In the space below, write an explanatory essay of at least 500 words. Discuss how your chosen characters and their actions express and develop the two themes you've selected. Use details from the story and information about historical events to support your ideas

What to the slave is the fourth of july? by frederick douglass fellow-citizens—pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am i called upon to speak here to-day? what have i, or those i represent, to do with your national independence? are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that declaration of independence, extended to us? and am i, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings, resulting from your independence to us? but, such is not the state of the case. i say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. i am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. the blessings in which you this day rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. the rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. the sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. this fourth of july is yours, not mine. you may rejoice, i must mourn. to drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, i hear the mournful wail of millions, whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are to-day rendered more intolerable by the jubilant shouts that reach them. if i do forget, if i do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth! " to forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before god and the world. my subject, then, fellow-citizens, is american slavery. i shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. standing there, identified with the american bondman, making his wrongs mine, i do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this fourth of july. whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. what is one of the lessons douglass impresses on his listeners? a) the nation should not rejoice until everyone has freedom. b) he must speak on the fourth of july in order to bring change. c) for him to join the celebration would be treason. d) he can see the perspective of slaves and citizens with equal clarity.

Part a which statement best describes a central idea in this narrative? in times of tragedy, it is difficult to determine how best to be of service. in times of crisis, people prefer to be alone. young people tend to look to older people to take action in times of tragedy. when people publicly commit to being of service, they are more likely to follow through. part b which detail from the text best to shape the central idea in part a? "'i thought you might have too much going on already. i saw everyone post online.' martin said, 'i don’t think anyone wanted to be in the way today, so i’m glad you came.'" "finally, he said, 'i don’t know what to do. i guess i should tell him to let me know if he needs anything, but that doesn’t feel like enough.'" "he wondered how many people would actually show up to out and how many would simply hope that enough others did." "he explained to her that martin’s mom had died, and told her how he felt about his friend’s loss. 'what do you plan to do for him? ' his mother asked."

May someone me with these questions