View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Benjamin die?
(a) A tree crushed him.
(b) He got lost and died in the forest.
(c) He drowned in the swamp.
(d) He fell off a horse and broke his neck.

2. What was the companion book to the one Nat stole?
(a) Wuthering Heights.
(b) Letters of John Adams.
(c) Grace Abounding.
(d) The Life and Death of Mr. Goodman.

3. What does Nat take as a "sign" from God that he can begin planning his attack?
(a) A solar eclipse.
(b) When lightning strikes a tree by him.
(c) A hailstorm.
(d) A lunar eclipse.

4. What does Nat compare his life as a slave child to?
(a) Yearling mule.
(b) Calf.
(c) Trained monkey.
(d) Colt.

5. Who ends up killing the first victim in the insurrection?
(a) Sam.
(b) Hark.
(c) Will.
(d) Nat.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Nat see as a good omen right before he returns to the farm from his "sanctuary" after revealing his plans to his core group of followers?

2. Who does Nat befriend in the carpentry shop?

3. After Benjamin died, who inherited the plantation?

4. While driving Miss Margaret to the Vaughans' farm, what dying animal do she and Nat see?

5. Where does Nat hide the stolen book immediately after taking it?

Short Essay Questions

1. The scene with Major Ridley's fiancee is very strong. A northern white woman, newly arrived in town, can't find her way around and can't understand the Negroes speech. According to Nat, she left, never to return. Why might Styron have had her interact with Arnold, an elderly slave who had been freed, but with no education and worse elocution?

2. Nat equates Isham to John the Baptist. Nat speaks of a warning after the incident with Isham. Is this related?

3. In Part 3, when Nat is owned by Thomas Moore, he says that he fell into the kind of save work that he had believed before could "not ever become my lot, not in a thousand lifetimes." Yet now it had become his lot. How did Nat react to that? How does this turning point relate to his earlier childhood and education, as well as his eventual killing spree?

4. When Nat preaches in town in Part 3, he does not use proper English. Why do you think he does that?

5. After Nat describes his ideas about his grandmother, he switches to describing what he knows about his father--mainly that he ran away, and, at least in Nat's mind, is free now. How does Nat's description of his grandmother differ from his description of his father?

6. After Nathaniel Francis forces Will and Sam to fight, Nat feels called to preach for the first time. Why do you think that was the event that brought Nat out in public as a preacher? Quote at least one reason from the book.

7. In Part 2, Nat tells of Little Morning spying on him as a jealous response to the realization that Nat could read. This is the first time Nat tells of a negative reaction to his reading and learning. Why might Little Morning have reacted like this?

8. After Nat spells the word columbine, he lies awake that night thinking about it. He says it's a dream filled with 'inchoate promise'. What does he mean by that? How can one word be a promise?

9. In Part 1, Marse Samuel speaks to Dr. Ballard about the existence of slavery in the South. He says "it is evil to keep these people in bondage, yet they cannot be freed. They must be educated!" Samuel's brother Benjamin does not agree with him and argues the other point. Who makes the better argument?

10. In Part 2, when Nat baptizes Willis, he feels he's on the brink of great things, that great possibilities in his life are opening up. Yet soon after, his life changes as the slaves and eventually the plantation, including him, are sold. Is it possible that this had an effect on Nat's eventual decision to kill the whites? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,250 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample