Prep Memo #1: Slavery and Resistance
Assignment Overview
Write a 2–3 page memo analyzing one figure from Unit 1: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, or Harriet Tubman.
This assignment asks you to examine how these thinkers and actors developed strategies for resisting slavery—and to think critically about both the strengths and limitations of those strategies.
Guiding Questions
Your memo should address all of the following:
On Resistance Strategy
- What is this thinker’s/actor’s approach to resisting slavery? Provide specific textual evidence—cite at least two concrete moments that demonstrate this approach.
On Historical Constraints
- What constraints shaped this approach? Consider the historical, material, and social circumstances that made this strategy reasonable for this particular figure.
On Strengths
- What does this approach allow them to accomplish or articulate? Identify the strengths and insights enabled by this particular strategy.
On Limitations
- What does this approach leave out or overlook? Analyze the genuine limits of this approach given the thinker’s position and constraints.
Requirements
- Length: 2–3 pages
- Format: Chicago style
- Due Date: Sunday, February 8 at 11:59 PM
- Submission: via email to kkc@brynmawr.edu
Part 2: Graded Seminar Discussion
Date: Tuesday, Feb 10 (Full Period)
In seminar, you will defend your analysis and engage with peers’ interpretations in real time.
Evaluation Criteria
Your seminar performance will be evaluated according to the following four dimensions:
Evidence of Deep Reading (25%)
- Ability to cite specific passages from primary and secondary texts with accuracy
- Use of evidence to support claims about strategies of resistance
- Distinction between authors’ explicit arguments and underlying assumptions
Charitable Engagement (25%)
- Understanding of assigned author’s position within its historical context
- Explanation of the logic and urgency of their intervention
- Resistance to reductive or anachronistic interpretation
Comparative Thinking (25%)
- Engagement with how assigned author relates to contemporaries
- Identification of patterns and tensions between thinkers
Intellectual Honesty (25%)
- Acknowledgment of complexities and tensions within assigned author’s argument
- Willingness to revise thinking based on peer contributions
Tips for Success
- Use close reading. Ground your analysis in specific textual moments, not general summaries.
- Think about strategy as reasonable given constraints—avoid judgment about whether the approach was “right” or “wrong.”
- The memo format allows for a more exploratory tone than a formal essay. Use it to work through your thinking.
- Consider how material conditions (what was actually possible), historical circumstances (what was happening), and social position (who this person was) all shaped available options.