Question

Sojourner Truth by Joanna Evans

In 3-5 sentences, describe what the audience knows that the characters do not. Then, explain how this knowledge most likely affects the audience's perception of the characters and their actions.

Answer 1

The reader already knows Sojourner Truth’s larger life story — that she was born into slavery (as Isabella), escaped with her child, later won legal action to recover a kidnapped son, changed her name, and went on to become a powerful abolitionist and women’s-rights speaker. The characters in the scenes of the narrative (slaveholders, neighbors, or even people she meets early on) do not know her future fame, her legal victory, or the national impact of her speeches. They see only the immediate stakes: a frightened woman, an obstinate owner, or a struggling family, not the leader and orator she will become. This dramatic irony gives the audience a sense of foreknowledge and emotional distance.

Because readers know Sojourner’s eventual courage and influence, they are likely to admire her persistence and interpret small acts of bravery as signs of greatness, while judging the antagonists as short-sighted or morally compromised. The contrast heightens sympathy for Sojourner and sharpens criticism of those who uphold slavery or underestimate her.