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A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE BY SOLOMON NORTHUP bY Jeanne M. McGlInn anD JaMes e. McGlInn TEACHER’S GUIDE 2 A Teacher’s Guide to Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup Table of ConTenTs SYNOPSIS .....................................................................................................................................3 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ..............................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY GUIDE ...........................................................................3 MEETING COMMON CORE STANDARDS ............................................................3 THE SLAVE NARRATIVE GENRE ..............................................................................3 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW .........................................................................................................4 DURING READING ....................................................................................................................6 SYNTHESIZING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ......................................................................9 ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES ......................................................................................................9 ACTIVITIES FOR USING THE FILM ADAPTATION .......................................................11 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ..................................................................................................13 ABOUT THE AUTHORS OF THIS GUIDE .........................................................................13 Also available in a black-spine Penguin Classics edition Copyright © 2014 by Penguin Group (USA) For additional teacher’s manuals, catalogs, or descriptive brochures, please email [email protected] or write to: PENGUIN GROUP (USA) In Canada, write to: Academic Marketing Department PENGUIN BOOKS CANADA LTD. 375 Hudson Street Academic Sales New York, NY 10014-3657 90 Eglinton Ave. East, Ste. 700 Toronto, Ontario http://www.penguin.com/academic Canada M4P 2Y3 Printed in the United States of America A Teacher’s Guide to Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup 3 sYNOPsIs Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon manizing and violent treatment as a slave on Northup, A Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped plantations in the interior of Louisiana where in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in he worked in the cotton and sugar cane fields. 1853, From a Cotton Plantation near the Red During all those years, Northup looked for a River in Louisiana, was published in 1853. chance to escape and was finally helped by an Solomon Northup was a free black living in abolitionist carpenter with whom he chanced New York who was lured south, kidnapped, to work. With legal documents from the state of and sold into slavery. His memoir, written New York, Northup was finally freed and was shortly after his escape, recounts the harrow- able to bring legal action against his captors. ing events of his kidnapping and his dehu- ABOUT THe aUTHoR Solomon Northup labored for twelve years several theories about Northup’s later life at under several masters. When he re-gained his these web sites: “What Really Became of freedom, he wrote a memoir of his years as a Solomon Northup After His ‘12 Years a slave and then went on to lecture with other Slave’?”: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/ abolitionist leaders. It is believed that he 10/23/what-really-became-of-solomon-northup worked with the Underground Railroad in -after-his-12-years-a-slave/ and “‘12 Years’ Is the years before the Civil War. It is unclear the Story of a Slave Whose End Is a Mystery” what happened to Northup after 1857. Some by Hansi Lo Wang, October 19, 2013 at historians speculate that he had financial http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/ troubles and may have passed into obscurity. 10/19/231520610/12-years-records-enslavement Others think that he may have sought out -but-how-does-the-story-end other adventures. There is a discussion of InTRoDUCTION To THe sTUDY GUIDe MeetinG Common CoRe THe slave narrative GenRe StanDards Before beginning to read Twelve Years a Slave, The activities described in this Teacher’s Guide students need an overview of the slave narra- meet multiple Common Core State Standards tive genre. To emphasize how authors select for English Language Arts, Grades 9-10 in certain details in order to develop theme or Reading: Informational Text; History/Social create tone in a personal narrative, ask stu- Studies; Writing; and Speaking and Listen- dents to create a timeline of their own lives, ing. Students are asked to cite textual evidence selecting key events they wish to highlight. to support their analysis and arguments. They Then ask students to compare their timelines determine the themes of the narrative by with one or more partners and to talk about analyzing tone and the choice and impact of their choices. Discuss: What types of events particular incidents. They compare and con- did they choose to highlight on their timeline? trast different texts. Activities on the film How do their choices differ from their part- version of the narrative require students to ner’s choices? Why? What main idea might analyze the director’s choices in making the they want to convey about their life experi- film and its faithfulness to the text. Response ences and how did this affect their choices? activities require students to write explana- Once students understand that personal nar- tory texts to examine and convey complex ratives convey a certain key idea about the ideas, and discussion activities lead students person and his life, ask them to read chapter to engage in a range of collaborative exercises two of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick to strengthen speaking and listening skills. 4 A Teacher’s Guide to Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup Douglass which is available on line (http:// through several distinct stages as he or she is docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass. suddenly forced from a place of safety into a html). Students can save chapter two as an confrontation with an unknown, alien, and, MS Word document and then use the high- to them, dangerous society. At first the person lighter tool to mark main points as they read. resists while yearning for freedom. But at the Ask them to make a list of topics used in the same time, she is afraid to attempt an escape. narrative. What kinds of events does Doug- As time passes she struggles to maintain her lass describe? What allusions or references identity against the pressure to assimilate to does he make? What literary devices does he the new culture. In the end, these narratives use? What is the overall idea of this section of tend to illustrate the spiritual growth of the his narrative? What is the author’s purpose in character as she finds the strength to resist. choosing the details that he includes? Campbell, Donna M. “Early American Cap- Using this discussion, create a class graphic tivity Narratives.” Literary Movements. Dept. organizer of the elements identified in this of English, Washington State University. slave narrative. Post this graphic organizer and 7/04/2013. http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/ ask students to look for these devices as they amlit/captive.htm read Northup’s narrative. They can collect Students can also identify and summarize the quotes in a response journal or learning log. main elements in a slave narrative by reading Common elements in slave narratives include a brief introduction to the genre, “An Intro- biblical references and images, details about duction to the Slave Narrative,” by William the evils of slavery, and the spiritual journey of Andrews. It is available at http://docsouth. the main character. Also these narratives include unc.edu/neh/intro.html many of the elements of captivity narratives. Meets Common Core Standards: RI 9-10.1, According to Donna M. Campbell, the main RI 9-10.2, RI 9-10.6, RI 9-10.9; RH 9-10.2, character in a captivity narrative often goes RH 9-10.5; SL 9-10.1, SL 9-10.1c HIsToRICAL OVERvIeW These activities will draw out and deepen teenth century. What might planters do? students’ background knowledge of the his- Project this woodcut from 1834 showing tory surrounding slavery in the United States the kidnapping of a free black man and prepare them to understand the context (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/ of Northup’s narrative. part3/3h510.html). Ask students to ana- 1. Following the 1793 invention of the cotton lyze the image. How is the black man gin, the demand for cotton increased, depicted? The slavers? What does the leading to widespread economic gains for image suggest about this practice? planters. When in January 1808 Congress How did states in the North react to officially banned the international slave protect their free citizens? Ask students to trade, planters faced an acute labor shortage. read and outline the actions recom- This short video clip from “The African mended in the event of a kidnapping in Americans: Many Rivers to Cross” with “An Act More Effectually to Protect the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. provides an over- Free Citizens of this State from Being view of the impact of cotton on agricul- Kidnapped, or Reduced to Slavery” on ture and expansion of slavery: http:// p. 219 of the Penguin Classics edition. www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans- Discuss: What motivated states to protect many-rivers-to-cross/video/page/2/#497 the rights of their black population? Brainstorm with students potential sources Meets Common Core Standards: RI 9-10.9; of cheap
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