1. Slave Narratives

2.  Firsthand accounts written or recounted by slaves.  Tales of harrowing journeys from the enslavement of the South to the freedom of the North  Detailed records of physical and mental oppression  They serve as historical documents that provide eyewitness accounts of slavery  They give a voice to the disenfranchised  They constitute the beginning of the African- American contribution to literature Characteristics & Importance

3.  Began in the Abolitionist movement:  Speeches to educate people of conditions  Anti-slavery publications such as journals and newspapers  Advocacy of public policies  WPA: The Works Progress Administration of the 1930s (this is way after the period we are currently studying)  The Federal Writer’s Project employed writers to interview former slaves and their descendants. These are documented in a large collection:  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/ http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/ Origins

4.  God knows Missus, glad to yeddy dat! Picture in Washington! You mean bout my fadder? Been in duh - lemme see now kin I remember - 'casionally he would drink a little 'sumpting. Gone to town. Come back. Drink. Bring Jug from town. Drop 'em. Broke 'em. To disencourage him from doing that again - (boss man lowing nobody to whip my fadder thout he do it!) - overseer, them men give my fadder a piece of the broke Jug (every time he share out rations) to disencourage him bout drink. Thought that a great way to broke him off. And he do so. Fadder have the three brudder - Daniel, Summer and Define Ben Horry

5.  African-American writers and politicians continue(d) to influence artists today:  The Autobiography of Malcolm X  Invisible Man  Beloved  The Confessions of Nat Turner Legacy

6.  Recounts a critical episode in his life as a slave  Asks the universal question What makes a man free: his mind or body?  Depicts the brutality of slavery and those who ruled as well as his reactions to these conditions from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

7.  Writer’s Choice of Words Diction (Style) monosyllabicone syllable in length polysyllabicmore than one syllable in length (the higher ratio of polysyllabic words, the more difficult the content colloquialslang informalconversational formalliterary old-fashionedwords dated according to time period denotativecontaining an exact meaning (dress) connotativecontaining a suggested meaning (gown) concretespecific abstractgeneral or conceptual euphoniouspleasant sounding (languid, murmur) cacophonousharsh sounding (raucous, croak)

8.  Word choice helps to convey tone, theme, and purpose.  The assiduous plebian perspired under the sweltering orb.  The busy worker sweated under the hot sun. Diction

9.  Often writers use a variety of methods to convey purpose:  Narration  Description  Exposition  Persuasion  Douglas uses each of these techniques to convey theme or purpose Author’s Purpose

10.  Go to the following website and access one narrative:  http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html  Write a one-page response (hand-written) as to why it is important. Be sure to specifically reference the narrative. Homework