Independent Reading Study Guide
for Davidson’s
Frederick Douglass Fights for Freedom
Units 1 – 10
(2018)
Kathleen Eilers crandall
Crandall, Kathleen Eilers.
Independent Reading Study Guide for Davidson’s Frederick Douglass Fights for Freedom.
2010a, 2012, 2017, 2018
National Technical Institute for the Deaf,
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, 14623.
Contents
Directions for Reading
Unit 1
Who Was Frederick Douglass
Unit 2
The Happy Years
Unit 3
The Life of a Slave
Unit 4
The Biggest Lesson of All
Unit 5
A Slave for Life
Unit 6
Fight!
Unit 7
The Plan That Failed
The Plan That Did Not Fail
Unit 8
“Trust No One”
The Speech
Unit 9:
“Run, Frederick, Run”
“The Underground Railroad Is Running Tonight!”
Unit 10
“My Job Is Done”
“Who Will Lead Us Now?”
Directions for Reading
This material is designed to accompany the biography Frederick Douglass Fights for Freedom by Margaret Davidson. Students need to have that book to complete the questions and activities in this Independent Reading Study Guide. Students should also have access to additional supportive information in class notes for courses in which these materials are used.
This Independent Reading Study Guideis designed to help students improvetheir ability to read independently. Five different skill areas with questions and activities are included -- vocabulary, grammar, general knowledge, comprehension, and critical thinking. The questions and activities in each skill area will assist students in developing skills needed for reading comprehension.
Additionally, there are bonus questions at the end of each unit. These questions require students to use several of the skills presented in the unit. Students should answer these questions in one or more complete sentences.
This Independent Reading Study Guide divides the biography into 10 units.
UnitChapter Title in BiographyPages in Biography
1Who Was Frederick Douglass? 7 – 9
2The Happy Years10 – 15
3The Life of a Slave16 – 21
4The Biggest Lesson of All22 – 27
5A Slave for Life28 – 32
6Fight!33 – 38
7The Plan That Failed39 – 42
The Plan That Did Not Fail43 – 48
8“Trust No One”49 – 52
The Speech53 – 58
9“Run, Frederick, Run”59 – 64
“The Underground Railroad Is Running Tonight!”65 – 70
10“My Job Is Done”71 – 74
“Who Will Lead Us Now?”75 – 80
1
Unit 1
Who Was Frederick Douglass?
Directions: This unit is for pages 7 to 9. First, do the vocabulary, grammar and general knowledge questions. Then read pages 7 to 9. Then try to answer the comprehension questions; you may need to read pages 7 to 9 two or three times in order to answer the questions correctly. Finally, complete the critical thinking activities. The page numbers for each question are in brackets next to the question number.
Vocabulary: Answer these questions before you read pages 7 to 9. Decide the part-of-speech of the underlined words. Write noun, verb, adj. or adv. on the Part of Speech line. Then, find the word in your dictionary, and pick the best meaning or synonym for the word.
1 [7].Why did people respect him so much?
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)admire
(b)hate
(c)look for
(d)detail
2[7].Frederick Douglass cared about other people.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)attended
(b)supervised
(c)liked
(d)felt concerned
3 [7].He was born a slave.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)person owned by another person
(b)work
(c)person who works hard
(d)serve another
4 [8].Frederick Douglass found ways to help.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)paths or roads
(b)details
(c)methods or procedures
(d)distances
5 [8].He traveled from town to town telling people about slavery.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)very hard work
(b)not pleasant
(c)the condition of people owned by other people
(d)sweat
6 [8].Many people read it – and knew how it felt to be owned like a horse or a pig or a cow.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)cloth
(b)sense of touch
(c)thought
(d)was really experienced by people
7 [8].He started a newspaper where blacks could speak for themselves.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)dark-skinned people
(b)dark colors
(c)makes dark
(d)erases
8 [8].He started a newspaper where blacks could speak for themselves.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)say words orally
(b)use a language
(c)express thoughts and ideas
(d)lecture
9 [8].When it was over, the slaves were freed at last.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)ended; finished
(b)above
(c)across
(d)more than
10 [8].When it was over, the slaves were freed at last.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)not taxed
(b)set free or emancipated
(c)without cost
(d)not in use
11 [8].When it was over, the slaves were freed at last.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)finally
(b)at the end
(c)something at the end
(d)in conclusion
12 [8].But their troubles were not over.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)disturb or bother
(b)effort
(c)difficulties; things that make life difficult
(d)pains
13 [8].But their troubles were not over.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)ended; finished
(b)above
(c)across
(d)more than
14 [8].In many places blacks hadto do work that no one else wanted to do.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)in a different way
(b)other (person)
(c)time
(d)place
15 [8].They had to live in poor sections of town.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)districts or parts
(b)members
(c)pieces
(d)cuts
16 [8].Their children had to go to tumble-down schools.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)old and in poor condition
(b)weed
(c)at the bottom
(d)drop
17 [8].Who could fight for their rights?
