Lesson Plan

Objectives (SWBAT):

-Understand life as a slave in North America.

-Explain the differences between slave life in the North and slave life in the South.

-Connect what they learned in class to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.

Materials: handouts, color pencils/crayons, Projector, laptop, and notebook, and portfolios

AIM: How was life as a slave in North America?

Do Now: Color in the map where slavery existed and where there were free states. Use Red for slave states, Blue for Free states, and Yellow for Territories.

Procedures:

-We are going refresh students’ memory on slavery.

-We are going to help students understand the difference between slave life in the North and slave life in the South.

-Using the research our teaching group found, we will try to get students to connect this information to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.

Mini Lesson: Slideshow (Background Information on slavery and Harriet Jacobs)

The various settings of Slavery in North America

-Explain difference about slave’s conditions in North and south

-Harriet Jacobs connect these ideas to the book and Harriet Jacobs

- Introduce class and refresh memory on slavery in the north and south of America

Class Activity: Write a journal entry on your daily routine as a slave

You can start out by imagining that you’re a slave. From there on, think about what your daily routines would be.(Natalie Hyde: Write what you think slaves do everyday on the plantation)

Share Out: The students will share out what they have written.

Homework: Create a small collage on what slavery means to you and how setting affected slavery. Write a paragraph explaining your collage. Remember to cite your sources.

Work Citied: http://www.nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/pdf/outline/states.pdf

Harriet Jacobs

• Her full name was Harriet Ann Jacobs.
  
• She was born in Feb 1813 in North Carolina.
  
• She died March 1897 and burned in Massachusetts, he tomb stone read "Patient in tribulations, reverent in spirit serving the lord".
• Her mother was Delilah Horniblow and when she died while Harriet was still an infant (age 6) and then realized that she was a slave.
• After her mother's death her mother's mistress taught her to read and write.
• She was sexually harassed for nearly a decade and wasn't able to marry anyone.
• She became free after a while because she bought her own freedom
  

http://boston.broadwayworld.com/article/Underground_Railway_Theater_Presents_HARRIET_JACOBS_17272010_20091201
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Ann_Jacobs

Abolition Movement

• This was the attempt of ending slavery and slave trade in general in both North and South.
• Some Abolitionist were very violent like John Brown who was a white man who killed a few people trying to stop slavery.
• Others were more involved in protest like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.
• This movement had little effect on the South part of America and everything under the south
• The president Abraham Lincoln supported the Abolition Movement and therefore the North had a great success and the Emancipation Proclamation was passed which is a law that prohibited any type of slaves.

http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=219772

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism

Plantation Life

• These slaves worked on a tobacco plantation.
• The hours the slaves spent in these fields were endless.
• Later on they invented the "cotton gin" which produced cotton, soon it because the most sold thing in the market.
• Since it was so popular there were need more slaves and more hours of their time on the fields.
• There was barely indifference in whether you were a regnant women or a strong man, either way you were put to work in the fields.
• The slaves worked throughout the year - summer,winter (everything)
• If you weren't able to do the day's task you would get a punishment that was harsh but that wasn't deadly.
• The food was extremely little or no portions .
• Everyday they were dieing from the mistreatment little by little.

http://cghs.dadeschools.net/slavery/antebellum_slavery/plantation_slave_life/health.htm

Slavery and it's setting in North America

• At some point in the 1800's slavery was seen in both North America as in South America, what changed this was the 13th Amendment.
• The 13th Amendment stated that it was illegal to have a slave in the North.
• In the South, there was an immense amount of farms and the slaves were put out to work on their master's plantations.
• These slaves went through some harsh times, the weather conditions weren't always pleasant and their pay was below average for that time period.

http://www.crgate.com/slavery.jpg

Fugitive Slave Act/ Law

• Congress passed this law in September, 1850This law was also known as "The Compromise of 1850".
• The law was to have all officials arrest all runaway slaves and give them back to their masters.
• If these officials let a runaway slave continue running then they would get a penalty of $1,000.
• If anyone who helped a runaway slave with shelter and food, could go to prison for a month and a fine of $1,000If you were suspicious of being a slave, the officials didn't need a warrant to arrest them.

