Title of Book: To be a SlaveAuthor: Julius Lester

Name: Shelby SwigartClass Period: 6

Word Sentence Correct Dictionary Definition

Herrings The principal of food of those upon my masters plantation was cornmeal and herrings.

An important type of fish found in enormous shoals in the North Atlantic.

Provoked The native Africans are revengeful, and unforgiving in their tempers, easily provoked, and cruel in their designs.

To incite anger.

Treachery Lew Cheney escaped and was even rewarded for his treachery.

A willful betrayal of fidelity, confidence of trust; Perfidy.

Queer He just dropped his hoe and said in a queer voice, ”Thank god for that.”

Differing in some odd way from what is usual.

Torrents The rain fell in torrents and kept falling until it was about a flood.

A heavily uncontrolled down-pour.

Text Purpose

• I believe this book was written to inform the reader. The intended audience for this book is for white people, because it is from a slaves point of view. This helps the whites understand from the eyes of a slave how much pain and hard times they were put through.

Text Structure

• The text stucture is cause and effect in to be a slave. It is a long timeline explaining incidents with slaves, then stating the outcomes from the situations. It also explains historical events, and their effects on the slaves lives.

Text RepresentationHousing of those on the plantation

Slaves:

-beds made out of hay with corn sacks as blankets

-no furniture

-Pillows were sticks of wood

-No floors, windows, or doors

-one room huts

Both:-Were on the plantation-were made by slaves

Author’s Perspective/Point of View

Subject Author’s Feelings

Text Evidence

Slavery in general

Julius Lester is very against slavery, and wants people to recognize slaves as human also.

“They are not slaves, they are people, and their condition was slavery.”-page 8

Main Idea

Paragraphs Main Idea

Beginning-Page #37 The slave masters would take advantage of the slaves and make them steal from other masters.

Middle-Page #84 If the slave singing the song had his way, he would’ve torn down that very building to be free.

End-Page #119 Many slaves would help runaways, and let them sleep in their huts and give them directions to north.

Supporting DetailsDetails Page # Comments

The masters would make the slaves steal from each of the slave owners.

#37 This detail really shows how selfish the slave masters were, and how badly they wanted recognition of power from other owners.

The slaves would sing about what they would do if they had their way.

#84 This song expresses mainly what all of the slaves wanted, and that is freedom. They are singing to their masters about if they had their way, what they would do to the plantations.

“I knew she had runaway, and I was gonna do my part to help her along.”

#119 This slave is telling us about how if she could she would runaway, but since she cant, she will do her part to help others who did. It shows how the slaves worked together to gain freedom.

Draw InferencesWhat the Book Says Conclusions Drawn

Situation: Some african-american babies were in a trough when it started raining. But the mothers were too far away. Character Actions: The mothers cried out and ran for their babies.

The babies drowned, and the mothers were actually happy their babies didn’t have to go through slavery. They were mournful also.

Situation: A slave was sold away to a mean slave master, and was not happy about it. Many others died that day because of the owner.Character Actions: He stayed quiet and tried to be ignored.

He soon later ran away because of his anger towards the master who bought him and killed his siblings.

Compare-Contrast

Title: Charlotte Frances’ story

1. Was from one slaves point of view

2.Was about the under ground railroad

3.About a slave auction

4.The new owner wanted to help the new slave

Title: To be a Slave

1.Was from many slaves points of view

2.Was a timeline from the beginning of slavery, to the end.

3.About all slavery

4.The owners had hatred for the slaves and made them work

Both:

1.Both talked about slave auctions

2.Both described being free

http://www.booksie.com/historical_fiction/short_story/charlotte_frances/slave-trade

FactsFacts Page # Comments

The prices usually went up on slaves in the fall of the year.

#45 This tells when slave trading and selling was most popular.

The famous confederate general, Nathan Bedford, was the largest slave trader in Tennessee.

#43 Knowing who the richest slave trader was, you could infer he was highly feared by slaves.

Because slaves were considered property, they were often ordered to do things not related to their work.

#37 This proves how the owners would take advantage of the slaves and use them in wrong ways.

The slave coffle was such a torturous experience that many died on route, and survivors were not fit for anything but death.

#53 This shows that the slaves would not just die from work, but from harsh conditions from masters.

During the late eighteenth and nineteenth century, many slaves ran away and lived with Indians.

#121 Living with Indians was a better lifestyle then slavery, according to this.

OpinionsOpinions Page # Comments

Just stay near the white folks and I had nothing to worry about.

#89 This statement is truly false. If you were a black and sought a white man for protection, you probably wouldn’t get it.

Most plantation owners lived modestly and some even poorly.

#59 Most plantation owners wouldn’t risk having his reputation ruined by the effect of being poor.

There are few sights more pleasant to the eye than a wide cotton field when it is in the bloom.

#68 I'm sure more slaves would enjoy the sight of freedom than cotton, there are many other sights better than it.

Slaves lived just for Christmas to come around.

#110 Slaves surely lived for many things more than Christmas. This just shows what little freedom they could look forward to.

Most slaves, though, had no difficulty at all believing the news when they heard it.

#138 Many slaves were probably not told of their freedom, or most thought it was a joke.

Reading Response• On page 34, there is a picture of a slave being whipped, and the

other slaves watching. It really illustrates to me how the cruelty towards the slaves could be taken too far. I can relate to this because I know, when you have to watch a friend or family member go through torture, you feel their pain.

• The song, Free at last, on page 143, is like a ray of hope for the slaves. It really speaks to me as their light in the darkness. But, knowing their sweet freedom didn’t last very long, is very sad. They had to return back as slaves, and seek for freedom once again.

• The story of a girl named Eliza being auctioned off on page 51, is very cruel and unjust. She was stripped and examined like an animal just for the auctioneers personal pleasure. It is very sad how poorly she was respected, and was sold for the wrong reasons.