Although "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" is typically presented in an abridged format, this lesson plan relies on the complete version of the speech. Although students and the teacher may already have some degree of familiarity with Douglass's speech, they may therefore encounter things in it which seem unfamiliar to them.
The thought questions in this lesson plan provide material and ideas that students can use to write short original essays and to develop their powers of analysis. The questions provided for the final paper are most suitable for student essays. For the sake of improving students' written expression, teachers should encourage students to write on topics that...
