M.C.: Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Authored by Carly Long
English
11th Grade
CCSS covered
Used 106+ times
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About
This quiz focuses on advanced literary analysis of Harriet Jacobs' autobiographical slave narrative "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," specifically examining a passage that critiques slavery's corrupting effects on both enslaved people and slaveholders. Designed for 11th-grade students, this assessment requires sophisticated skills in rhetorical analysis, including identifying main purpose, analyzing figurative language and personification, understanding complex syntax structures, determining word meaning in context, and recognizing tone and authorial strategies. Students must demonstrate mastery of close reading techniques, ability to analyze how literary devices create meaning, and understanding of how authors construct arguments through various rhetorical strategies. The questions demand students recognize the interconnection between form and content, evaluate the effectiveness of specific literary techniques, and understand how syntax contributes to an author's message about the institutional corruption of slavery. Created by Carly Long, an English teacher in the US who teaches grade 11. This multiple-choice assessment serves as an excellent tool for evaluating student comprehension of complex literary analysis skills and can be effectively implemented as a formative assessment following close reading instruction, as practice for standardized test preparation, or as a summative evaluation of students' ability to analyze primary historical texts. The quiz supports classroom instruction by requiring students to demonstrate critical thinking about rhetorical strategies, textual evidence, and authorial purpose while engaging with important American literature that addresses themes of social justice and human rights. Teachers can use this assessment for homework assignments, review sessions before major exams, or as part of a larger unit on slave narratives and 19th-century American literature. The questions align with CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4 (determining word meanings and analyzing impact of specific word choices) and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6 (analyzing author's point of view and rhetorical strategies), supporting students' development of college-ready analytical reading skills.
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10 questions
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1.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
The main purpose of the passage is to:
Document the mistreatment of slaves by slave masters
Argue how the treatment of slaves is far worse in the South than in the North
Support the idea that slave owner's children are impervious to their father's behavior
Present the experience of slaves from many perspectives
Contend that slavery as an institution destroys both slave owners and slaves alike
Tags
CCSS.RL.11-12.2
CCSS.RI. 9-10.9
CCSS.RI.11-12.9
CCSS.RL.8.2
CCSS.RL.9-10.2
2.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
The rhetorical function of the personification of the lash and foul talk in lines 3-4 is:
to show the cruelty of the masters
to show he viciousness of the master's sons
to show the "all-pervading corruption produced by slavery"
to show the powerlessness of slave girls
to mirror the personification of the pen in the first line
Tags
CCSS.RL.8.4
CCSS.RL.11-12.8
CCSS.RL.9-10.10
CCSS.RL.9-10.9
CCSS.RL.8.10
3.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
The rhetorical function of the syntax of the last two sentences of the paragraph (lines 7-11) is:
the short sentence at the end serves as an answer to the question posed in the longer sentence before it
the longer sentence mirrors the line that listed the men that could exert power over the slave girl
the longer sentence presents the list of evidence to the claim presented in the final sentence
the last sentence serves as a transition from discussing the slave girl to discussing the slave owner's children
the short sentence at the end shows the finality of her conclusion regardless of the options described in the longer sentence before it
Tags
CCSS.RL.2.6
CCSS.RL.8.3
4.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
In context, the word "vitiated" in line 15 most nearly means:
made ineffective
invalidated
corrupted
devalued
buoyed
Tags
CCSS.RL.8.4
CCSS.RL.11-12.4
CCSS.RL.9-10.4
CCSS.RI.11-12.4
CCSS.RI.9-10.4
5.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
The anecdote in paragraph two (lines 15-33) is mainly meant to illustrate:
the cruelness of the fathers
the violence of the sons
the contamination of the daughters
the wretchedness of the wives
the degradation of the slaves
Tags
CCSS.RL.2.6
CCSS.RL.8.3
6.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
The tone of the line: "And as for the colored race, it needs an abler pen than mine to describe the extremity of their sufferings, the depth of their degradation" (43-44) can best be described as:
Modest
Forthright
Skeptical
Laudatory
Penitent
Tags
CCSS.RL.8.4
CCSS.RL.11-12.8
CCSS.RL.9-10.10
CCSS.RL.9-10.9
CCSS.RL.8.5
7.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
3 mins • 1 pt
The thesis of the passage is most clearly stated in the following line:
"No pen can give an adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." (lines 1-2)
"The slave girl is reared in an atmosphere of licentiousness and fear." (lines 2-3)
"I can testify, from my own experiences and observation, that slavery is a curse to the whites as well as to the blacks." (lines 39-41)
"And as for the colored race, it needs to an abler pen than mine to describe the extremity of their sufferings, the depth of their degradation." (lines 43-43)
"Yet few slaveholders seem to be aware of the widespread moral ruin occasioned by this wicked system." (lines 45-46)
Tags
CCSS.RL.11-12.2
CCSS.RI.11-12.1
CCSS.RI.11-12.2
CCSS.RL.11-12.1
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