What to the Slave is the Fourth of July

In lines 2–3, Douglass states, “What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence”? How does this question represent Douglass's appeal to ethos?

• As an elected official, he has credibility to speak for his constituents.

• As a former slave, he has credibility to speak on slaves’ behalf.

• As the head of an abolitionist group, he has credibility to present its views.

• As a minister, he has credibility to present the Christian perspective.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

Which statement reflects an appeal to logos?

• “I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people.” (lines 34–35)

• “I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me. . . .” (lines 56–57)

• “Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already.” (lines 79–80)

• “I would to-day pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.” (lines 140–141)

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

What word best describes Douglass’s tone throughout the speech?

• balanced

• passionate

• patriotic

• solemn

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Which of the following inferences is best supported by the following paragraph?

But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine.

• A. The speaker is jealous of those who celebrate the Fourth of July.

• B. The speaker says his people have no reason to celebrate the Fourth of July.

• C. The speaker loves this country right or wrong.

• D. The speaker wishes he lived in another country.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

What is most likely the speaker’s reason for listing all of the jobs and professions held by Black people?

• A. The speaker wants to show how exhausted Black people are from all their labor.

• B. The speaker has been employed at one time or another in all of these capacities.

• C. The speaker proves the argument that Black people are intelligent human beings.

Tags

CCSS.RI.9-10.1

CCSS.RI.9-10.2

CCSS.RI.9-10.6

CCSS.RI.9-10.8

What is most likely the speaker’s intent by including the following?

And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea! We wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.”

• A. The speaker compares the song of Babylon to American idealism.

• B. The speaker is practicing to become a preacher.

• C. The speaker uses threatening language to make a point.

• D. The speaker cautions America not to become like Babylon, a slave nation that fell into ruins.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

What is most likely the speaker’s reason for a series of questions?

Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for Republicans? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to be understood? How should I look to-day, in the presence of Americans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? Speaking of it relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding. There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven that does not know that slavery is wrong for him.

• A. He wants to show that Republicans are not to be taken seriously.

• B. He insists that arguing the wrongfulness of slavery ridicules the person arguing and insults the listener.

• C. The speaker believes logic and argumentation are the strongest weapons against slavery.

• D. The speaker wishes to show he has a great sense of humor.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

Which of these inferences is best supported by this speech?

• A. The Fourth of July should become a national day of mourning.

• B. America has no right to criticize other nations for their violence against humanity.

• C. All the prayerful demonstrations in America cannot cover up the hypocrisy of allowing slavery, a crime against humanity.

• D. America is still the best country in the world.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.6

CCSS.RL.8.3

What is most closely a central idea of this speech?

• A. The speaker is advocating for forgiveness of America for a past tarnished by slavery.

• B. The speaker wants to maintain the status quo by asking slaves not to celebrate the Fourth of July.

• C. The speaker believes the Fourth of July offers nothing to slaves, and wants America to wake up to her conscience.

• D. The speaker wants America to make retribution to the sons and daughters of the slaves.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Identify the ideas chronologically as they appear in the speech : FIRST

• The founders of the nation who authored the Declaration of Independence are praised for their greatness.

• Black Americans are deprived of the same rights that are being celebrated by White Americans on the Fourth of July.

• Black people are punished for crimes that, for white people, are considered non-criminal.

• The fact that Black people serve in every capacity in private and public life is proof they are no different from other human beings.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1