Suggested Activities for Hard Swearing
- This chapter contains references to a number of real historic characters including William Wells Brown, Henry Box Brown and Wendell Phillips. Students may wish to select one of these characters and learn more about their lives and contributions in the area of human rights.
- Henry Box Brown's narrative of his life and escape are accessible online at http://docsouth.unc.edu/brownbox/brownbox.html After reading the narrative, students can more fully understand why Henry attempted such a daring escape and was "willing to dare even death itself rather than endure any longer the clanking of those galling chains."
- Wendell Phillips is remembered for his life and writings including a number of memorable quotes. Have students respond to one of the following quotes taken from the book, Memorable Quotations: Massachusetts Writers of the Past:
- Immoral laws are doubtless void, and should not be obeyed.
- It is easy to be independent when all behind you agree with you, but the difficulty comes when nine hundred and ninety-nine of your friends think you are wrong
- Revolutions are not made; they come. A revolution is as natural a growth as an oak. It comes out of the past. Its foundations are laid far back.
- There is nothing stronger than human prejudice.
- Truth is one forever absolute, but opinion is truth filtered through the moods, the blood, the disposition of the spectator.
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Images of the horrors that Mercer has seen or heard about flow through her mind like a zoetrope. Have students discuss how a description of concrete images or examples can be an effective device to help illuminate abstract concepts or terms such as justice, the institution of slavery, and freedom. Have students brainstorm some concrete examples that could be used to illustrate a major concept or theme in this book.
- The Zoetrope was invented in 1834 as an early form of a motion picture projector. It was made up of a drum containing a series of still pictures that would be rotated in a circular fashion to create the sense of motion. A handout from George Egger's home page that students can use to create their own zoetrope is included in this guide.
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