Douglass Quotes

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

READING QUIZ:
1. Did you finish the book?

2. What part of this book struck you most
profoundly?





















INTERPRET THE FOLLOWING QUOTES:




"The slaveholder, in cases not a few, sustains to his slaves the double relation of master and father." (20)
How does this relate to Celia’s life?







"In August, 1832, my master attended a Methodist camp-meeting held in the Bayside, Talbot County, and there experienced religion. I indulged a faint hope that his conversion would lead him to emancipate his slaves, and that, if he did not do this, it would, at any rate, make him more kind and humane. I was disappointed in both respects...If it had any effect on his character, it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways." (65)






"It was deemed a disgrace not to get drunk at Christmas; and he was regarded as lazy indeed, who had not provided himself with the necessary means, during the year, to get whisky enough to last him through Christmas." (83)
--freedom hurts


Are there any modern parallels to this, people expected and encouraged to adopt personality traits that are harmful?






"I received the tidings of her death (his mother) with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger." (19)
[“Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know." Camus, The Stranger]









Is Douglass representative of slavery or a singular and unique case?










What happens to FD's grandmother in this narrative? What is the relationship with Mr. Auld?





What are Douglass' best arguments against slavery?

According to Douglass, how does slavery affect slaves' human development (personality, behavior, sense of self)?












“I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed…behold a man transformed into a brute.”(75)

"The more I read, the more I was lead to abhor(hate) and detest my enslavers." (53)

Would he have lived a happier life had he not known how to read?
Would he have been able to break free without knowing how to read?

“Those who don’t read are as poor off as those
who can’t read.”



















After his confrontation with Mr. Covey, why does Douglass write, "however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact"?
--why is Douglass not punished for the fight?






Why is Douglass able to "understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs" sung by slaves only when he no longer is a slave himself?





When Douglass writes, "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man," what does he understand a man to be?
What does Douglass mean when he talks of "the right of each man to own his own body and soul"?





How is Douglass able to maintain his religious faith when that of his owners is used to justify their treatment of him?
Why does Douglass consider holiday celebrations as part of the "inhumanity of slavery"? (p. 115)





Douglass says that "Slavery proved as injurious to his master's wife as it did to him." What impact does slavery have on gender roles in the South?




Douglass describes knowledge as "valuable bread" and the Liberator as his "meat and drink.” Discuss.





This is the story of a man struggling to break free from a system that HELD HIM captive. Are any of the ideas of this story still analogous today?




HOMEWORK:

Do some reading online about the causes of the War with Mexico.
On Monday, I’ll ask you to share your findings.