http://www.peacebuttons.info/ENews/images/FugitiveSlaveAct.gif

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASfugitive.htm

Slave Trade

• There was a compromise called "The Triangular Trade".
• This compromise involved lot of trading; it started of with the Europeans trading goods to Africa like copper, guns, pots, manila,etc.
• Then Africa would trade goods to America like enslaved men, women, children.
• Finally America would trade goods to Europe like sugar, rice, rum,etc.
• The slave's journey to America was very crucial because there was many diseases and starvation on the ships and many of them died.
• During this era, the slave in America was only used as servants to the rishest people in America.

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom/viewTheme.cfm/theme/triangular

http://www.africanculturalcenter.org/images/4_5slave_trade%2520copy.gif

"Bartleby Scrivener" Questions for Analysis.

Characters Protagonist / Antagonist? The protagonist of the story is the Boss and the antagonist in the story is Bartleby. *What is the Boss up against in the person of Bartleby? The boss is up against a strong willed man who doesn't see the reason to conform into regular job policies. *Does Bartleby represent a force beyond himself as an individual?I think Bartleby does represents a force beyond himself because he doesn't conform to society and shows to be his own person (individuality). -Major / Minor: *Who are the major players in the story?The major players in the story are the boss (which is a lawyer), Bartleby, the other co-workers, Nipper, Turkey and Gingernut. *What do we know about them? We know that Turkey and Nipper are both ill-tempered but take turns being ill-tempered. Also, the Bartleby doesn't contribute a lot of effort in pleasing his boss at all and finally that the Boss hires people who will give in a lot of devotion in their jobs. *Are they likable? These people are not likable to me because they show weird characteristic and aren't your everyday people that I am use to. Sympathetic?Realistic? The character that is sympathetic is the Boss at the end of the story because he finally understand Bartleby. The character that is realistic is Bartleby because *What's the function of the story's minor characters? *Dynamic / Static-Who changes? Who stays the same? The Boss is the dynamic character because he is greatly affected by Bartleby. The character who was static is Bartleby because he never changes attitude towards something nor someone. *Is the story about growth or change? I think the story is about change because of the way Bartleby is portrayed and the way the Boss feels about him, also Bartleby changes. Round / Flat-Who is the round character? Who are the flat characters? The flat characters are the others clrgymen, the co-workers that aren't affected by Bartleby and the character that is round is the Boss. Point of view : Who tells the story? - the first person narrator, who is flawed but human…He's reliable, we trust him. His actions definitely support what he tells us about himself; especially the part about being a man who likes to take the "easy" way. * *What else is gained by telling this story from the Boss's perspective? What is gained from the boss's perspective is the way he is affected by Bartleby's attitude. *Why not Bartleby's perspective? If it were in Bartleby's the story's mood would be very gloomy and depressive. *Why not one of the other clerks? The other clerks perspective wouldn't suffice because Bartleby didn't affect them much, to the other clerks he was just a former co-worker. Plot Exposition: * What background information does the narrator relate that gives us a greater understanding of the events unfolding? The background information given is Bartleby's previous job, he was the one who received all the dead mail, the mail that never got to the person intended. *Why does the information about Bartleby's previous employment come at the end of the story rather than at the beginning? The information on Bartleby's previous job is given to us because it gives the story a mysterious outlook on it and it lets us the reader try to make assumptions on Bartleby. *Complication-how does the Boss react when Bartleby repeatedly refuses to perform his duties? How does his reaction intensify? *What is the Boss's dilemma? The Boss becomes furious with Bartleby's response to the task that has been repeatedly asked to be done. The Boss's dilemma is finding a way to get rid of a "worker" who does not meet his demands. *Climax-Where do you feel the events reach their pinnacle? Where is the conflict most intense, the clash most "explosive"? I feel the conflict is most intense is when Bartleby continues to not do any work for the Boss and the Boss tells him that he is going to move out. *Resolution-What's the outcome