1
UNIT
BEFORE YOU READ
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of
Olaudah Equiano
Literary Analysis
In an autobiography, a person tells the story of his or her own life. A
slave narrative is an autobiography written by a slave. It describes
the horrors of slavery firsthand from the author’s point of view. In
the following example, Olaudah Equiano describes the conditions on
the ship that brought him to Barbados. He uses emotional appeals,
persuasive statements that inspire sympathy in his readers.
The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying,
rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable.
Reading Strategy
It is helpful to summarize the main points of a challenging text. When
you summarize, you use your own words to state the main ideas and
details. A good summary is much shorter than the original text. As you
read, write notes in the boxes to help you summarize Equiano’s ideas.
Detail
People were chained.
Main Point
Detail
The slaves
were kept in
unbearable
conditions.
© Pearson Education
Detail
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 83
MAKING CONNECTIONS
from The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano
Summary Olaudah Equiano tells
what happened to him aboard a slave
ship. He describes the crowded conditions and sickening smells. He also tells of the slaves’ despair.
He explains that the ship’s crew chained, starved, and beat the
slaves. Many people died during the terrible journey. Those who
lived were examined and sold when they reached Barbados.
Note-taking Guide
Use this chart to describe the conditions on a slave ship.
Main Idea: Conditions on slave ships from Africa cause
many slaves to die during the journey.
The smell inside the ship is
terrible.
The ship’s crew is cruel.
Many slaves die.
Slaves are chained.
© Pearson Education
86 Adapted Reader’s Notebook
from The Interesting Narrative of
the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano
At last when the ship we were in, had got
in all her cargo, they made ready with many
fearful noises, and we were all put under deck,
so that we could not see how they managed the
vessel. But this disappointment was the least
of my sorrow. The stench of the hold while we
were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome,
that it was dangerous to remain there for any
time, and some of us had been permitted to stay
on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the
whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it
became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of
the place, and the heat of the climate, added to
the number in the ship, which was so crowded
that each had scarcely room to turn himself,
almost suffocated us. This produced copious
perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit
for respiration, from a variety of loathsome
smells, and brought on a sickness among the
slaves, of which many died—thus falling victims
to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of
their purchasers. This wretched situation was
again aggravated by the galling1 of the chains,
now become insupportable, and the filth of the
necessary tubs, into which the children often
fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks
of the women, and the groans of the dying,
TAKE NOTES
Literary Analysis
Underline three details in this
slave narrative that show the
horrible conditions for the slaves
on board ship.
Stop to Reflect
Why would it have been in the
interest of the slave traders to
treat the slaves better?
© Pearson Education
Vocabulary Development
loathsome (LOHTH suhm) adj. hateful
pestilential (pes ti LEN shuhl) adj. likely to cause disease
copious (KO pee uhs) adj. plentiful
improvident (im PRAH vuh duhnt) adj. shortsighted
avarice (AV uh ris) n. greed for riches
1. galling (GAWL ing) n. the creation of sores by rubbing or chafing.
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 87
TAKE NOTES
rendered the whole a scene of horror almost
inconceivable.
♦
Reading Strategy
Summarize the first bracketed
section in your own words.
Reading Check
Underline the parts of the
summary that show what some
slaves do to escape the misery of
the journey.
Read Fluently
Read the second bracketed
passage aloud. Circle the two
sights that attract Equiano’s
curiosity.
♦
♦
Equiano envied the fish of the sea for their
freedom. During the voyage, he grew more
fearful of the white slavers’ cruelty.
♦
♦
♦
One day they had taken a number of
fishes; and when they had killed and satisfied
themselves with as many as they thought fit, to
our astonishment who were on deck, rather than
give any of them to us to eat, as we expected,
they tossed the remaining fish into the sea again,
although we begged and prayed for some as well
as we could, but in vain. . . .
♦
♦
♦
Some of the hungry slaves tried to get
fish in secret. They were discovered and
whipped. Then three desperate slaves
jumped into the sea. The others were
immediately put below deck. Two of the
slaves drowned. The third was rescued and
then beaten unmercifully.
♦
♦
♦
During our passage, I first saw flying fishes,
which surprised me very much; they used
frequently to fly across the ship, and many of
them fell on the deck. I also now first saw the
use of the quadrant;2 I had often with
astonishment seen the mariners make
observations with it, and I could not think
what it meant. They at last took notice of my
surprise; and one of them, willing to increase
it, as well as to gratify my curiosity, made me
one day look through it. The clouds appeared
to me to be land, which disappeared as they
passed along. This heightened my wonder; and I
was now more persuaded than ever, that I was
88 Adapted Reader’s Notebook
© Pearson Education
2. quadrant (KWAH druhnt) n. an instrument used by navigators to determine a ship’s position.
in another world, and that every thing about me
was magic.