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)correct
(b)opposite of left
(c)completely
(d)freedom and advantages everyone should be allowed to have
18 [9].He had a very sharp tongue.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)able to cut things
(b)alert, clever, smart
(c)unpleasant flavor
(d)thoughtless
19 [9].He had a very sharp tongue.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)language
(b)fleshy movable organ of the mouth
(c)something long and flat
(d)scold
20 [9].His name was honored around the world.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)privilege
(b)treated with special respect
(c)felt proud
(d)good name
Grammar: Answer these questions before you read pages 7 to 9. Read these sentences carefully. Then answer the questions about the bold-faced words.
21 [7].“He is my friend,” Abraham Lincoln said about Frederick Douglass.
In this sentence, Abraham Lincoln is talking. He is
(a)Abraham Lincoln
(b)Frederick Douglass
(c)the author of the book
22 [7].Frederick Douglass was one of the most famous men in America.
Think about the words: “one of the most famous men” and “the most famous man.”
They have different meanings. “One of the most famous men” means
(a)There was no one as famous as Frederick Douglass.
(b)There were several famous men in America and Frederick Douglass was one of them.
(c)Frederick Douglass was more famous than anyone else.
23 [7].He was owned like a horse or a pig or a cow.
The sentence tells us, “Someone owned Frederick Douglass.” Who was owned by someone?
(a)Frederick Douglass
(b)a horse or a pig or a cow
(c)someone
24 [7].But Frederick Douglass could not forget the millions of men and women and children who were slaves in the South.
This sentence tells us, “Millions of men and women and children were slaves in the South.” In this sentence who means
(a)Frederick Douglass
(b)slaves
(c)millions of men and women and children
25 [8].“How can I help?” he asked himself. Frederick Douglass was only a poor runaway slave himself.
In this passage, Frederick Douglass asks, “How can I help?” He is not talking to other people. He is thinking these words. Himself is
(a)Frederick Douglass
(b)a slave
(c)no one knows
26 [8].He wrote the story of his life as a slave. Many people read it – and knew how it felt to be owned like a horse or a pig or a cow.
The word it occurs two times here. The first it tells us what people read. The second it has no real meaning. What did many people read?
(a)a story about a horse or a pig or a cow
(b)the story of Frederick Douglass’ life as a slave
(c)how it felt to be owned
27 [8].He started a newspaper where blacks could speak for themselves.
In this sentence themselves means the same as another word in the sentence. Themselves is
(a)Frederick Douglass
(b)a newspaper
(c)blacks
28 [8].In 1861 the Civil War began. When it was over, the slaves were freed at last.
This passage tells us that someone freed the slaves. We could rewrite the last sentence as
(a)Someone freed the slaves when the Civil War was over.
(b)When the Civil war was over, the slaves freed someone.
(c)The slaves freed the Civil War.
29 [8].In many places blacks had to do work that no one else wanted to do.
In this sentence, had to is “must + past.” Think about these sentences. (1) Today, we must do homework. (2) Yesterday, we had to do homework.
Sentences 1 and 2 mean the same except, “had to” is
(a)past
(b)present
(c)future
30 [8].Who could fight for their rights?
Frederick Douglass fought for the rights of black people. In the sentence, their means
(a)Frederick Douglass
(b)black people
(c)rights
31 [9].Frederick Douglass was a famous man. He was respected.
The last sentence tells us that people respected Frederick Douglas. We could rewrite the sentence as
(a)Many people respected Frederick Douglass.
