Iwas born in tuckahoe, near hillsborough, and about twelve miles from easton, in talbot county, maryland. i have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. by far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. i do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. they seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall-time. a want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. the white children could tell their ages. i could not tell why i ought to be deprived of the same privilege. i was not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it. he deemed all such inquiries on the part of a slave improper and impertinent, and evidence of a restless spirit. the nearest estimate i can give makes me now between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age. i come to this, from hearing my master say, some time during 1835, i was about seventeen years old.
based on paragraph 1, the reader can infer or predict that the speaker will
a) continue to question and be aware of his situation.
b) accept his situation and be a good worker.
c) learn to read and write.
d) become the head slave.

faithful servants eumaeus and philaetius:

his ragged vest then drawn aside disclosed the sign conspicuous, and the scar exposed: eager they view'd, with joy they stood amazed with tearful eyes o'er all their master gazed:

these servants know ulysses by the scar he got when he was a child - so when he showed them the mark, they immediately knew this is truly their master and they hugged him, finally starting to believe his words.

boccaccio employs the voice of his narrator dioneo to represent his ideas on the tension between masculinity and femininity.  while dioneo excites the members of the brigata and recognizes women for their unique skills and independent ideas, he concludes the decameron with a story reminiscent of the society from which these young aristocrats escaped, revealing misogynistic overtones.  dioneo boccaccio is able to explore the gender disparity which is inherent in 14th century florentine society.

21 balloons is the story of professor william sherman's travels.

in 1883, he set off from san francisco for a balloon ride over the pacific and was found a month later floating with 21 balloons in the atlantic ocean. this seemed an astounding feat and everyone wanted to know what had happened.    

professor sherman was loyal, however, and said he would tell his tale first to the western american explorers club in san francisco, of which he was a member. this built up suspense for several chapters before he began to tell of the wonders of his adventures and the amazing island of krakatoa, an island which had just been blown up by a volcano.  

the residents of krakatoa are all millionaires who live under a "gourmet government" of their own devising. we get to see all the incredible adventures that creative people with unlimited resources would create according to the author.