Prompt: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography. Write an essay in
which you identify three aspects of American slavery that you learned about (or understood in a way you had not in the past), and explain why his use of first-person is important to his
communication of those ideas. You should also consider, as part of his use of first-person,
his language, use of imagery, and other techniques that are relevant to your discussion.
Your essay should be approximately five pages in length, in MLA format. See the Writing Services link, Resources for Writers (https://www.monmouth.edu/resources-for-writers/) for basic guidelines on MLA format. You will need to use quotations from the work, those quotations form your way of illustrating, explaining, what you are saying in the essay.
Essay Objectives (what you should be aiming to do in the essay):
Demonstrate the ability to analyze a literary text in writing
Demonstrate awareness of the conventions of one genre
Demonstrate authentic engagement with the text(s) about which you write
Demonstrate your own thinking about the text(s)
Please do not do any research for this essay. That includes checking websites “just to get
started.” I am far more interested in what you can work through in the essay (and remember from Ross Gay, that word means “attempt”) than in your ability to find what seems like a
“right answer.” If you do not know terminology, you should not be using it in your essay. Any
use of uncited sources will result in an F for the assignment. Since this is worth 20% of your grade, that is worth thinking about. Instead, just try to give yourself over to the honest question of what you connected with, and why, and use that (as well as quotation journal entries) as a basis for your essay.
-The one source in the essay should be Douglas’ narrative (use quotations)
Essays will be graded on:
authenticity and originality
quality of analysis, including use of quotations for support and illustration
recognition of the genre about which you are writing
organization and overall presentation of your ideas
