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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Gray, what excuse did Nat give for his participation in the rebellion?
(a) Because he was angry.
(b) Because he wanted to be free.
(c) Because his friends told him to.
(d) None.

2. Which Biblical prophet did Nat feel "spoke" to him most clearly about the rebellion?
(a) Abraham.
(b) Noah.
(c) Moses.
(d) Ezekiel.

3. What is the nickname T. R. Gray gives to Nat in the "To the Public" section of the book?
(a) Black Bandit.
(b) Great Bandit.
(c) Insane Instigator.
(d) Powerful Slave.

4. What does Nat have a dream about while In the courtroom?
(a) Winning his case in court and being freed.
(b) Being lost.
(c) Boys trapped in quicksand.
(d) Escaping.

5. Cobb uses a word to describe the children of slaves. What is that word?
(a) Babies.
(b) Pickaninnies.
(c) Terrormongers.
(d) Ankle biters.

Short Answer Questions

1. What Psalm does Nat tell Miss Margaret is his favorite?

2. What happened to Hark's wife and son?

3. What weapon does Nat's captor carry?

4. Who is Gray?

5. According to Nat's confession, how many people did he kill?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the Introduction, Gray talks about an "annexed certificate of the County Court of Southampton" to prove the authenticity of Nat's "confession." Yet no one from the court, besides Gray, heard Nat's statements. Why might Gray have included the certificate?

2. At the end of the introduction, it states that the confession was read to Nat, and when asked if he had anything further to say, he said no. The rebellion was a complicated affair that involved planning. Why do you think Nat declined to say anything further?

3. When Judge Cobb first appears in the book, Nat describes his face as "blighted, ravaged by sorrow." When considering his eventual killing spree, Nat decides to spare Cobb. Why might he have done that?

4. Prejudice is "an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought or reason". (Dictionary.com) Do you think Gray displays prejudice toward Nat? Toward blacks in general? How? List specific examples from the Introduction.

5. By the middle of Part 1, readers have met four white people: Gray, Kitchen, Miss Maria Pope, and Jeremiah Cobb. None of them are described positively. Why might that be? Since the book is supposedly written from Nat's point of view, why might he only describe white people (to this point in the book) in negative terms?

6. In the "Author's Note", Styron says he has "rarely departed from the known facts about Nat Turner and the revolt of which he was the leader." But the written text of the Confession is only around twenty pages. This book is over 400 pages long. Surely this can't be all fact; Styron himself says he allowed himself the "utmost freedom" in reconstructing the events. So which is true? Do you think this book will be mostly fact or fiction?

7. While in jail, Nat describes Kitchen and thinks of him in one way, yet speaks to him in a completely different manner. Describe the differences and what this tells readers about Nat.

8. Prejudice is "an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought or reason". (Dictionary.com) Do you think Nat displays prejudice toward Gray? Toward whites in general? How? List specific examples from Part 1.

9. Nat tells Gray in the Introduction, "I don't think you understand about this business and I don't know but whether it's too late to make it all plain". If Gray took down what Nat said and is reading it back to him, why would Nat think Gray didn't understand?

10. In the introduction, Gray refers to the insurrection as a "conspiracy." Do you agree with that term? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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