumission, and

● They started a dialogue about slavery and freedom in the U.S.

● narratives drew on Biblical allusion and imagery

● 1760 Briton Hammon, A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings, and Surprizing

● 1789 Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or

● 1845 Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an

● 1853 Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave

● 1855 Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom

● 1861 Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

● 1881 Frederick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass

● 1901 Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery

● What does the title page of a slave narrative tell us?

What does this particular title

Turn and talk

- Foreword by John Stuffer, to the 2003 Modern Library paperback edition

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