Understanding Twelve Years a Slave
Text Version

[Visual description – image of novel cover]
Let's look for clues to help you understand the passage from "Twelve Years a Slave" and to identify its central idea.

[Visual description – illustration from the novel showing a slave in chains being beaten]

This illustration accompanies the excerpt.

As a text feature, it helps draw us into Northup’s account and begins giving us clues to the central idea.

The vocabulary an author uses can also help you determine the central idea of a passage.

Northup says, "Around my ankles were a pair of heavy fetters."

"Fetters" is an unfamiliar word.

They must be something tied to his feet to keep him constrained.

Let's try to figure out the meaning of the word by looking at the next sentence.

Words like "chain," "fastened," and "floor" stand out.

"Fetters" must mean chains, so Northup was chained to the floor.

Understanding the meaning of unfamiliar words helps you determine the central idea.

Northup was kept in a restraint that increased his fear and desperation about his circumstances.

Descriptive details also point to the central idea.

Words like "inhumanly," "desolate" and "oppressed" give us clues to the central idea of the passage.

The setting gives clues to the central idea.

Northup is in "utter darkness" and "chains," a description that paints a very concise picture of the author's fear and desperation, and helps establish the central idea.

Northup also asks questions that evoke a sense of urgency and loss of control.

These questions are details that evoke his fear, helplessness and dismay, and they help you- the reader- figure out the central idea of the passage.