27 pages • 54-minute read
Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market
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Essay Topics
What was the role of performativity in the antebellum slave market? Refer to Johnson’s Soul by Soul in your answer.
Why was race so important in the antebellum slave market? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Why can slavery “never be represented” (10)?
How does Johnson’s portrayal of the New Orleans slave market compare with its representation in contemporary fiction?
Citing examples from the book, write about the importance of language in the antebellum slave market.
Why does African American history need “reconstructing”? Support your answer with examples from the text.
Which sources in the book do you find most telling? Why, and what are the limitations of these sources?
What “opportunities” did slavery provide to white society in 19th century New Orleans?
What was the function of fiction in the antebellum slave market?
What is paternalism? Discuss the paternal attitude of the antebellum South, and cite examples from the text to support your answer.
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