Question

Read the excerpt from "Elegy for the Native Guards.”

The Daughters of the Confederacy
has placed a plaque here, at the fort’s entrance—
each Confederate soldier’s name raised hard
in bronze; no names carved for the Native Guards—
2nd Regiment, Union men, black phalanx.
What is monument to their legacy?

All the grave markers, all the crude headstones—
water-lost. Now fish dart among their bones,
as we listen for what the saves intone.
Only the fort remains, near forty feet high,
round, unfinished, half open to the sky,
The elements—wind, rain,—God's deliberate eye.

"Native Guard" from Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey. Copyright (c) 2006 by Natasha Trethewey. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

What does this excerpt express about the struggle for equality?

Even the forgotten find peace at the end of life.
Nature does not discriminate while causing destruction.
Even in death, oppressed people are treated poorly.
At the end of their lives, everybody faces an identical fate.


Read "On Liberty and Slavery” and "Duty.”

How do these poems address the experience of oppression differently?

Horton’s poem focuses on people oppressing people, while Trethewey’s poem focuses on nature oppressing people.
Horton’s poem shows how oppression can be escaped, while Trethewey’s poem shows how hard it is to escape it.
Horton’s poem suggests that oppression brings people together, while Trethewey’s poem suggests how it separates them.
Horton’s poem describes the physical marks of oppression, while Trethewey’s poem describes the emotional toll of it.



Read the excerpt from "One Generation Passeth Away and Another Cometh.”

Vain bird, a while think what am I,
Here entering ‘mid a hawk-like throng;
Quickly hatched out, as quick to fly,
And dare not tarry long.

Where is the mighty and the stout,
Who lived this fading world to crave;
Left and forever gone without
A stone to show their grave.

Used with permission of the Chapel Hill Historical Society

Which universal theme is reflected in the excerpt?

the importance of hope
the desire for honor
the value of learning
the search for meaning


Read the excerpt from "Pilgrimage.”

At the museum, we marvel at their clothes—
preserved under glass—so much smaller

than our own, as if those who wore them
were only children. We sleep in their beds,

the old mansions hunkered on the bluffs, draped
in flowers—funereal—a blur

of petals against the river’s gray.
The brochure in my room calls this

living history. The brass plate on the door reads
Prissy’s Room. A window frames

The river’s crawl toward the Gulf. In my dream,
The ghost of history lies down beside me,

rolls over, pins me beneath a heavy arm.

Pilgrimage, "Elegy for the Native Guards", "South" from Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey. Copyright (c) 2006 by Natasha Trethewey. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

What does this excerpt express about the impact of the past on the present?

The past should be viewed and experienced without emotion.
The legacy of the past leaves important marks on the present.
Humanity must progress forward to the present from the past.
Learning about history can help humanity avoid past mistakes.

Answer 1

1) Even in death, oppressed people are treated poorly.

2) Horton’s poem describes the physical marks of oppression, while Trethewey’s poem describes the emotional toll of it.

3) the desire for honor

4) The legacy of the past leaves important marks on the present.