Search Our Essay Database

Essay Instructions: I am writing a book review on Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave. The paper is intended for an academic audience and must be presented as such. I must avoid using slang, and common knowledge statements. Paragraphs must be at least five to six sentences long. The paper is to be written in the Turabian format without footnotes and no citations. The paper must stay on topic which means no outside sources are to be referenced. I am to use appropriate quotes (1 to 2 ) lines in each paragraph to support argument from the book. And I am to use parenthetical references in the paper as well. Here is an example of a parenthetical reference I made up: "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong."(Lincoln, p. 270).

Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Wilder Publications (November 24, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 160459215X
ISBN-13: 978-1604592153

or

Paperback: 188 pages
Publisher: World Classics Library (September 10, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1434409988
ISBN-13: 978-1434409980

There is also a Kindle Edition as well.

Essay Instructions: This assignment requires you to read Solomon Northup's "Twelve Years a Slave. The purpose of this assignment is not to simply summarize Northup's book. Instead, you should explain what Northup's account illustrate the relationships between masters and slaves, overseers and slaves, and among slaves themselves? In your essay, you should also explain what Northup's narrative tells about the role that physical violence, non-physical coercion, and rewards played in upholding the system of slavery. Finally, you should explain what Northup's narrative tells us about his own perspective on slavery. What lessons does he want his readers to take away from his story.
READING GUIDE:
1. What characteristics make Northup an unusual observer of slavery? Do you think his story is historically reliable why?
2. Briefly explain the circumstances under which Solomon Northup became a slave. How did Northup describe the experience of going from freedom to slavery? Why did he keep his true identity hidden during his many years as a slave in Louisiana.
3. During his 12 yrs. in slavery Northup had 3 principle masters: William Ford, John Tibeats, and Edwin Epps. What did he think of each of these men? Which master most closely fit the pattern of planter paternalism? Which master seemed most like a capitalist? Which matter did Northup describe as being most cruel and abusive.
4. Describe Northup's exployment history as a slave in Louisiana. What 2 southern cash crops did he have experience in cultivating? How did he distinguish himself from other slaves as an exceptionally valuable worker? What special skills did he posess which made him profitable to his masters?
5. What does Northup's narrative tell us about the role that overseers, drivers, and slave patrols played in controlling the slave population?
6. How did Solomon Northup finally escape from slavery in Louisiana? What role did Samuel Bass and Henry Northup play in his deliverance from slavery? What actions did Northup take to punish the people who had enslaved him?