In their own words: The Slave Narratives

        Define the task

 

Make a PowerPoint Presentation consisting of 3 or 4 slides.

1. Title: includes name of the slave, your names, and where in the narratives you got your information (example: WPA Slave Narrative Project, Texas Narratives, Volume 16, Part 1). You will find that on the Bibliographic Page under Source.

2.  A picture of your slave.

3. A summary of the information found in the narrative. Remember the slides that we looked at in class and the information they contained. The web we made together will help you.

4. If you can find a good quotation , put it on the 4th slide.

 

      Where I will find the information

 

ALL YOUR INFORMATION WILL COME FROM THE LINKS BELOW. DO NOT GO ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE INTERNET. The slaves are listed in alphabetical order by first name. The names with stars have pictures in the Library of Congress database.

 

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project 1936-1938

1.

*Abe Whitess, Bay Minette, Alabama

*Adeline White, Beaumont Texas

2.

3.

*Anderson & Minerva Edwards,  Marshall, Texas

Amie Lumpkin, Columbia, South Carolina

4.

5.

Belle Williams, Kansas

Betty Abernathy 

6.

7.

*Charlie Mitchell, Marshall, Texas

*Clara Brim, Texas 

8.

9.

*Clay Bobbit, Raleigh, North Carolina

*Delia Garlic, Montgomery, AL

10.

11.

*Ellen Thomas, Alabama

Frank Gill, Mobile, Alabama

12.

13.

*Grant Austin, Texas

*Gus Brown, Birmingham, Alabama

14.

15.

*Jack Bess, San Angelo, Texas

Jake Terriel, Madisonville, Texas

16.

17.

Joe Barnes, Beaumont, Texas

*John Beckwith, North Carolina

18.

19.

*Josh Miles, Mart, Texas

*Lou Williams, San Angelo, Texas

20.

21.

*Louisa Adams, North Carolina

*Margrett Nillin, Fort Worth, Texas

22.

23.

Mary Jane Wilson, Virginia

*Mazique Sanco, Texas

24.

25.

*Melissa Barden, Youngstown, Ohio 

*Millie Williams, Fort Worth, Texas

26.

27.

*Phoebe Henderson, Marshall. Texas

*Sallie Wroe, Austin, Texas

28.

29.

*Sarah Ashley, Texas

*Sarah Douglas, El Dorado, Arkansas

30.

31.

*Tom McAlpin, Birmingham, Alabama

William Baltimore, Arkansas

32.

33.

*Willis Woodson, Tyler Texas

Witt Rube, Marshall, Texas

34.

35.       *Yach Stringfellow, Waco Texas

Photographs from the Slave Narratives 

The New York Public Library Images of African Americans in the 19th century

A few photographs from the New York Historical Society now part of the LOC collection

Advertisements for Slaves from LOC

Recordings of slave voices.

 

        Locate and access

 

The links above will take you directly to the Bibliographic Page of your slave. The third line from the top say "View page images." On the Library of Congress page,  it is underlined and a different color; that should be your clue that it is a hyperlink and will take you to the rest of the pages. If you want to know how many pages there are, look farther down the page under "Notes" and it will tell you. At the bottom of the page, there is a hyperlink that says "Next Page" and "Prev. Page". Use these to see all the pages of your slave narrative. This is the material that you will need to write your SUMMARY. It is the TEXT portion of the slave narrative.

The PICTURE sometimes has a hyperlink off the Bibliographic Page, but usually you have to get there another way. There are at least 4 different ways. From the Bibliographic Page that you found above, the second line says Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 this will take you to the Front Page of the Slave Narratives where you can do a search. You notice I just put in a hyperlink to that same page. In the chart above, at the very top, is another link to that page. After the slave names, there is a link as well (that's the 4th). When you get to that Front Page, look under the picture where it says "Browse Photographs by Subject". Click on Subject. Now you will see a table with names. The slaves are listed alphabetically by last name, but because the list would be so long, the list is divided into 5 parts. The first section has all the last names from Adams to Daniel. If your slave has a last name that starts with "B", for example, that is where his name would be, so click on that group and then look for the name in the list.

