Essential question
How does Hammon combine praise with instruction when addressing Wheatley?
Marked passage
- Start anchor
- Miss Phillis, you are young and bright,
- End anchor
- And seek the living God.
Poem - opening and direct counsel to Wheatley
Ways to teach it
Listening
Listen; same evidence task.
Solo
Read independently.
Supported
Narration + highlighting.
Teacher guide
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and say why.
Evidence
Use one praising phrase and one command or piece of counsel.
Mark
Underline words of praise or recognition. Circle commands or pieces of advice. Box direct forms of address to Wheatley.
Instructional move
Analyze how direct address can establish both respect and authority
Notice
• What qualities does Hammon first recognize in Wheatley? • When does praise become instruction? • How does direct address make the counsel feel personal rather than general?
Strong answer
Hammon combines praise and instruction by first acknowledging Wheatley as gifted and then using that relationship to offer direct religious counsel. Admiration does not remain celebration; it becomes the basis for an authoritative appeal about how those gifts should be used.
Think
Answer provisionally: How does Hammon combine praise with instruction when addressing Wheatley? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
Watch for
Do not label the poem simply as a tribute. Its tension comes from the way praise and moral instruction operate together.
Why this passage
Hammon speaks to Wheatley personally, praising her youth and intellect, but the address quickly becomes counsel. The combination creates a complicated speaker-audience relationship: admiration gives him grounds to urge her toward a specific moral and religious path.
Write
Write a short evidence-based response. Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
Student tasks
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and say why.
Mark
Underline words of praise or recognition. Circle commands or pieces of advice. Box direct forms of address to Wheatley.
Notice
What qualities does Hammon first recognize in Wheatley? When does praise become instruction? How does direct address make the counsel feel personal rather than general?
Think
Answer provisionally: How does Hammon combine praise with instruction when addressing Wheatley?
Write
Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage.