Barracoon
Nearer My Freedom
Text Analysis
Historical Awareness
Vocabulary
100

Barracoon tells the life story of this person. 

Oluale Kossula / Cudjo Lewis

100

Nearer My Freedom tells the life story of this person. 

Olaudah Equiano

100

The emotions and feelings a text elicits in the reader

mood

100

This is the official name of the mass, forced transportation of 10-12 million Africans from the 16th to the 19th century.  

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

100

To speak or act in a joking manner

jest

200

Hurston has been accused of doing this when writing Barracoon, creating controversy. 

plagiarism

200

The genre of Nearer My Freedom (our version, NOT Olaudah's original book)

found verse poetry / found poetry

200

The narrative point of view of this passage:

I couldn't believe my eyes. My dream prom dress was lying in tatters on the floor, the scissors still in my little brother's hands. I clenched my fists and let out a scream that could have shattered eardrums. 

first-person

200

The three points of the Triangular Trade

(West) Africa, Europe, the Americas

200

The part of speech of "provisions"

noun

300

Hurston records Cudjo’s story in his own words, including his dialect. Why might this choice be important?

It preserves his authentic voice and perspective, which rarely happened for the previously enslaved. 

300

Equiano often writes about learning to read and write. Why is literacy so important in his story?

Most enslaved persons could not read and write because of laws that kept them enslaved. Literacy helped him gain his freedom. 

300

The type of figurative language in this passage:

She looked at me. Then, quick as lightning, she ran down the street towards the burning house, determined to save her friend.

simile

300

The reason the Clotilda was burned and abandoned in an Alabama river.

To destroy evidence of illegally transporting slaves

300

The definition of the word "bountiful"

large in quantity; abundant

400

Kossula struggles to feel connected to the United States while remembering Africa. This tension represents which theme?

loss of identity / displacement / belonging

400

Equiano recalls his life in Africa before capture, including family and village life. Why does he describe this in detail?

To show the richness of African culture and fight against the stereotype that Africans were savage/uncivilized. 

400

The tone in this passage:

The days blend together, quiet and dull, as if the world has forgotten how to move forward. Even the air feels tired, hanging still around me. Conversations fade before they start, and the sky seems to press lower each morning, as if it’s given up on lifting itself.


despair / hopelessness

400

The hidden reason that may have influenced Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.

To end the war by sabotaging and weakening the Confederate South.

400

The sun provides an ____________ supply of energy for the planet—it will never run out in our lifetime.

inexhaustible

500

By telling Kossula's story in Barracoon, Hurston preserves a firsthand account of slavery. Why is preserving firsthand narratives important for history?

It helps future generations understand the human experience and prevents history from being forgotten or distorted.

500

Equiano describes both cruelty and small acts of kindness he experiences. How does this contrast affect readers’ understanding of slavery?

It shows that slavery is complex, but the system itself is brutal and dehumanizing. 

500

Interpret the meaning of the metaphor in this passage:

The war hero didn't speak as he walked into his house after years of being away. His eyes skimmed over the contents of his home, but he felt nothing. His home was a graveyard of memories and dreams, and he had no use for them anymore. 

"His home was a graveyard of memories and dreams..."

This means that he is not the same person that he was before he left home to go to war, and the contents of his house only serve as a painful reminder of all he's lost. 

500

Name an abolitionist, AND describe their major contributions to abolitionist efforts.

Answers will vary. Some possible choices are Frederick Douglass, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth. 


500

Use THREE of your vocabulary words correctly in ONE sentence. 

Answers will vary.