Middle Passage

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789)

• the autobiography of slave Olaudah Equiano
• shares the same setting as Middle Passage and the themes of The Black Atlantic, the Middle Passage, and Slavery; Western Philosophy and Identity; Imperialism, Colonialism, and American Identity
• The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African on SuperSummary

Africans in America (1998)

• a nonfiction account of the role of slavery in America, written by Charles R. Johnson and Patricia Smith
• relates to the themes of The Black Atlantic, the Middle Passage, and Slavery; Western Philosophy and Identity; Imperialism, Colonialism, and American Identity

On Being Brought from Africa to America (1773)

• a poem by Phyllis Wheatley
• relates to the themes of The Black Atlantic, the Middle Passage, and Slavery; Western Philosophy and Identity; Imperialism, Colonialism, and American Identity
• On Being Brought from Africa to America on SuperSummary