Abolition and Women’s Rights Movements, Part 1 — Quiz
Question 3 • Language Arts 11
Read the excerpt from "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?". But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, “It is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less; would you persuade more, and rebuke less; your cause would be much more likely to succeed.” But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. Which statement best explains why this is an example of a counterclaim by Douglass?
Answer
A
Douglass addresses a potential argument of the other side and admits the point is solid.
B
Douglass addresses a potential argument of the other side and makes a case against it.
C
Douglass makes a claim and admits the flaws within it.
D
Douglass makes a claim and offers facts to support it.
Explanation
Douglass first presents a possible criticism from his audience: abolitionists should persuade more and denounce less. He then argues against that criticism, saying there is nothing to debate when the key point—that enslaved people are human—is already conceded. This makes the passage a counterclaim he addresses and refutes, so the best choice is “addresses a potential argument of the other side and makes a case against it.”
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