Literature & the human experience

Homework 1

Due: Tuesday, July 9, 12 pm

Name________________________

Equiano’s life narrative was written to persuade readers of certain ideas, not merely to tell the story of his life. That is to say, it isn’t just a story. It is also an argument.

Choose two passages in Equiano’s life narrative. For each, write a paragraph that explains what sort of argument you think it might carry. How might this episode or passage convince a reader to look at Equiano, or at his situation? To support your point, you should include a few quotations from the passage and discuss each quotation, explaining what you think is significant about it.