Rhetoric
Aim: How is rhetoric illustrated in the preface of Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl?
Do Now: From your research: draw a KWL chart in your notebooks and identify 1 aspect of Jacobs’ life.
Recap Mini Lesson of what is Rhetoric:
Know- Harriet Jacobs was born as a slave
Want to Know- When did she escape from her master?
Learned- Harriet escaped in 1835 from Dr. Norcom and went into hiding for seven years.
Think about the Presidential Debate…what rhetoric do you know of exists in the last debate? In the Presidential debate the candidates used facts, figures, and numbers as rhetoric to capture voters.
Whole Class: Teacher will read aloud the preface of Incidents.
Comprehension check:
Who is being addressed in the preface? The reader and the women of the North.
What was purposely done by the author? The author purposely withheld the real names of the people in the novel.
Vocabulary:
What is a preface? A preface is the introductory remarks of an author or speaker.
What is a pseudonym? A pseudonym is a fictitious name.
Literary Analysis:
What are the various settings? The various settings include Philadelphia, the North, the Slave States (the South).
Critical Thinking:
Why do you think she wants to “arouse women of the North to a realizing sense of the condition of two millions of women at the south…most of them far worse” (xiv). I think Linda Brent wanted to "arouse women of the North" so they could feel sympathy for her and the rest of the women who were being mistreated, and possibly help them escape to freedom.
Cooperative Learning:
Identify all the use of Rhetoric and Explain why this is rhetoric. Please use quotations.
"May the blessing of God rest on this imperfect effort in behalf of my persecuted people!" This quotation is a form of rhetoric because Linda Brent is using religion as a way to let people know that even though she is going through hardship she still has faith that someday she'll be free.
"Reader be assured this narrative is no fiction." This quotation is a form of rhetoric because it lets the reader know that everything written in this book really happened to Linda.
"I wish I were more competent to the task I have undertaken. But I trust my readers will excuse deficiencies in consideration of circumstances. " This quotation is a form of rhetoric because it lets us know that Linda is not trying to be someone else, she is being real with us.
Vocabulary: Homework
- Preface-the introductory remarks of an author or speaker
- Pseudonym-fictitious name
- Competent-having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, and experience for some purpose; qualified
- Diligent-constant in effort to accomplish something; persistent in doing something
- Leisure-free or unoccupied; freedom from the demands of work or duty
- Compelled-to force to submit
- Motives-something that causes a person to act in a certain way
- Presumptuous-over stepping your boundaries
- Abominations-a cause of disgust