(b)People were respected by Frederick Douglass.
(c)Frederick Douglass respected people.
32 [9].Sometimes he was feared.
This sentence tells us that sometimes people feared Frederick Douglas. We could rewrite the sentence as
(a)Sometimes people feared Frederick Douglass.
(b)People were feared by Frederick Douglass.
(c)Frederick Douglass feared people.
33 [9].His name was honored around the world.
This sentence tells us that people honored Frederick Douglass. We could rewrite the sentence as
(a)Many people honored Frederick Douglass.
(b)People were honored by Frederick Douglass.
(c)Frederick Douglass honored people.
General Knowledge: You need to know this information in order to comprehend the information on pages 7 to 9. Answer these questions before you read pages 7 to 9. You may need to use an encyclopedia to answer some of these questions.
34 [7].Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States about
(a)100 years ago
(b)150 years ago
(c)50 years ago
(d)200 years ago
35 [7].Frederick Douglass ran away to the northern states. Before and during the Civil War, some northern states were
(a)New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia
(b)Virginia, North Carolina, and New York
(c)Ohio, Massachusetts, and Delaware
36 [7].Millions of men, women and children were slaves in the South. Some of the states in the South were
(a)North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama
(b)South Carolina, Virginia, and New Hampshire
(c)New York, South Dakota, and West Virginia
37 [8].Frederick Douglass helped slaves escape on the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was
(a)a train that went underground in long tunnels
(b)a subway in New York City
(c)a system for helping slaves escape to Canada or free states
38 [8].The Civil War began in 1861 and ended in ______.
(a)1863
(b)1865
(c)1864
39[9].Which Constitutional Amendment gave African-Americans the right to vote?
(a)13th
(b)14th
(c)15th
(d)19th
(e)26th
40[9].Who had the right to vote first, African-American men or African-American women?
(a)African-American men
(b)African-American women
(c)They both got the right to vote at the same time.
Comprehension: Now you should be ready to read pages 7 to 9 with good understanding. Read pages 7 to 9 carefully and answer these questions.
41[7].Frederick Douglass ran away to the northern states because
(a)he was twenty-one.
(b)he did not want to be a slave.
(c)he could forget the slaves there.
42[7].Frederick Douglass forgot the slaves in the South.
(a)true
(b)false
43[8].Frederick Douglass was poor when he ran away from the South.
(a)true
(b)false
44[8]Frederick Douglass traveled from town to town telling people about slavery because
(a)he was a poor runaway slave
(b)he wanted people in the North to understand how it felt to be a slave
(c)he wrote the story of his life
(d)the Civil War began
45[8].Black people still had troubles after the Civil War was over because ______.
(a)they had to work hard
(b)they lived in poor towns
(c)they still had very few rights
(d)their children went to school
Critical Thinking: You will need to use reasoning and logic to answer these questions. The author has not directly stated this information in the book. But you can figure out the answers to these questions if you have understood what you read.
46[7].Frederick Douglass was
(a)African-American
(b)European-American
(c)Asian-American
47[7].Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were alive at the same time. We know this because
(a)they were famous.
(b)they were friends.
(c)they were Presidents of the U.S.
(d)they were slaves.
48[7].Where did Frederick Douglass live before he ran away?
(a)in Pennsylvania
(b)in New York
(c)in the southern states
(d)in the northern states
49[7].Frederick Douglass wanted to be free. We know this because
(a)He ran away to the northern states.
(b)He could not forget the millions of people who were slaves in the South.
(c)He helped millions of people who were slaves in the South.
(d)He wrote the story of his life as a slave.
50[8].Did Frederick Douglass run away before the Civil War?
(a)Yes
(b)No
(c)There is not enough information in the book to figure this out.
Bonus Question
[9].What are two of the rights that Frederick Douglass fought for?
(a)______
______
(b)______
______
[Notes]
Unit 2
The Happy Years
Directions: This unit is for pages 10 to 15. First, do the vocabulary, grammar and general knowledge questions. Then read pages 10 to 15. Then try to answer the comprehension questions; you may need to read pages 10 to 15 two or three times in order to answer the questions correctly. Finally, complete the critical thinking activities. The page numbers for each question are in brackets next to the question number.
