Authors
This famous writer was a slave and an abolitionist who wrote memoirs during the Antebellum and Reconstruction Periods.
Frederick Douglass
The repetition of similar sounds, generally at the beginning of words and usually by means of consonants or consonant sound clusters in a group of words.
Alliteration
Literary period from 1800-1865, with root words that mean "before war."
Antebellum
1. In Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. mentions this famous saint who said, "An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”
2. What rhetorical strategy is being used here?
St. Augustine and ethos
What is being implied about Douglass' master when the memoir says, "he trembled like a leaf?"
He was scared out of his mind!
This famous poet emigrated to the United States from Jamaica and settled in Harlem, NY. He authored two of the most famous poems of the Harlem Renaissance, "America," and "If We Must Die." His recognition and fame came posthumously (after death).
Claude McKay
A figure of speech in which something nonhuman is given human qualities.
Example: "He made that poor piano moan..."
Personification
A famous neighborhood in NYC served as the backdrop for this period of cultural revival in the early 1900s during which African American poets, writers, and artists flourished.
Harlem Renaissance
Which rhetorical strategy does this MLK Jr. phrase use?
“We were the victims of a broken promise…our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us.”
Pathos
What is the meaning of the word, "brute," and what character in Frederick Douglass' memoir is referred to as one?
A brute is someone who treats others as if they are not human, like animals/ Mr. Covey.
This poet, author, and longtime resident of Harlem, NY was inspired by the jazz and blues music genres and used syncopation (rhythm) in his poem, "The Weary Blues."
Langston Hughes
A comparison that is only suggested or implied, with no clear indication of a relation between the two items.
Example: “Her face is a wrinkled leaf.”
Metaphor
This was the turning point in Frederick Douglass's career as a slave and is also the name of the Chapter of his memoir that we read.
"The Battle with Mr. Covey"
Which rhetorical strategy is used here and how do you know?
"There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts.”
logos because it mentions facts, which relates to information and logic.
What comparison is being made in the phrase, "tomb of slavery?"
Slavery is being compared to death.
This author attended the University of Pennsylvania, founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and introduced the concept of "double consciousness." He wrote during Reconstruction and in the early 1900s.
W.E.B. DuBois
The use of a word in which the sound imitates or suggests its meaning.
Example: "Thump, thump"
Onomatopoeia
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in this Alabama city in the South when he was arrested on Good Friday for protesting without obtaining a parade permit.
Birmingham
Which rhetorical strategy is being used here? How do you know?
“But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.”
Logos because he is making a factual statement about why he is there.
What does this metaphor mean from The Weary Blues: "put my troubles on the shelf?"
It means to put them out of your mind, to not think about them for awhile like putting something up on a shelf.
This Pulitzer Prize winning female author wrote several famous books entitled "Beloved," and "Song of Solomon," during the Modern & Contemporary Period.
Toni Morrison
An exaggeration of fact used either for serious or comic effect.
Example: "He slept like a rock or a man that's dead."
Hyperbole
What is the poem "America," by Claude McKay about? What was he bringing awareness to?
Racism
What rhetorical strategy is used here? How do you know?
“I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers? “
pathos because he is painting a sad picture of his living conditions at the time and wants to make the reader feel empathy for him.
What is Claude McKay referring to in his poem, "America," with the words, "bread of bitterness?"
America's racism and how it leaves a bad taste in his mouth