UC Davis Douglass and Pastoralism Discussion
Question Description
Read the assigned sections from Douglass’s My Bondage, My Freedom, and our two critical essays, Lance Newman’s “Free Soil Abolitionism” and Cristin Ellis’s “Amoral Abolitionism,” offering two interesting arguments about how Douglass uses descriptions of nature in order to make a case for the abolition of slavery. Then, to help you generate ideas for this week’s CR 3, complete the Close Reading Practice (TBD).
For CR 3, choose any passage from the assigned chapters of Douglass’s My Bondage and My Freedom to help you answer the following two questions:
1) How is Douglass’s view of the natural world shaped by the context of slavery?
2) How does Douglass use (pastoral and/or anti-pastoral) descriptions of nature (or the city) to advocate for an end to slavery?
Integrate EITHER Newman or Ellis’s arguments to help you build your arguments.
You may compare Douglass with Apess or Thoreau, if you find it helpful.
Your goals for this exercise are to:
Develop your understanding of pastoral conventions and what it means to call something “anti-pastoral”
Practice rhetorical analysis, especially how context and audience influence rhetorical choices
Practice effective paragraph development and transitions.
Practice integrating evidence and key ideas from secondary sources into your writing
Develop some potential ideas for your RA essay
Your response should be at least 500 words long (two double-spaced pages), written in clear and precise academic prose.
“Place your order now for a similar assignment and have exceptional work written by our team of experts, guaranteeing you A results.”
Attachments
20190710233819douglass_mybondage (2 MB)
20190710233821ellis_amoral_abolitionism (759 kB)
20190710233822newman_free_soil_frederick_douglass__1_ (188 kB)
