Question

This excerpt was written by Olaudah Equiano, an enslaved African man who was taken to Barbados. The effect of an author’s choices can change over time. For example, Equiano includes the phrase "poor creatures” to appeal to the reader’s emotions. However, by today’s standards this is considered dehumanizing.

Read the passage, then answer the question.

Their huts, which ought to be well covered, and the place dry where they take their little repose, are often open sheds, built in damp places; so that when the poor creatures return tired from the toils of the field, they contract many disorders, from being exposed to the damp air in this uncomfortable state.

–Sugar Changed the World,
Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

Which words from the passage best support the author’s purpose?

tired, toils, poor
repose, places, air
huts, covered, dry
sheds, places, damp

Answer 1

tired, toils, poor

These words emphasize the laborers' exhaustion and hardship and appeal to the reader’s sympathy, supporting the author's purpose of showing their poor living conditions.