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Tasks: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Take the quiz:

Below, you will find a quiz related to the excerpt from Uncle Tom's Cabin and the text 'An Introduction to Uncle Tom's Cabin'. Complete the sentences by clicking on the correct option. Note that there may be more than one correct option.

Analyse:

You can work alone, or with a partner. Read the excerpts and answer the questions. Write down your answers.

  • Below, you will find an example of characterisation from the text. What impression do we get of the slave trader from the description? What type of characterisation is found in this excerpt?

Excerpt 1: The slave trader

For convenience sake, we have said, hitherto, two gentlemen. One of the parties, however, when critically examined, did not seem, strictly speaking, to come under the species. He was a short, thick-set man, with coarse, commonplace features, and that swaggering air of pretension which marks a low man who is trying to elbow his way upward in the world. He was much over-dressed, in a gaudy vest of many colors, a blue neckerchief, bedropped gayly with yellow spots, and arranged with a flaunting tie, quite in keeping with the general air of the man. His hands, large and coarse, were plentifully bedecked with rings; and he wore a heavy gold watch-chain, with a bundle of seals of portentous size, and a great variety of colors, attached to it,—which, in the ardor of conversation, he was in the habit of flourishing and jingling with evident satisfaction. His conversation was in free and easy defiance of Murray’s Grammar and was garnished at convenient intervals with various profane expressions, which not even the desire to be graphic in our account shall induce us to transcribe.

  • Below, you can read how the main character, Tom, is first introduced in the book. What impression do you get of him based on this description? What type of characterisation is this an example of? Why do you think the author has chosen to introduce the main character in this way?

Excerpt 2: Tom

"Why, the fact is, Haley, Tom is an uncommon fellow; he is certainly worth that sum anywhere,—steady, honest, capable, manages my whole farm like a clock."

(...)

"No; I mean, really, Tom is a good, steady, sensible, pious fellow. He got religion at a camp-meeting, four years ago; and I believe he really did get it. I’ve trusted him, since then, with everything I have,—money, house, horses,—and let him come and go round the country; and I always found him true and square in everything."

Research:

Work in pairs.

Choose one of the topics listed below and make a fact sheet. Make sure you include so much information on your fact sheet that your classmates get a good understanding of the topic. If you want, use relevant illustrations.

Topics:

  • slavery in the United States

  • the American Civil War

  • Abraham Lincoln

  • Harriet Beecher Stowe and the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin

Hang your fact sheets in the classroom or share them with your classmates digitally.

Write:

Choose one of the tasks, research the topic, and write a text that is between 500 and 900 words long. Remember to include references and a source list.

  1. In Uncle Tom's Cabin language is used to describe African Americans that today would be considered unacceptable. Does this mean we should no longer read or learn about the book? Discuss.

  2. Uncle Tom's Cabin is credited with building support for the abolition of slavery. But can fiction really change the world? Discuss.

  3. The American Declaration of Independence from 1776 stated that:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".

The Declaration of Independence

Did the society built in the United States, after the country gained independence from the British Empire, reflect the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence? Discuss.


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