61 pages • 2 hours read
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
PREFACE-INTRODUCTION
Reading Check
1. Who authors the Preface to Douglass’s narrative, noting that “Frederick Douglass, as a slave, was not a peculiar one”?
2. Whom does the Introduction (an included letter from Wendell Phillips, Esq.) offer as an example of a “lion” writing history?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. On what conclusions about slavery does the author of the Preface end?
2. What does Wendell Phillips, Esq. note about the difference between racism in the North and the South?
CHAPTERS 1-3
Reading Check
1. In which state was Douglass born?
2. Which relative did Douglass witness being brutally beaten by Captain Anthony?
3. Which of his enslavers does Douglass refer to as “rightly named” due to his cruelty?
4. To which city did Captain Auld travel by river to sell his goods?
5. What did Colonel Lloyd protect with a tar-slathered fence?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Under what circumstances would Douglass’s mother get to visit him?
2. What bothers Douglass about his birthday, and what does this detail tell you about the way enslaved people were treated?
3. What was the Great House Farm, and how did the enslaved people feel about going there?
4. Why did enslaved people tell strangers they were happy with their condition, and what happened to those who didn’t?
Paired Resource
“Abraham Lincoln’s Arguments Against Using the Bible to Justify Slavery”
- This resource from Lincoln’s Presidential Library summarizes a document he wrote circa 1858 dismantling the argument that the Bible justifies slavery.
- This resource connects to the themes of Knowledge and Ignorance and Slavery’s Corrosive Effects on Religion.
- Which of Lincoln’s ideas do you think Douglass, who became close acquaintances with Lincoln, might have agreed with? Which ones might he have disagreed with?
CHAPTERS 4-7
Reading Check
1. What was the fate of Denby, the enslaved person who refused to get out of the river?
2. What article of clothing did Douglass receive for his move to Baltimore?
3. What was the name of Douglass’s new enslaver in Baltimore?
4. Whose first appearance does Douglass describe as “brightening up my pathway with the light of happiness” (Chapter 7)?
5. What did two Irish sailors encourage Douglass to do when they learned he will be enslaved for life?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why weren’t white enslavers tried for the murders of enslaved people that Douglass recounts?
2. How does Douglass feel when he learns he is being transferred to Baltimore, and how does he evaluate this move in retrospect?
3. What did Mr. Auld scold Mrs. Auld for teaching Douglass, and how did she respond?
4. Why did Douglass take bread to the poor white boys, and why was this task necessary?
5. What is The Columbian Orator, and what effect did it have on Douglass when he read it?
Paired Resource
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass
- This resource-rich site from the National Endowment for the Humanities contains all three parts of Douglass’s most famous speech, delivered to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society in 1852.
- Shared themes include Knowledge and Ignorance and Slavery Dehumanizes Everyone Who Is Involved in It.
- Which rhetorical tactics does Douglass use in this speech to support his claims?
- “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” on SuperSummary
- This valuable resource from the Smithsonian American Art Museum contextualizes the concept of literacy as freedom in the context of American slavery. It includes paintings from the museum’s collection; the paintings are easily found on the Smithsonian’s site.
- This resource connects to the theme Knowledge and Ignorance.
- How do the paintings bring to life the importance of literacy?
CHAPTERS 8-11
Reading Check
1. Who did Douglass miss the most from his time in Baltimore?
2. How many years did Douglass spend in Baltimore?
3. What type of labor did Douglass find himself doing for the first time as a hired hand?
4. What type of animal did Douglass struggle to drive through the forest with a load of lumber?
5. Who took much of the wages that Douglass earned as a skilled worker?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why was Douglass called back to his old plantation for a valuation, and why did this give him a “new conception of [his] degraded condition” (Chapter 8)?
2. Who was Mr. Covey, and what does Douglass mean when he says, “Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me” (Chapter 10)?
3. What prompted Douglass to turn to Mr. Auld for assistance, and what was Auld’s advice for him?
4. What was the immediate consequence of Douglass grabbing Covey by the throat, and what life-changing effect did it have on him?
5. What information does Douglass choose to withhold in the narrative about his escape, and why does he do so?
Paired Resource
Virtual Tour of Places of Interest
- This page from Visit Baltimore features places in historic Fells Point, Baltimore, where Frederick Douglass lived and taught himself to read and write.
- Students can connect these sites to Douglass’s accomplishments and the theme of Knowledge and Ignorance.
- How do these places of interest reflect different parts of the narrative? How can seeing (virtually or in person) places visited by a historical figure such as Douglass impact the reader’s experience with a historical, autobiographical narrative like this one?
