Making Inferences in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Question 3 • PA-Common Core ELA 8 Q1
Read this excerpt from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness. Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seen in every thing. It was ever present to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition. I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm.
Answer
A
His new ideas are upsetting to his fellow enslaved persons.
B
He wants to read more about personal freedoms.
C
His new ideas prevent him from getting his work done.
D
He is unable to ignore the appeal of freedom.
Explanation
Douglass says freedom is present in every sound, sight, and feeling, and that it torments him with awareness of his condition. These repeated images show that he cannot ignore the appeal of freedom; it fills his thoughts constantly. The choice “He is unable to ignore the appeal of freedom” best captures the passage.
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