of the explosion? The outcome of this explosion is that they move out the office and that Bartleby stayed there making the Boss the only own in charge of Bartleby. * Epiphany-who has gained insight in this story, Bartleby or the Boss, or anybody? The Boss had gained insight in this story because of his relation with Bartleby. Meaning (Theme) : Passive aggressive people are difficult to accommodate, difficult to ignore. Passive resistance is a radical form of rebellion. Offices, where Americans spend the greater part of their lives, are not democracies. Have a life outside work! Don't expect your occupation to bear the burden of your existence. *Does the story leave you thinking anything? Feeling anything? What do you make out of it all? This story makes me think about my mother in her job, she is always complaining about wanting something a certain way and she slowly has noticed that what is said by her boss is the law in that office. And it also makes me that if there are people who actually try to get their own way and how far they get in there industry? * What other ideas does the story suggest to you? Some ideas that the story suggest to me are if every rule should be followed strictly or if you stand up for something many good things come out of it and it makes me think about all the rebels that have existed in the past and how much courage they had. Irony : The Boss doesn't recognize that his own passiveness is as persistent and frustrating as Bartleby's. Or that his genteel, self-interested interest in Bartleby is leading to no good. *Can you think of other ironies? Another irony is the way Turkey and Gingernut was portrayed in the book, their name fit their body structure. Also, at the end of the story, the boss say "Ah humane, ah Bartleby", this was ironic because Bartleby was a emotionless person and humane means to have feelings, and the boss still compares both of these. Paradox : Bartleby is stubborn, self-absorbed, rebellious, and insubordinate, yet many readers, and even the narrator, the Boss himself, have a deep sympathy for him. *Why? Others? These characters have sympathy towards him because of the way life, his environment mad Bartleby that way and it wasn't a voluntary thing. Ambiguity: *Exactly why does Bartleby always "prefer not to"? Bartleby prefers not to conform to the rules of having a job. *Why can't he make friends, or communicate? He can not make friends or communication because like the mail that never got to the other person he thinks that if he tries to get a something to them, they will never get it, even if he is trying to get a point across. *What's at the heart of his rebellion? Bartleby does not want to conform to what society thinks is acceptable. *Why doesn't he quit and get a different job? He doesn't quit because he feels that that is the place he doesn't want to leave. * Why does the Boss have sympathy for Bartleby? The Boss has sympathy for Bartleby because he notices Bartleby's economic instability, how Bartleby has to sleep in his own office and the way he barely eats anything. * What else in the story seems open to individual readers' interpretation? Symbol : *What do the "dead walls" and Bartleby's "dead wall reveries" represent? The "dead walls" represent the emptiness in Bartleby's soul. *What's the significance of the setting? Why is it a story "Wall Street"? The significance of the setting is the fact that it is in Wall Street and that everyone in Wall Street work their butts off but Bartleby prefers not to work. *Why do Turkey and Nipper have nicknames, but the Boss is never named, and we never learn Bartleby's first name? These names are given to us to identity each character but the Boss's neame isn't given because that's his nickname like Turkey and Gingernut is a nickname. * What's in a name? A name is something you are given when you are born. It represents you because it is something that is part of you. Your Questions, My Questions…. 1.Why don't we know anything about Bartleby other than what we see of him in the story? Is that a weakness of the story? We know nothing of Bartleby because the author wanted us to see how some people decide not to conform with the rules on our everyday live.This becomes a weakness to the story because because we the reader don't know threasons why Bartleby acts the way he does. 2. Why doesn't the Boss just fire Bartleby? The boss doesn't fire Bartleby because even though he doesn't share and explain what he does , Bartleby still does his job and keeps the Boss satisfied. 3. What does the Boss do for a living? What kind of company is he running? The boss is a lawyer and he has his own office in office a place where he can hire people and have his own little business. 4. What does the Boss do for a living? What kind of company is he running? More questions to follow!