♦
♦
♦
The ship anchored off Bridgetown, the
capital of the island of Barbados in the West
Indies. Merchants and planters came on
board to examine the slaves. The slaves on
the ship were fearful, but some older slaves
came from the land to reassure them. Finally,
the slaves went ashore.
♦
♦
TAKE NOTES
Stop to Reflect
In the last paragraph of this slave
narrative, what is the effect of
these details on the reader’s
emotions?
♦
© Pearson Education
We were conducted immediately to the
merchant’s yard, where we were all pent up
together, like so many sheep in a fold, without
regard to sex or age. . . . We were not many days
in the merchant’s custody, before we were sold
after their usual manner, which is this: On a
signal given (as the beat of a drum), the buyers
rush at once into the yard where the slaves are
confined, and make choice of that parcel3 they
like best. . . .
Vocabulary Development
conducted (kuhn DUHK tuhd) v. led
custody (KUHS tuh dee) n. keeping, possession
3. parcel (PAR suhl) n. group.
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano 89
AFTER YOU READ
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of
Olaudah Equiano
1. Literary Analysis: Equiano describes the conditions aboard a slave
ship in his slave narrative. How did the slaves feel about their
situation?
2. Literary Analysis: Use the following chart to list two emotional
appeals in Equiano’s narrative. Then, tell the effect of each.
Emotional Appeal
Effect on Reader
3. Reading Strategy: Name two main ideas from Equiano’s narrative.
4. Reading Strategy: Summarize what happened after the ship
reached Barbados.
Writing About the Essential Question
How does literature shape or reflect society? What do you think the
public of Equiano’s day learned about the “accursed trade” of slavery
that it may not have known before reading this narrative?
© Pearson Education
90 Adapted Reader’s Notebook
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for copyrighted material:
The James Baldwin Estate
“The Rockpile” is collected in Going to Meet the
Man, © 1965 by James Baldwin. Copyright
renewed. Published by Vintage Books.
New York Times Agency
“Rock of the Modern Age, Arthur Miller
is Everywhere” by Mel Gussow from
diversityjobmarket.com
Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan from The Joy
Luck Club. Copyright © 1990 by Amy Tan. First
appeared in Threepenny Review.
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
“Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper” by Martin
Espada from City of Coughing and Dead Radiators.
Copyright © 1993 by Martin Espada.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC
“The First Seven Years” by Bernard Malamud
from The Magic Barrel. Copyright © 1950, 1958
and copyright renewed 1977, 1986 by Bernard
Malamud.
Princeton University Press
From “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau. Copyright
© 1971 by Princeton University Press, 1999
renewed PUP, 1989 paperback edition.
Florida Master Site File
“Archaeological Short Form” from http://www.
flheritage.com.
Harcourt, Inc.
“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker from In Love &
Trouble: Stories of Black Women, copyright ©
1973 by Alice Walker. “A Worn Path” by Eudora
Welty from A Curtain of Green and Other Stories,
copyright 1941 and renewed in 1969 by Eudora
Welty. This material may not be reproduced in
any form or by any means without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
International Creative Management, Inc.
“Life in His Language” by Toni Morrison from
James Baldwin. Copyright © 1989 by Toni
Morrison. Published in James Baldwin: The
Legacy (Quincy Troupe, ed.), Simon & Schuster,
1989. Copyright © 1989 by Simon & Schuster.
The Landmark Project
“Son of Citation Machine and Landmarks
Son of Citation Machine Masthead” from http://
citationmachine.net/ Copyright © 2006 by
David Warlick & The Landmark Project.
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League of Women Voters
“How to Watch a Debate” from www.lwv.org. The
material in this publication on “How to Watch a
Debate” was excerpted from a League of Women
Voters of the United States (LWVUS) online
document of the same title, located at www.lwv.
org. Secondary users must request permission
directly from the LWVUS, the copyright owner.
Copyright © 2007 League of Women Voters. All
rights reserved.
Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
“In Another Country” by Ernest Hemingway from
Men Without Woman. Copyright 1927 by Charles
Scribner’s Sons. Copyright renewed 1955 by Ernest
Hemingway.
Syracuse University Press
“The Iroquois Constitution” from Arthur C. Parker
on the Iroquois: Iroquois Uses of Maize and Other
Food Plants, The Code of Handsome Lake; The
Seneca Prophet; The Constitution of the Five Nations
by Arthur C. Parker, edited by William N. Fenton
(Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, 1981).
Copyright © 1968 by Syracuse University Press.
Viking Penguin, Inc.
“The Turtle (Chapter 3)” by John Steinbeck from
The Grapes of Wrath. Copyright © 1939, renewed
copyright © 1967 by John Steinbeck.
Yale University Press
From “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by
Jonathan Edwards from The Sermons of Jonathan
Edwards: A Reader published by Yale University
Press. Copyright © 1999 by Yale University Press.
All rights reserved.
Note: Every effort has been made to locate the
copyright owner of material reproduced on this
component. Omissions brought to our attention
will be corrected in subsequent editions.
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