What should you ask about a line's first hearers?
Where does context belong in an essay?
One line, one pressure of its time, one clear effect: that is the method.
Circle one: True False
A fact fits every line of the passage equally. What do you do?
Knowing about slavery turns a plain object in Douglass into evidence of cruelty. What does this show?
A mild line in its own time can never have shocked its first audience.
Circle one: True False
Censorship explains your passage's missing line, while the king's birthday explains nothing. Which stays?
An essay proves a dated fact, then never quotes the text. What is missing?