Humanities Core Course

Winter Quarter

Professor Haynes

Week IV

 

Reading Questions for The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Chapters 1-5

 

  1. In chapter I Equiano introduces the reader to his life in Africa. Please list the categories of information that he shares about his nation.
  2. Equiano provides descriptions of family, village, and nation, but very often these descriptions refer to Europe as a reference point. As an author with a point of view, what is (or are) the rhetorical advantage(s) to be gain from using comparison in explicit and implicit ways?
  3. Chapter II recounts the beginning of his encounter with slavery. In this and other chapters, Equiano’s frame of reference for slavery is the traditional practice of slavery in Africa. In what ways does his experience as a captive conform to his cultural knowledge before he undergoes the middle passage from Africa to Barbadoes?
  4. While on board the slave ship, Equiano is aware of his surroundings and seeks to understand them. Please list the different sensory experiences of the middle passage?
  5. During and after his first voyage to British America Equiano is fascinated by European technology. What is the significance of these impression for the reader?
  6. Equiano does not experience the life of a slave on a plantation, but instead serves on board several vessels attached to Captain Pascal. Which countries or parts of the Atlantic world did he visit and why?
  7. During this period of his life at sea Equiano matured and felt that he was “almost an Englishman”. Please describe what experiences changed his initial view of white Europeans as barbarians to people whom he had a stronger “desire to resemble them, to imbibe their spirit, and imitate their manners”?
  8. In chapter 4, Equiano acts on his desire to be free.  Why does Equiano believe that he could be free of his master?
  9. Kidnapped a second time and sold to a new master, Equiano is destined for British America. Compare and contrast the effect of the receding coastline of England with that of Africa on him?
  10.  Equiano witnessed and disclosed a great deal about the nature of the power of whites over blacks. How does the system of slavery and white supremacy devalue black people as human beings?