 

      Use the information

 

Read the slave narrative with your partner. If you can read it online and take notes on another piece of paper, do that. If you find it easier to read from a print copy, do that. You can print the page directly by right-clicking. However, you can make it bigger so that it is easier to read,  if you right-click and copy it. Then go to Word or Publisher and paste it. It is a scanned page so even though it looks like text, it is really a picture file. Drag the corners to make it bigger just like a picture. Now you can underline the important parts as you read.

 

       Synthesis

 

When you make your PowerPoint, your formatting should match your subject. Remember how the Unchained Memories slides looked -- with lots of browns and black. Slavery is a serious, dark subject. DO NOT USE A LOT OF COLORS. Your slides should have a neutral background. Woodglen students can insert pictures from WG Allshare, Library Students, Slaves, Backgrounds. Otherwise, copy and paste from this link.This is not a place to practice animations and fancy WordArt. Keep the slide formatting VERY SIMPLE.

 

       Evaluation

 

Power Point Presentation

Pts.

Your title slide contains the name of your former slave, your names, and the source of the slave narrative.

3

You have a picture of your slave that is in proper proportions and at the best resolution.

2

You have a slide with the summary of your subject’s life. The summary answers at least three of the questions found in the web (a quotation counts for one).

 

8

All words are spelled correctly and grammar is correct.

3

You used formatting appropriate for the content.

3

Your presentation was given in an easily audible voice, you maintained some eye contact, and you appeared interested in your subject and audience.

 

4

 

 

Responsibilities as a Class Member

 

You participated in discussion.

5

You listened while class members presented.

4

You were able to work independently with only occasional teacher guidance.  

3

Total

35

 


In their own words: the Slave Narratives

 

In this unit, students learn about slavery through the actual words of former slaves. Using the slave narratives from the Library of Congress, students learn the structure of, and how to negotiate, an LOC database. They learn to identify, use, and evaluate primary sources. From the rambling, dialect-written text, they find important details and summarize the events of the narrator’s life. The culminating project is a short PowerPoint presentation that includes a title slide, a picture of the slave, and a slide of summarizing text that the student reads. If appropriate, students also include a slide with direct quotations from the narrator. The unit gives a human face and voice to this period of our history and, to a lesser extent, the 1930s when the narratives were collected.

 

Websites:

 

Teacher:

http://time.com/time/classroom/unchained/resources.html - Background

http://time.com/time/classroom/unchained/pdfs/teacher.pdf  - Preparation for documentary

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/psources/analyze.html - Review of Primary Source evaluation

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html - Home of the Slave Narratives

Student:

http://time.com/time/classroom/unchained/pdfs/student.pdf

 

 

Day 1   Unchained Memories

 

Objectives:

 

Materials:

A copy of HBO’s Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

A VCR or DVD player

Laptops or printed copies of HBO’s Student Guide to Unchained Memories

 

Procedure:

The class begins by asking students what they know about slavery and a review of primary sources. I then gives a brief overview of the unit. Next I explain the structure of Unchained Memories (a one- or two-sentence explanation of how the narratives were collected and that actors/actresses will be reading the words of the slave interviews).

 

To better understand the documentary, students open the Student Guide. We have 15 laptops; students share a computer. Together, we read page 3, which explains in greater depth the Federal Writers’ Project, and spend more time with the article dealing with the language of the narratives. I then give students time to look at the rest of the article and ask questions, make comments, and/or read some of the direct quotations.

 

Next we view the documentary. I tell students that after the film I will ask them to identify the primary sources (including film) and to discuss primary sources in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. In my fifth grade classroom, we view only the first twenty minutes and, depending on time, the last five. Teachers will need to preview the film; there are accounts of sexual and physical violence.

