Diary Project: “The Underground Railroad”
Instructions: Imagine the year is 1855. You are an escaping slave who has just begun the long and dangerous trail of the “Underground Railroad.” Your assignment is to write a three-day diary describing your journey toward freedom in Canada. Your diary must be typewritten, using Microsoft Word with the following specifications: 1. Use Times New Roman font, with 12-point type size. 2. Use proper heading with your first and last name, period #, and date--all aligned to the right-hand side of your paper. 3. Use at least 300 words in your diary (ToolsWord Count). Pick the first, middle, and last days within a two-month period and write about them in your fictitious diary--each day should include approximately 100 words. Your first diary entry (Day 1) should describe the day (or night) that you escaped from the plantation. The second diary entry (Day 30) should describe a “close call” (something dangerous) that happened along the journey. The final entry (Day 60) should describe the last day of your journey. Were you successful in reaching Canada, or were you caught? Stuck for ideas? Some suggestions to write about include who you are and who you traveled with, describe and name some natural geographical features along the trail (rivers, forests, mountains, star constellations, etc.) and describe some hardships along the way (for example, constantly being hunted by slave catchers or bounty hunters and their bloodhounds, suffering food or water shortages, diseases, getting lost along the way, not knowing who to trust, and so forth). 4. Use Spell-check to correct words that are underlined in red (right-click the word and select the correctly spelled suggested word). 5. Insert one piece of appropriate clipart for each entry (day) in your diary. This assignment is due on Thursday, February 16th and will be marked down if handed in afterwards.