* Read chapters 6-9 in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
* Answer the comprehension and analysis questions on page 44 of the study guide. NOTE that questions 16-19 are fairly in-depth questions that will require more thinking and analysis. I would expect your answers to each of these questions to be about 3/4 - 1 page long. (Page length is just a rough guideline; the main thing is that you answer the questions well.)
* Analyze the two poems that were handed out in class, "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou. I am emailing you a document to fill out to help your analysis. (If you need a review of poetic meter, there are many videos available on YouTube that do a good job of discussing this. One short and simple one is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNX2kxqvjbU )
* Once you have analyzed the two poems, write a paper comparing and contrasting the poems in light of what Frederick Douglass writes about slave songs in the last two paragraphs of chapter 2:
"They told a tale of woe which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones loud, long, and deep; they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sadness.... I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears."
Let me know if you have any questions. Have a great week!