Poetry, Performance & Historical Testimony — Problem set, Grade 11
Read the complete Douglass Narrative with framing material and Appendix, Dunbar poems, and performance scenes. Analyze testimony, formal choices, and public voice; revise a complete-work essay.
Review the key ideas
American Poetry: Voice, Form & Context
Read a poem once for a first impression and again for details that create it. Distinguish the speaker from the author; a poem need not describe a personal event.
Drama, Performance & Subtext
Drama communicates through dialogue, action, silence, and staging. Stage directions supply textual evidence; a performance adds choices that must be distinguished from the script.
Reading a Complete Book
Read a longer work in planned sections and keep a record of changing interpretations. A chapter summary records events; an analysis explains the effects of choices and patterns.
Testimony, Framing & Historical Voice
Testimony establishes an account from a particular position of experience. Analyze how a witness claims knowledge, selects events, addresses an audience, and distinguishes direct experience from reported information.
Problem 1
Answer and explanation
“One column lists what we have done. / No column holds what doing ends.” These are the supplied words; conclusions about motives or causes need additional reasoning.
Use the criteria to compare your reasoning, not to copy the model’s wording. A supported alternative interpretation may earn full credit.
Response criteria
- Make an accurate, focused claim or revision.
- Use a relevant detail or a clearly explained language choice.
- Explain the relationship and recognize a relevant limit.
Problem 2
Answer and explanation
The ledger can record completed actions but not fully contain their consequences or losses. Repeated “column” creates a formal comparison; the second line qualifies confidence in tidy accounting. A different conclusion needs a source detail it explains at least as well; identify what would confirm or challenge it.
Use the criteria to compare your reasoning, not to copy the model’s wording. A supported alternative interpretation may earn full credit.
Response criteria
- Make an accurate, focused claim or revision.
- Use a relevant detail or a clearly explained language choice.
- Explain the relationship and recognize a relevant limit.
Problem 3
Answer and explanation
ARTIST: “That is not what I meant.” LENA: “I know.” [The artist turns the proof face down.] These are the supplied words; conclusions about motives or causes need additional reasoning.
Use the criteria to compare your reasoning, not to copy the model’s wording. A supported alternative interpretation may earn full credit.
Response criteria
- Make an accurate, focused claim or revision.
- Use a relevant detail or a clearly explained language choice.
- Explain the relationship and recognize a relevant limit.
Problem 4
Answer and explanation
The face-down proof can signal embarrassment or an attempt to stop the dispute. Lena’s reply may distinguish intent from effect. A performance should justify its chosen meaning with the rest of the exchange. A different conclusion needs a source detail it explains at least as well; identify what would confirm or challenge it.
Use the criteria to compare your reasoning, not to copy the model’s wording. A supported alternative interpretation may earn full credit.
Response criteria
- Make an accurate, focused claim or revision.
- Use a relevant detail or a clearly explained language choice.
- Explain the relationship and recognize a relevant limit.
Problem 5
Answer and explanation
Journal: a traveler first calls a society ideal, then notices fear and exploitation, and later revises his theory. These are the supplied words; conclusions about motives or causes need additional reasoning.
Use the criteria to compare your reasoning, not to copy the model’s wording. A supported alternative interpretation may earn full credit.
Response criteria
- Make an accurate, focused claim or revision.
- Use a relevant detail or a clearly explained language choice.
- Explain the relationship and recognize a relevant limit.
Problem 6
Answer and explanation
Record the original description, the contradictory observation, and the explicit revision with chapter references. The progression supports an argument about limited knowledge rather than unchanging confidence. A different conclusion needs a source detail it explains at least as well; identify what would confirm or challenge it.
Use the criteria to compare your reasoning, not to copy the model’s wording. A supported alternative interpretation may earn full credit.
Response criteria
- Make an accurate, focused claim or revision.
- Use a relevant detail or a clearly explained language choice.
- Explain the relationship and recognize a relevant limit.
Problem 7
Answer and explanation
A whole-work interpretation should connect a turning point to other resources and constraints. One event alone does not explain every later development.
Compare the reasoning with the criteria. Accept a different interpretation supported by accurate evidence.
Response criteria
- Make a focused, accurate claim.
- Use specific relevant evidence or explain a purposeful language choice.
- Explain the connection and address a meaningful complication.
Problem 8
Answer and explanation
The explicit distinction clarifies a possible misreading of criticism. Explain how scope and anticipated audience affect the addition.
Compare the reasoning with the criteria. Accept a different interpretation supported by accurate evidence.
Response criteria
- Make a focused, accurate claim.
- Use specific relevant evidence or explain a purposeful language choice.
- Explain the connection and address a meaningful complication.