View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What merchandise do two white men steal from Equiano?

2. When Equiano is kidnapped, what do the kidnappers do to keep him quiet?

3. Once King decides not to sell Equiano, what does King do?

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

5. Who does Equiano become friends with after he is purchased by Pascal?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Equiano, what is slavery in the West Indies like?

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

3. Describe what it means for an Eboe man to be designated as "Embrenche."

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

5. Explain the significance of the Eboe practice of merchants kissing the food that they are offering for sale.

6. Discuss the significance of King's promise to make Equiano a clerk.

7. Describe the character of Thomas Farmer as it is developed in Chapter 6.

8. How are King, Equiano, and Famer all characterized by the episode when King threatens to sell Equiano and Farmer persuades him not to do that?

9. Discuss the role of food in Chapter 2.

10. Why does Equiano believe that the end of the war means he will be free?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The word "interesting" as used in the title of The Interesting Narrative would have had at least two meanings for eighteenth-century readers. "Interesting" would have meant, as it still does today, something like "entertaining" or at least "not boring." In addition, "interesting" would have meant something like "sympathetic." In other words, it would have meant that the narrative was likely to make the readers "interested in" or sympathetic to Equiano. Based on the title, then, the autobiography has the dual goals of entertaining the reader and making the reader sympathize with the author. How well does the book achieve these two goals?

Essay Topic 2

Equiano is not the only person in his life story who experiences disappointments and setbacks on a regular basis. Select two disappointments, difficulties, or setbacks experienced by two different people other than Equiano and compare them to at least one of Equiano's setbacks.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 10, Equiano decides to go to Turkey because the Turks are the most Christ-like people he believes he has met. Based on his descriptions of all the different national and ethnic groups he encounters, explain how he might have come to this conclusion. Is it supported by the information he has presented elsewhere in the book?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,198 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample