Benjamin Banneker's Rhetoric in His Letter to Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Banneker's Rhetoric in His Letter to Thomas Jefferson

Open Ended

Based on the information given about Banneker, what do you find most impressive or interesting about him?

Multiple Choice

What analogy does Banneker use in the first two paragraphs as a comparison to the tyranny of the British that Jefferson and the other Patriots had fought against during the recently-ended American Revolution?

• He compares it to treatment of Native Americans.

• He compares it to slavery.

• He compares it to the French interference in the Revolutionary War.

• He compares it to the Confederacy vs. the Union in The Civil War.

Open Ended

In paragraph one, to whom does Banneker suggest the Patriots owe their victory in The Revolution?     What word(s) led you to this answer?

Multiple Choice

Re-read the final line of the first paragraph: What does the word PECULIAR mean in this context?

• weird

• unwelcome

• special

• unplanned

Open Ended

Banneker quotes Jefferson's own words about human beings' "unalienable rights" in the second paragraph. What effect is he trying to create by using Jefferson's own words about freedom in a letter to Jefferson about slavery?

Open Ended

How does the tone (Banneker's attitude) shift in paragraph two? What words show that the tone has shifted. (Hint: Look for words that have strong emotions connected to them).

Open Ended

Knowing that Thomas Jefferson owned many slaves, how could this line be interpreted as sarcasm? "I suppose that your knowledge of the situation of my [brothers and sisters], is too extensive to need a recital here . . ."

Multiple Choice

Quoting the story of Job from The Bible is an example of . . . Be ready to discuss your thinking behind this choice.

• pathos--an appeal to emotion

• logos--an appeal using logic and reason

• ethos--an appeal based on credibility or authority

Open Ended

State the main idea or purpose of Banneker's 1791 letter to Thomas Jefferson.

Multiple Select

With this letter, Banneker also sent Jefferson a copy of an almanac he was preparing to publish, for which he had done all the calculations and writing, showing what he--and by extension--black people in general were capable of. This is an example of 

• logos

• pathos

• ethos