1. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

2. What it’s about
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is an autobiography that tells the story of the author's 21 years as a slave and later years as a free man and abolitionist.
It is one of the earliest narratives written by a former American slave.
It was published in 1845.

3. Type of Literature
Nonfiction- prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as biography or history
Autobiography- an account of a person's life written by that person.
Narrative- a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.
Rhetoric- the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, esp. the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.

4. Literary Device Focus
While reading, identify the following literary devices (or any other devices you might find):
Theme- Knowledge is the path to freedom
Situational Irony- When the opposite of what you would expect to happen, happens
Metaphors/ similes/ analogies- A figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common.
Direct Characterization- tells the reader about the character (ex: she is tall, her name is Savannah)
Indirect Characterization- Actions that reveals who the character is (ex: What do they say? How do they behave?)
Paradox- a statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true

5. Key Vocabulary Slavery- being bound to servitude
Abolition- the action of ending a system, practice, or institution
Abolitionist- a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, esp. capital punishment or (formerly) slavery.
Chattel- a personal possession