Question

"'Ain't I a Woman' Speech"
by Sojourner Truth

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?



Ain't I a Woman, Sojourner Truth, 1851

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Which phrase contains an allusion?

(1 point)
Responses

“And ain’t I a woman?”
“And ain’t I a woman?”

“I think that ‘twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North.”
“I think that ‘twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North.”

“Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter.”
“Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter.”

“But what’s all this here talking about?”
“But what’s all this here talking about?”
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Answer 1

“Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter.”

This line alludes to a familiar proverb/literary idea (echoing Shakespeare’s notion that things are “out of joint”), meaning something is wrong or out of order.