Frederick+Douglass

Chapters 3-4 || Questions by Ayla: Chapters 3-4 || Questions by Anna: Chapters 3-4 || * 1. What did Freddy D. consider the most vital difference between the slaves and the masters?
 * Date and Chapters || Discussion Questions for Phishbowl || Opening Activity || Names of Group Members ||
 * 11-30-07
 * 1. On the topic of equality, it is clear that Freddy D displays a clear opinion that slavery is wrong and that true equality does not exist, so do you think that that is still true today? Why or why not?
 * 2. What makes a person "better" or superior to another human being?
 * 3. Whose voice do we remember as "the voice"? Freddy D is considered great now but in his time he was just a slave.
 * 4. We talked about hegemony in class, obviously the master's were in power of the slaves lives, but as humans did they really control another human?
 * 5. If something is culturally aceptable, such as slavery was but is obviously MORALLY wrong than why do people choose to ignore that moral compass?
 * 6. Off of question number 5. What does this suggest about us as human beings in regards to being innately evil?
 * 7. In Ch. 4 page 27 Freddy D says " He was just proud enough to demand the most desbasing homage of the slave, and quite servile enough to crouch, himself, at the feet of the master. He was ambitious enough to be contented with nothing short of the highest rank of overseers, and perservering enough to reach the height of his ambition. He was cuel enough to inflict the severest punishmnet, artful enough to descend to the lowest trickery, and obdurate enough to be insensible to the voice of reproving conscience. He was, of all the overseers, the most dreaded by the slaves." How would a man such as Mr. Gore make you as a HUMAN feel? A business partner? A family member? a best friend?
 * 8. After reading question 6 think about how Mr. Gore would make you feel as a "lesser human being"Why do you think that Freddy D would put such a detailed description of Mr. Gore in this text? What bigger picture does this man represent? why is that important?
 * 9. Do you think that as HUMANS we are superior to other HUMANS? why why not? BE HONEST! ||  || Ayla Reed ||
 * 11-30-07
 * 1. How might this autobiography be viewed differently from an 1845 white man's mindset than from our mindset today? What about from a black man's point of view?
 * 2. Can this text be considered a true autobiography? If not, what is it, and why did Freddy D choose to write it this way? What does that say about Douglass's thoughts on a slave's credibility to a white man?
 * 3. Which do you think would be worse in Freddy D's situation: the physical torture or the mental torture? Being beaten brutally or being dehumanized and undermined? Why?
 * 4. Would you agree that one of Douglass's main goals in writing the autobiography was to re-humanize slaves that had been previously dehumanized? For example, the quote on page 23 says, "It is partly in consequence of such facts, that slaves, when inquired as to their condition and the character of their masters, almost universally say they are contented, and that their masters are kind. The slaveholders have been known to send in spies among their slaves, to ascertain their views and feelings in regard to their condition. The frequency of this has had the effect to establish among the slaves the maxim, that a still tongue makes a wise head. They suppress the truth rather than take the consequences of telling it, and **in doing so prove themselves a part of the human family**."
 * 5. How does irony play a role in the description of Mr. Austin Gore? Douglass describes him as "a first-rate overseer" and goes on to detail his cruel and inhumane behavior (26). What does Austin Gore represent?
 * 6. How does Freddy D seem to define "justice"? How would you describe it? What must be done to have true justice?
 * 7. What exactly is the role of dehumanization? Does it serve simply as a control method, or does it allow slaveholders to relieve some of their guilt over owning slaves? In dehumanizing a person, making him the equivalent of a work horse or some other possession, does the slaveholder feel less guilty?
 * 8. What does it say that Freddy D chose to name his autobiography //Frederick Douglass: **An American Slave**//? ||  || Anna Dreiling ||
 * 11-30-07
 * 2. What are the slaves' mentallities, are they about helping others or helping themselves?
 * 3. Taking the slaves stealing the food symbolicly what could it represent?
 * 4. Does Freddy consider all men equal?
 * 5. What parallels can we see between the treatment of the slaves and the modern POWs from Iraq?
 * 6. What are the main controlling forces do the slave-drivers use to control the slaves?
 * 7. Does Freddy misconcieve how the slave-drivers are? What is their true nature? What is their purpose for being a slave-driver?
 * 8. What is Freddrick's reasoning for using this text? What is his underlying motive? ||  || Kim Christian ||

