Read this paragraph.Tara emerged from the school bus into the warm spring air toting her flute case and backpack for the short walk home. As she walked, she contemplated tomorrow’s testing in band class. Last month, Tara had failed to prepare her piece for testing, and she made three careless mistakes. As a result, she had surrendered first chair flute to Leigh, a less experienced musician. Tara lengthened her stride and began to whistle a Mozart concerto as her home came into view.
Read this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.We were not regularly allowanced. Our food was coarse corn meal boiled. This was called MUSH. It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. The children . . . would come and devour the mush; some with oyster-shells, others with pieces of shingle, some with naked hands, and none with spoons. He that ate fastest got most; he that was strongest secured the best place; and few left the trough satisfied.
Read this paragraph.When my grandparents proposed we visit an aquarium, I never imagined the impact the trip might have on my life. We traveled by car to Harbortown, and we passed the time discussing the attractions we hoped to see. At the aquarium, we roamed through aisles of tanks, mystified by the sea creatures within. My grandmother discovered a “touch tank,” and we enjoyed sensory interaction with a ray. But it was the “Careers in Marine Biology” exhibition that offered me a glimpse of my future.
Read this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.I was probably between seven and eight years old when I left Colonel Lloyd's plantation. I left it with joy. I shall never forget the ecstasy with which I received the intelligence that my old master (Anthony) had determined to let me go to Baltimore, to live with Mr. Hugh Auld, brother to my old master's son-in-law, Captain Thomas Auld. I received this information about three days before my departure. They were three of the happiest days I ever enjoyed. I spent the most part of all these three days in the creek, washing off the plantation scurf, and preparing myself for my departure.
Read this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.In the afternoon of that day, we reached Annapolis, the capital of the State. We stopped but a few moments, so that I had no time to go on shore. It was the first large town that I had ever seen, and though it would look small compared with some of our New England factory villages, I thought it a wonderful place for its size – more imposing even than the Great House Farm!
Read this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.I had no bed. I must have perished with cold, but that, the coldest nights, I used to steal a bag which was used for carrying corn to the mill. I would crawl into this bag, and there sleep on the cold, damp, clay floor, with my head in and feet out. My feet have been so cracked with the frost, that the pen with which I am writing might be laid in the gashes.
Read this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.My home was charmless; it was not home to me; on parting from it, I could not feel that I was leaving any thing which I could have enjoyed by staying. My mother was dead, my grandmother lived far off, so that I seldom saw her. I had two sisters and one brother, that lived in the same house with me; but the early separation of us from our mother had well nigh blotted the fact of our relationship from our memories. I looked for home elsewhere, and was confident of finding none which I should relish less than the one which I was leaving. If, however, I found in my new home hardship, hunger, whipping, and nakedness, I had the consolation that I should not have escaped any one of them by staying.
Read this paragraph.Rico opened his laptop and began his Internet search. He recalled with frustration the "B–” he had earned on his last research paper. His teacher told him that the online encyclopedia he had quoted was "not sufficient research.” Luckily, his librarian had provided a list of reliable research websites for this assignment. Rico reached into his backpack and pulled out his social studies notebook. The assignment sheet read "Departments of the US Government,” and a variety of websites ending in ".gov” were listed on the back.
Read this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.I was probably between seven and eight years old when I left Colonel Lloyd's plantation. I left it with joy. I shall never forget the ecstasy with which I received the intelligence that my old master (Anthony) had determined to let me go to Baltimore, to live with Mr. Hugh Auld, brother to my old master's son-in-law, Captain Thomas Auld. I received this information about three days before my departure.
Read this paragraph.Roderick hastily retreated from the conversation. His friends were sharing their life histories, and nobody could ever learn his. As it was, his friends believed he had moved to town from Ohio. They thought he was a good math student and a decent basketball player. He scanned their brains for any suspicion, but they knew nothing of his powers. For a beat, he imagined sharing some details of his heroics, then he considered the repercussions. Instead, he would keep his distance and his secrets.
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