Purpose:
● The purpose of this essay is to assess your ability
○ to develop analytical skills by working with secondary sources
○ to make an historical argument.
Essay Question:
The power of education in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is one of the most important themes in the entire work, but it is not a theme with a consistent meaning.
Although Frederick Douglass understands that the only path to freedom, both for himself and fellow slaves, is through learning to read, write, and have an educational base to build on, he is at the same time disgusted with education because it causes him to understand the full extent of the horrors of slavery. At one point, he states, “It [education] opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but offered no ladder upon which to get out.”
With this important quote as your starting point, examine the shifting meaning and importance of education in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” and consider if Douglass ultimately views it as the most important thing or as something that is fraught with danger and disappointment.
General Requirements and Formatting Rules:
Maximum of FIVE pages of written text.
● Title page and bibliography must be included.
● Essay should be formatted according to Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition (“Author Date”)
○ Consult the sample “Author-Date” essay included in your course materials.
● Submit online via Canvas in PDF or Microsoft Word format.
● Only use materials assigned for this course to write your essay.
● Keep in mind that an honors-level essay must:
○ develop a clear, analytically rigorous thesis statement in response to the question;
○ marshal and explicate historical evidence, demonstrating a mastery of historical details (i.e., names, dates, places, etc.) from the lectures and readings in the service of defending your thesis;
○ weave the argument throughout the body of the essay and explicitly link supporting evidence to the argument;
○ use a logical organizational structure;
○ vary sentence structure, sentence length, verb choice , and develop smooth transitions between logically organized paragraphs;
○ and be almost entirely free of grammatical errors and misspellings.
Structure:
Your essay should include an introduction, body paragraphs (double-spaced) with supporting evidence and examples from the course materials, and a conclusion that summarizes the main points of your essay as well as states the overall significance of the paper.
The structure should look something like this:
● Introduction
○ Relevant context/background (Who? What? When? Where?)
○ Central argument that asserts a conclusion based on your critical analysis of the course material. This is where you explain the main point of your essay. Your thesis should be specific,
framed as an answer to the essay question, and debatable.
● Body Paragraphs
○ Topic Sentence or “mini-thesis” that reflects your central argument.
○ Evidence/Examples from the course materials in support of your topic sentence.
○ Analysis of evidence/examples. Remind the reader why these examples are relevant to your argument.
Conclusion
○ Restate argument and briefly summarize the most important points.
○ Why is this important? What are some of the most important conclusions you have reached about your subject and the reasons you think those conclusions are significant?
