Selection Test: from “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”

Why does Douglass say to his audience that “The Fourth of July is yours, not mine”?

• He believes that, too often, African Americans such as himself are excluded from celebrations of public holidays.

• He believes that enslaved persons should not celebrate the Fourth until they have earned their freedom.

• He and others like him do not believe in some of the key values represented by the holiday.

• He contends that the liberty affirmed by the holiday has been denied to African Americans such as himself.

Douglass says that “above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the wail of millions.” To what is he referring?

• the angry protest of African Americans against slavery

• the extensive sufferings of enslaved African Americans

• the anger of slaveholders opposed to slaves’ freedom

• the outrage of Northerners opposed to slavery

Which of the following best summarizes Douglass’s judgment of the “conduct of this nation” in his Fourth of July speech?

• By engaging in slavery, the United States commits a crime, revealing the evil principles on which it was founded.

• By engaging in slavery, the United States disgraces itself, violating the principles of independence it celebrates.

• By celebrating liberty, the United States offers hope, showing that it will free the slaves despite its mistreatment of them.

• By celebrating liberty, the United States redeems itself, showing that despite slavery, it still has good intentions.

Douglass asks, “Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man?” Why does he reject the idea that he must give this proof?

• He believes that if anyone should prove or disprove this claim, it is the slaveholders.

• He believes that the nation refuses to see the contradictions between its ideals and the practice of slavery.

• He believes that the rights of enslaved people are clearly supported by the Bible and the Constitution.

• He believes that even those who support slavery already admit that slaves are people.

What evidence does Douglass offer for his claim that even slaveholders admit that the slave is a man?

• To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony.

• . . . I will, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce . . . everything that serves to perpetuate slavery. . . .

• The manhood of the slave is conceded. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding . . . the teaching of the slave to read or to write.

• [A]m I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men men . . . ?

Douglass imagines someone in the audience who believes he should “argue” and “persuade” more and criticize less in order to serve his cause more effectively. Which answer choice best summarizes Douglass’s response to this individual?

• He adjusts his language and his argument and decides to speak more persuasively.

• He claims that the reasons to oppose slavery are so obvious that no argument is needed.

• He states that slaveholders are too stubborn to be persuaded by his arguments.

• He claims that the Declaration of Independence and the Bible present the best arguments against slavery.

"I do not despair . . . 'The arm of the Lord is not shortened,' and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age."

Which answer best summarizes the view of the future expressed in the quotation?

• Slavery will end because slaveholders cannot afford to fight their opponents.

• Slavery will end because slaveholders will be punished due to their violations of religious principles.

• Slavery will eventually come to an end due to awareness of its gruesome practices.

• Slavery will eventually come to an end due to the nation’s principles and the antislavery movement.

Which sentence best illustrates asyndeton?

• She packed her bag and her shoes and her jacket.

• She packed her bag, her shoes, her jacket.

• She packed her bag, and she packed her shoes, and she packed her jacket.

• She packed her bag, her shoes, and her jacket.

Which sentence contains a synecdoche?

• All eyes turned toward the stage.

• The wind whispered through the trees.

• The students were like monkeys on the playground.

• Medical school was a step toward fulfilling his dream.

Which question is NOT rhetorical?

• Can some parties get out of control?

• Are you going to the party?

• Who doesn't love a party?

• Should we outlaw all parties?