Douglass Narrative Response, A New Existence

Start with A Birthday Unknown, which links Douglass's opening to students' own lives. Use the background article sheet before Chapter XI, and the summary sheet, A New Existence, to close the unit.

Read the Narrative summary and the New Bedford passage, then state the book's central idea. The directions on the page read: Read the summary. Then read the passage about Douglass’s first work in New Bedford. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade novel studies, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

Douglass calls his fight with Edward Covey in Chapter X the turning point, writing that readers have seen how a man was made a slave and will see how a slave was made a man. The Turning Point in Douglass's Narrative asks students to connect that fight to his later escape.

In Chapter XI Douglass gives two reasons for not stating all the facts of his escape. Build Background on the Underground Railroad pairs that passage with an article on escaping slavery in the 1830s, which explains the danger to people who helped freedom seekers.

It is widely taught in middle school. The passages here focus on learning, leadership, music, community and freedom, and the questions ask students to quote Douglass's own words. Teachers should preview the full book, which describes the cruelty of slavery directly.