Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl contains many examples of enslaved people who defied slavery and resisted their oppression.  

• What examples of defiance toward slavery appear in the memoir? (topic sentence)
• Describe three instances in which enslaved people showed defiance toward enslavers.
• In your concluding sentences, describe how these instances were key to building a tradition of resistance.

2. It is a common practice in enslaved people’s narratives to withhold vital information from the reader, change the names of real people, or otherwise make alterations to their account.  

• What might have been the purpose of withholding the information that she chose to keep from readers? (topic sentence)
• What type of information did Jacobs choose to omit or change?
• What type of information did Jacobs choose to leave in?
• In your concluding sentences, explain whether Harriet’s decision to withhold this information diminishes the validity of her testimonial.

3. Authors use rhetorical devices in their narratives to educate and engage the reader.

• How does Jacobs’s choice of rhetorical devices educate her target audience about slavery and involve them in her story? (topic sentence)
• Explain which rhetorical devices Jacob used in her memoir, and how these devices appeal to her audience.
• In your concluding sentences, explain whether you believe Harriet’s use of rhetorical devices is effective in addressing her audience.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Harriet addresses her experiences in England and compares them to the experiences she has had in the US. How is her account of England complicated by the country’s own history of colonization and its dependence on Southern cotton to supply its textile mills? Does Jacobs give an idealized view of the English attitude toward non-white people?

2. The text describes Black people who worked to serve the interest of enslavers and slave traders like Jenny, Dr. Flint’s Black woman acquaintance in New York, and a Black man who tried to pass as white. What is Jacobs’s response to each of these individuals? Do you believe she condemns each one for their actions? What does Jacobs believe motivates them?

3. Though very few Southerners held large numbers of enslaved people, Jacobs illustrates how many white people in the North and South were complicit in a system that permanently relegated Black people to inferior class status. What impact might this realization have on our understanding of slavery and the role of the North in perpetuating racism? What impact might the North’s prejudices have had on Jim Crow laws?