I had a question for Mrs. Ackerman: Do we as an **individual** have to come up with 8-10 questions, or are we as a **group** coming up with 8-10 questions? Thanks, Mrs. Ackerman. Alright, Joanne's questions: 1. How does the way the slave children were forced to eat (described on page 34) mar the general innocence all children have? 2. On page 41, Douglass speaks of the "Fatal poison of irresponsible power." Is all power irresponsible? Why do humans lust for power over each other? 3. On page 42, Douglass' master, Mr. Auld, is telling his wife off for teaching Douglass the ABCs. Auld refers to knowledge as something that would make Douglass "unmanageable." Does all knowledge make people unmanageable? Why or why not? Emily's questions 4. How does Baltimore exemplify the saying on page 36, "being hanged in England is preferable to dying a natural death in Ireland." ? 5. Does the difference in the way the Aulds treat Douglass vs. Colonel Llyod support or deny the statement that good men can do cruel things? Why? 6. Going off question 3. Douglass said, "A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people." (Brainy quote). Explain the quote How might this quote be influenced by Douglass' early experinces with reading in Ch. 6? Rachel's Questions 7.) Douglass states that the separation from the mother made it so that he and his siblings did not treat each other as such (36). What does this say about the power of memory? How can you apply this to your life? 8.) Can hopelessness propel and inspire the human spirit? If so, what? Would you agree or disagree that it forces us to transcend certain aspects of our lives? Which ones? 9.) On page 42 Douglass states: "I now understand what to me had been a most perplexing difficulty--to wit, the white man's power to enslave the black man...From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom." How would you interpret this quote? Some would say we live in a society of slavery, in the emotional, physical, and logical senses. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Do you think these enslavements will lead to freedom, or have we reached a point of hopelessness?
 * Phishbowl on 12/4/07 over Chapters 5-6**

Opening activity for the Phishbowl for Chapters 5-6, by Natalie Jones and Laura Hennings: Game which shows how random and unpredictable slavery is. We will need 6 volunteers, so if you would like to participate see Laura or Natalie before class. Everything else is a secret until tomorrow, Ms. Ackerman we will email you our plan

Dan and Ben's Chapter 7 & 8 Opening Activity
 * Chapters 7 and 8 December 5, 2007 - Connor, Courtney, Shelby**
 * 1) Why do you think a kind women like Douglass' mistress, would changer her morales and ideas of him once a postioin of power was placed in her hands?
 * 2) Why do you think that Douglass' masters treated him, a black slave, better than a poor white child? What does that say about the differences in power and society?
 * 3) Do you think it is ironic when Douglas said, "... for is is almost an unpardonable offence to teach slaves to read im this Christian counrty" (49), when on the the bases of Christianity is to help others in need?
 * 4) Do you think if more people read what Fredrick had read then slavery may not have gotten so bad and other people may have stood up more for the basic human rights?
 * 5) When someone says "no" does that give people more of a drive to do that something, such as when Douglass wants to read and he states, "Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the //inch//, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the //ell//," (48).- Shelby
 * 6) How did you react when Douglass says, "You will be free as soon as your are twenty-one, //but I am a slave for life//! Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?" (49) Do you think this will have any impact on these children for the future? If so, good or bad? How?- Shelby
 * 7) How does someone change so quickly from nice to the quite opposite, an example of this is the masters he went to that were nice, but changed suddenly?-Shelby
 * 8) Can anyone change as quickly as these slave owners (refer to last question for more detail)? If so, what does this say about society today?- Shelby
 * 9) Why is it that children react to a black slave in a much different way then adults do? - Big Daddy C
 * 10) Do you think it is ironic how knowledge is such a burden to Douglass after he spent so much time and effort trying to learn how to read and write. Why? - CD

In tomorrow's activity we will look at the struggle that slaves went through to try and become literate, or learn to read and write. We will have a contest between two plantations, but be careful though some slaves masters may facilitate slaves becoming educated, others may be punished if they are discovered on the quest toward knowledge.