31 pages • 1 hour read
To His Excellency General Washington
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Discussion Starters
1. What are some examples of personification in the poem? How does Wheatley’s use of personification relate to her depiction of America? Why might she have chosen to rely so heavily on this technique?
2. Wheatley does not name Washington himself until more than halfway through the poem. What is his significance to the piece? Do you think the poem is primarily about him, or something/someone else?
3. How does the poem’s depiction of war compare to other depictions you’ve encountered? What literary tradition might Wheatley be hearkening to in the poem? What particular words, images, or rhetorical devices led you to that conclusion?
4. Wheatley wrote “To His Excellency General Washington” while she was still enslaved. How does knowing that affect the way you read the poem? Do you think it’s possible and/or useful to divorce the poem’s subject matter from the life of its writer—an African woman who was kidnapped into slavery? Why or why not?
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By Phillis Wheatley
