To Be a Slave | Short Essay Assignments

Short Essay Questions

The 60 short essay questions listed in this section require a one to two sentence answer. They ask students to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the text. Students must describe what they've read, rather than just recall it.

Short Essay Question - Prologue

1. Discuss the reasons why Indians and whites did not work out for the colonists for manual labor purposes.

2. Why did the colonists turn to blacks as a means of manual labor?

3. What were three ways that the Prologue mentions in which slave trading was carried out?

4. How does Ball describe his first encounter with white people in the Prologue?

5. Describe how the slaves were held in the slave galley of the ships.

6. In the Prologue, what does Ball say...
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