Section 1: please respond to only TWO of the following questions. Each response should be at least 250 words.

1) Analyze the rhetorical strategies of ONE of the following texts: Christopher Columbus's letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, "Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One" by Benjamin Franklin, or "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" by Frederick Douglass. What is the goal of the text, and how does the writer attempt to reach his audience? Do you think his strategies are successful? Why or why not?

2) As Harriet Jacobs unveils the horrors of slavery, what are the different ways she tries to appeal to the Northern white women of her audience in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl? Think about the style and tone of Jacobs's writing, the types of scenes she describes, the character she presents to her audience, etc.

Section 2 (required): please respond to the following question in at least 600 words.

Select a theme or topic of your choice (feel free to choose from the list on Blackboard). Analyze, compare, and contrast how your selected theme/topic is employed in TWO of the texts we have read so far. You do not need a focused thesis statement-just show me how you are thinking through your theme/topic as it plays out in your selected works. Make sure to use textual evidence to support your analysis (who knows-a careful reading of a line or passage could result in a surprising discovery!), but be careful not to summarize the texts.