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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. Why were men in the North not allowed to settle disputes with pistols or fistfights?

2. For the most part, why did whippings occur with high frequency at the Epps plantation?

3. How did Tibeats feel when he told Solomon that he had sold him to Edwin Epps?

4. Why was Bass hesitant to write additional letters to try to get help for Solomon?

5. How was Solomon's hiring by Avery fateful in nature?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 16 of the book, how did Solomon lead Epps to believe that he was making the slaves work hard in the cotton field?

2. In Chapter 17, how did Lew Cheney show that he was not the leader whom he claimed to be among the slaves who were planning to escape to Mexico?

3. In Chapter 15 of the story, what were some of the everyday things that Solomon and the other slaves did not miss at Christmastime?

4. In Chapter 13 of the story, what was expected of the slaves who worked the cotton fields for Epps?

5. In Chapter 19 of the book, how did Solomon and Bass manage to meet secretly with one another to plan how arrangements for restoring Solomon's freedom would be handled?

6. Why was Samuel Bass so well-liked in and around Bayou Bœuf in Chapter 19 of the book?

7. Why was Lew Cheney not liked by some of the slaves in Bayou Bœuf in Chapter 17 of the book?

8. In Chapter 12 of the story, why was the day following a night of Epps drinking especially hard on the slaves?

9. How did the some of the slaves change their appearance at Christmastime in Chapter 15 of the book?

10. In Chapter 15 of the book, how did the slaves in Bayou Bœuf change at Christmastime?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

From time to time, Solomon planned to escape from the clutches of slavery, and sought out ways to carry it out in a physical sense. Even with the help of others, none of the ways that Solomon encountered resulted in placing a physical escape within his reach. Within his reach however, was Solomon’s violin, that provided other avenues of escape for him as a human being. Select an instance in the book in which Solomon reached for his violin for escape from his misery, and discuss how such escape type(s) were carried out, the duration of such type escape(s), and their overall effectiveness in helping Solomon feel better.

Essay Topic 2

Instead of treating them with the dignity and respect that human beings deserved, the slave dealers in the book treated the slaves whom they intended to sell at various slave pens, quite similar to the way that ordinary shopkeepers treated the merchandise that they intended to sell in their stores.

What were some of the similarities that the slave dealers shared with shopkeepers as they prepared to conduct their respective sales? Were there any similarities between the slave dealers and shopkeepers as they conducted their respective sales? If there were, please describe them. How did the slaves feel about themselves in relation to the sales-related actions that the slave dealers would take as they went about conducting their business?

Essay Topic 3

Based on his overall handling of the feud between Solomon and his master, John M. Tibeats, it could be said that Mr. Chapin, who oversaw William Ford’s plantation was a fair and honorable man.

Detail how Mr. Chapin earned the labeling of being fair and honorable. Did he do anything in relation to William Ford to earn that labeling? Specifically, what did he do in relation to the feud between Solomon and John M. Tibeats to gain a fair and honorable status? Did Mr. Chapin do anything or fail to do anything in relation to Ford, Solomon, or Tibeats that might have brought his status into question? If yes, please detail.

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