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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What European characteristic does Equiano say helps prove that Europeans and Africans are related?

2. Why does Equiano believe he has already bought his way out of slavery in Chapter 4?

3. Why does Equiano think slaveholders in the West Indies are hypocrites?

4. Which statement best describes the Eboes' religious beliefs?

5. After accidentally killing an animal with a pebble, what does Equiano do?

Short Essay Questions

1. Compare Equiano's experiences in Montserrat with his experiences in Philadelphia.

2. How does being sold in the New World seem to differ from being sold in Africa?

3. What are the two disappointments Equiano experiences in the Mediterranean?

4. In Chapter 4, how can readers learn more about Equiano's personality?

5. Why do you think Equiano does not try to escape when he's on shore after the British win the battle?

6. Describe Captain Doran's personality.

7. What upsets Equiano the most about the slave auctions in the West Indies?

8. How does the description of military life in Chapter 3 reflect on English culture?

9. In Chapter 4, how is Pascal's personality revealed to readers?

10. Explain the argument Equiano makes to prove that Africans are related to Europeans.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast John Annis's life with Equiano's. Could Equiano have met a fate like Annis's? What enables Equiano to avoid a sad end like Annis's? Be sure to identify the turning points during Equiano's life when things might have gone differently and set him on a course more like Annis's, and explain how Equiano avoided those dangers.

Essay Topic 2

Although it is true that most of the eighteenth-century readers of The Interesting Narrative would have been white and English, Equiano was certainly not the only former slave who had the ability to read and write English. While his black readers would have been a relatively small group, it is still worth considering how they would have responded to the book. Consider the book from beginning to end in terms of how you think someone with a life experience similar to Equiano's in some respects would have been likely to respond to it. Be sure to consider the many different aspects of the book, including Equiano's work as a sailor, his quest for freedom, his spiritual quest, and his work on the Sierra Leone project.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 1, Equiano states that he wants to avoid being either vain or boring in writing his own life story, but that instead he wants to provide "satisfaction" and "promote the interest of humanity." How well does he avoid being vain or boring? How well does he achieve his goals of providing "satisfaction" or entertainment to readers and promoting "the interest of humanity"?

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