Recommended Next Reads
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
- Harriet Jacobs details the years she spent evading her enslavers’ sexual abuse by hiding in a cramped attic space. This narrative relates first-hand the experiences of an enslaved female.
- Shared themes include Slavery Dehumanizes Everyone Who Is Involved in It, Slavery’s Corrosive Effects on Religion, and Knowledge and Ignorance.
- Shared topics include American slavery and abuse.
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl on SuperSummary
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight
- This Pulitzer Prize-winning biography goes beyond the scope of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and provides an examination of Douglass’s place in American history.
- Shared themes include Slavery Dehumanizes Everyone Who Is Involved in It, Slavery’s Corrosive Effects on Religion, and Knowledge and Ignorance.
- Shared topics include abolition, Frederick Douglass, and literacy.
- Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
PREFACE-INTRODUCTION
Reading Check
1. William Lloyd Garrison (Preface)
2. Frederick Douglass (Introduction)
Short Answer
1. He claims that slavery is evil and must be abolished. (Preface)
2. Phillips states that there is racism in both the North and South, but that the darkness of racism in the South resembles the “noon of night.” (Introduction)
CHAPTERS 1-3
Reading Check
1. Maryland (Chapter 1)
2. Aunt Hester (Chapter 1)
3. Mr. Severe (Chapter 2)
4. Baltimore (Chapter 2)
5. His garden (Chapter 2)
Short Answer
1. Douglass’s mother would make a forbidden journey overnight, after a day’s work, just to sit with Douglass while he slept. He saw his mother only a few times in his life; she died when he was seven. (Chapter 1)
2. Like many enslaved people, Douglass doesn’t know the date of his birth, which demonstrates how enslavers routinely kept important information from them. (Chapter 1)
3. The Great House Farm was the name of the plantation house. Douglass indicates that enslaved workers sent to do errands there enjoyed being selected; going to Great House Farm was viewed as a special trusted privilege, and it meant leaving the fields temporarily. (Chapter 2)
4. Enslaved people knew they had to speak well of their conditions because of the danger involved in speaking negatively. In at least one situation, an enslaved person spoke frankly of his condition to a stranger not realizing it was his enslaver, and he was later sold into a crueler fate. (Chapter 3)
CHAPTERS 4-7
Reading Check
1. He was shot and killed. (Chapter 4)
2. A new pair of trousers (Chapter 5)
3. Mr. Hugh Auld (Chapter 5)
4. Mrs. Sophia Auld (Chapter 7)
5. Escape to the North (Chapter 7)
Short Answer
1. A white person killing a Black person was not considered murder. (Chapter 4)
2. He recalls being so glad to hear the news that he was leaving that the three days before his departure were “three of the happiest days I ever enjoyed.” The move to Baltimore “laid the foundation, and opened the gateway” to his subsequent prosperity; Douglass reveals that he would not have found the will to escape slavery had he never moved to Baltimore. (Chapter 5)
3. Mr. Auld scolded Mrs. Auld for teaching Douglass the alphabet, and she responded by hindering his education and turning cruel and distant. (Chapter 6)
4. Douglass gave the boys bread, and they taught him how to read. Douglass had to do this because Mr. Auld took away other ways for him to learn. (Chapter 7)
5. The Columbian Orator is a book that includes dialogue between an enslaved person and the enslaver in which the enslaved person effectively argues against slavery; the enslaver emancipates the enslaved. Commenting on his comprehension of this and other sources, Douglass concludes that knowledge and learning will combat slavery.
CHAPTERS 8-11
Reading Check
1. His friends, the “Baltimore boys” (Chapter 8)
2. Seven (Chapter 9)
3. Field work (Chapter 9)
4. Ox/oxen (Chapter 10)
5. Hugh Auld (Chapter 10)
Short Answer
1. Douglass was called back for a valuation after his previous enslavers died without leaving a will, and this showed him the extent of his degradation by clearly demonstrating how he was considered no more important than a piece of property or livestock. (Chapter 8)
2. Mr. Covey was the poor tenant farmer and “breaker” whom Auld sent Douglass to work for a year. Covey was cruel and beat Douglass mercilessly for any reason he liked. (Chapter 10)
3. Douglass fled to Mr. Auld a particularly brutal beating left him unable to go on. Mr. Auld’s advice was to return to Mr. Covey. (Chapter 10)
4. Grabbing Covey’s throat began an intense hand-to-hand fight that lasted for two hours. From that moment on, Douglass was “never whipped.” (Chapter 10)
5. In the narrative, Douglass does not tell the reader much about how he escaped to New York or who helped him, as he does not want to endanger the lives of those who aided him. (Chapter 11)
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