 

After the film, time is given to answer questions, clarify points, etc. I ask students to identify the primary sources. We talk about the strengths (immediacy, detailed accounts of everyday life) and weaknesses (narrator memory, influence of transcriber – possibility of his/her biases, mis-hearing, subject saying what he/she thinks the interviewer wants to hear). Some of these are discussed in the beginning of Unchained Memories.

 

 

Day 2   Introduction to the Project

 

Objectives: After looking at two or three examples of slave narrative summaries, students will be able to find the similarities between slides and identify the information to include in their summary.

 

Materials: Computer access for each student and/or group of students

Unchained Memories and method for whole-class viewing OR teacher-created narrative summaries

 

Procedure:

 

I direct class attention to Step 1 of In Their Own Words: The Slave Narratives and give an overview of the project. First I give each table of students one or two slave narratives that I have printed out. We look at the length and the dialect. Next I show examples of effective summaries. One of the special features of Unchained Memories is Biographies. I give students time to read the slide silently and ask for volunteers to read to the class. Before reading is an excellent time to review elements of effective presentation: volume, expression, ability to pronounce all words, etc. Assure students that this is a quick-reading and thus may not be exemplary but when they do their final presentations, they should be well-rehearsed. Explain to students that as they read and listen to the biographies, they should be thinking about the kinds of information included and what questions were answered. They also look at transitional phrases, beginnings, and endings.

 

After reading/listening to examples, we identify the similar elements in all the biographies. Most classes are able to find these independently. Others need more direction to pick out the questions needed to guide them in their own summaries. Because I teach this lesson in several classes, I have already prepared in Inspiration the web they will use to guide their reading/writing that I now show students. I also explain that not all information is present in every narrative, especially the date and place of the interview.

 

At the end of the lesson, students are assigned partners and a slave narrative.

 

 

Day 3    Introduction to the Database

 

Objectives:

 

Procedure: Using the In Their Own Words: The Slave Narratives page students read along as I demonstrate. We review Step 1 briefly and look closely at Steps 2, 3, 4, and 5.

 

Students begin work on their presentation.

 

 

Day 4   Using the Material

 

Objectives: See above.

 

Students will find network drive and save presentations to the Library Folder.

 

Procedure: I begin by checking for understanding in Steps 1-4. This is also a good time to have students look again at the quotations found in the Student Guide of Unchained Memories and discuss what kinds of things might make good quotations. Next we look at Steps 5 and 6. I explain the importance of matching presentation to content and show the neutral backgrounds I have prepared, explaining to students how these were prepared (scanned papers and fabrics). Students brainstorm ways to make their slides effective using typefaces, lines, boxes, and neutral colors. We discuss ways in which the partners can divide the presentation. We go over the elements of an effective oral presentation.

 

Students finish slides and practice presentation. The partners decide the roles each will play (working the computer, reading, etc.).

Day 5   In their own words: fifth graders read the slave narratives

 

Objectives:

 

Procedure:  I take the student presentations and put them together into one presentation prior to class. I print out a “Program” so that students know the order in which they will present. After the presentations, we discuss what we have learned. I guide discussion so that students see that individual experiences during slavery were different. Emancipation changed the lives of some people for the better but not all. We discuss the experience of using primary sources.

 

Unit Assessment

 

Power Point Presentation

Pts.

Your title slide contains the name of your former slave, your names, and the source of the slave narrative.

 

3

You have a picture of your slave that is in proper proportions and at the best resolution.

2

 

You have a slide with the summary of your subject’s life. The summary answers at least three of the questions found on this page. (a quotation counts for one).

 

8

All words are spelled correctly and grammar is correct.

3

You used formatting appropriate for the content.

3

Your presentation was given in an easily audible voice, you maintained some eye contact, and you appeared interested in your subject and audience.

 

4

 

 

Responsibilities as a Class Member

 

You participated in discussion.

5

You listened while class members presented.

4

You were able to work independently with only occasional teacher guidance.

3

Total

35