1. How did Keckley view the institution of slavery and her place within it? Your response
should take care to identify and assess events or experiences that influenced her views.
Be sure to answer both parts of this question and support your points with evidence from
the text.
2. Explore the role of women in Keckley’s narrative and in antebellum society. In
particular, how did interactions between and among women impact Elizabeth Keckley’s
social and professional experiences? Be sure to include evidence drawn from Keckley’s
book to support your points.
3. How did slave owners display their power over enslaved peoples? Be sure to discuss
multiple ways that slave owners used power and utilize multiple examples from
Keckley’s work to support your points.
4. Keckley claims, “if I have betrayed confidence in anything I have published, it has been
to place Mrs. Lincoln in a better light before the world” (5). Do you believe that Keckley
succeeded in placing Mrs. Lincoln in “a better light before the world?” Why or why not?