Self-study
P1
The autobiographical narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861), by Harriet A. ███████ █ █████ ██ ███████ ████████ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ███ ████ █████████ ██████████ ███ ███████████ █ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ █ █████ ███ █ ██████ █████ ███ ███████ ██ █████ █████ ████████ ████ ████████ ███
Intro topic ·
Autobiography of Harriet A. Jacobs
Provides the perpective of a female slave
Jacob's narrative approach ·
Genre of the domestic novel
Emphasized popular values (e.g., the importance of marriage, identity, home, and family)
Jacobs' rationale ·
Appeal to free women, gain their sympathy, broaden their understanding
P2
████
Critics' perspective ·
Using genre conventions detracts from Jacobs' narrative
The conventions of the sentimental domestic novel overshadow the slave narrative in Jacobs' story
Author's perspective ·
Jacobs' use of genre conventions provides greater perspective on slavery
Uses the genre to contrast the lives of free women and of slave women
Illustrate contrast ·
between typical sentimental domestic narrative and Jacobs' version
Protagonist doesn't marry love interest, leaves family and child to pursue freedom
Jacobs' perspective ·
Slave women's views and experiences are very different from those of free women
Main point ·
Jacobs' narrative should be viewed as "antidomestic novel"
Uses conventions of domestic genre to subvert that same genre, highlights the need for a different perspective to understand the lives of slave women
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Spotlight
14.
Which one of the following ██████████ ████ ██████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██████████ ██ ████████ ██████████
Question Type
Implied
Principle or generalization
It’s difficult to predict the answer just based on the question stem. Let’s keep in mind what the author emphasizes about Jacobs’ narrative. As stated in P1, the narrative “provides, implicitly and explicitly, a perspective on the larger United States culture from the viewpoint of one denied access to it.” This helps readers “perceive domestic values within a broader social context.”
a
Those autobiographical narratives ████ ███████ ███ ████ ██ █ ██████████ ██████ ███ ███████ ████ █████████
This principle doesn’t fit the author’s evaluation, because the author doesn’t praise merely the narrative’s ability to capture the mood of the time period. Rather, the author praises the way the narrative helped readers perceive domestic values in the context of slavery.
b
Those autobiographical narratives ████ █████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ ████████████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ █████████
This principle doesn’t fit the author’s evaluation, because the author doesn’t praise merely the narrative’s ability portray the events of Jacobs’ life. Rather, the author praises the way the narrative helped readers perceive domestic values in the context of slavery.
c
Those autobiographical narratives ████ █████ ███████ ██ ████ ███████ ████████ ████████ ██████ ██ █ █████ ███████ ███ ███████ ████ █████████
This principle applies to the author’s evaluation, because the author
d
Those autobiographical narratives ████ ███ ███████ ████ █ ███████████ ████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ███████ ███ ███████ ████ █████████
This principle doesn’t fit the author’s evaluation, because the author doesn’t praise the narrative’s ability to take the perspective of a majority of its readers. Rather, the author praises the way the narrative helped readers perceive domestic values in the context of slavery. This involves a perspective that isn’t familiar to the majority of readers.
e
Those autobiographical narratives ████ ██████ ███ ███████████ ██ ███████ ████████ █████ ███ ███████ ████ █████████
This principle doesn’t fit the author’s evaluation, because the author doesn’t praise merely the narrative’s use of multiple genres. Rather, the author praises the way the narrative helped readers perceive domestic values in the context of slavery.