Vocabulary: Answer these questions before you read pages 10 to 15. Decide the part-of-speech of the underlined words. Write noun, verb, adj. or adv. on the Part of Speech line. Then, find the word in your dictionary, and pick the best meaning or synonym for the word.
1 [10].But Frederick didn’t want to know about when he was born.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)approximately; almost; not exactly
(b)on every side
(c)having as a subject
(d)in a circle
2[10].He wanted to know exactly.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)forced to give
(b)accurately; correctly
(c)altogether
(d)totally
3 [10].Because everyone else knows.
Part-of-Speech adj .
(a)in a different way
(b)other; different
(c)at another time
(d)further
4 [10].They’re white.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)light-skinned people
(b)without color
(c)the color of milk
(d)erased
5 [11].His grandmother was sewing. Now, she put down her sewing. She leaned forward.
Part-of-Speech ______
(e)tended
(a)helped
(b)bent (moved in a curve) from a vertical position
(c)looked to the future
6 [11].Now, she put down her sewing. She leaned forward.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)self-confident
(b)toward the front
(c)player near the front of the team
(d)send on
7 [11].“Listen to me Frederick,” she said. “And listen sharp.”
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)able to cut things
(b)very carefully; accurately
(c)unpleasant flavor
(d)very pointed
8 [11].Her voice was very stern.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)back end of boat
(b)serious; strict
(c)happy; pleasant
(d)lecture
9 [11].You are a slave – and slaves don’t need birthdays.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)person owned like a cow
(b)work
(c)person who works hard
(d)serve another
10 [11].He never knew the exact day.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)force to give
(b)accurate; correct
(c)altogether
(d)total
11 [12].Grandmother’s cabin was only a tumble-down shack in the little town of Tuckahoe. Part-of-Speech ______
(a)old and in poor shape
(b)weed
(c)at the bottom
(d)drop
12 [12].Grandmother’s cabin was only a tumble-down shack in the little town of Tuckahoe.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)pile of stuff
(b)dirty
(c)not expensive
(d)hut; very small cheap house
13 [12].It had no real floor – only bare earth.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)uncovered
(b)empty
(c)finish
(d)very
14 [12].It had no real floor – only bare earth.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)cover
(b)planet; world
(c)soil; ground
(d)place
15 [12].He knew that Grandmother Bailey only raised children until they were old enough to work.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)brought up, gave care to
(b)picked up
(c)collected
(d)built
16 [12].“I’m awfully skinny and small.”
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)great
(b)highly
(c)very
(d)wonderful
17 [13].Frederick could remember a time when he had not been able to touch the bottom branch of the pine tree beside the cabin – no matter how high he stretched.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)reached out
(b)made tight
(c)exaggerated
(d)ran
18 [13].He had been down-river as far as the next farm.
Part-of-Speech adv .
(a)distant; away
(b)much
(c)advanced
(d)long
19 [13].He was far too excited to be worried.
Part-of-Speech adv .
(a)distant; away
(b)much
(c)advanced
(d)long
20 [14].Frederick’s feet began to drag.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)pull
(b)fish with a special net
(c)puff on a cigarette
(d)move slowly and with difficulty
21 [14].Later Frederick learned that these were slave-quarters.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)one-fourth ( ¼ )
(b)twenty-five cents
(c)places to live
(d)divide into four parts
22 [14].Fields of corn and tobacco stretched as far as he could see.
Part-of-Speech ______
(a)spread; continued
(b)made tight
(c)exaggerated
(d)ran
Grammar: Answer these questions before you read pages 10 to 15. Read these sentences carefully. Then answer the questions about the bold-faced words.
23 [10].The first sentence of this chapter is: “Grandma, when was I born?”
Who is “I”? Who were you reading about in the first chapter?
(a)the author of the book, Margaret
(b)Abraham Lincoln
(c)Frederick Douglass
24 [10].“Why, Frederick, you know that,” said his grandmother. “You were born about six years ago.”
The word, that, points back to something in the first sentence of the chapter; that means
(a)when Frederick Douglass was born
(b)his grandmother
(c)Abraham Lincoln
25 [10]. “Because everyone else knows (their birth date),” said Frederick.