Read the passage from “The Minister’s Black Veil.” What does the veil symbolize? From “The Minister’s Black Veil” Mr. Hooper had ascended the stairs, and showed himself in the pulpit, face to face with his congregation, except for the black veil. That mysterious emblem was never once withdrawn. It shook with his measured breath, as he gave out the psalm; it threw its obscurity between him and the holy page, as he read the Scriptures; and while he prayed, the veil lay heavily on his uplifted countenance. Did he seek to hide it from the dread Being whom he was addressing? The veil represents the minister’s consciousness of sin. This awareness affects his preaching; it makes the words of Scripture more difficult to understand; and it makes him afraid of God. The veil represents Mr. Hooper’s sense of failure as a minister. It makes him unable to preach effectively and makes him afraid that God will punish him for not doing his job well. The veil represents some evil deed hidden in the minister’s past that he is afraid to make public. This makes everyone in his congregation feel that he is a hypocrite. The veil represents the minister’s failure in his vocation. His failure torments him and makes the people in his congregation believe that he is an evil man.

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.

Examine the public service ad. how does this ad transmit a cultural value? by sharing relevant high school graduation statistics by promoting a new type of educational program by reminding the public of the need for new schools by encouraging people to strive for more education

“to build a fire” what wild idea does the man conjure up as a last resort?