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

2. Nat took four slaves to be hired out to Vaughan's for two weeks. When Nat met the men at the trace, what happened?
(a) The Vaughans didn't need them and sent them back.
(b) Nat took the slaves to the revival instead.
(c) Nat felt the presence of the Lord.
(d) The slaves were sold.

3. What type of hinges are on the privy door?
(a) Rubber.
(b) Leather.
(c) Wood.
(d) Steel.

4. 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?
(a) The call of an eagle from a nearby tree.
(b) A king snake sunning itself nearby.
(c) A new slave joins the group.
(d) He finds an old sword in the woods.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Shortly after the trial, what happens to Nate?

2. What upcoming event does Nat take as his new "sign" to start his insurrection?

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

4. What was the first stop for the initial band of men on the insurrection?

5. How did Little Morning determine which jar held molasses?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Part 3 when Nat goes on his five-day fast, he begs the Lord to give him a sign and believed the Lord answered his request. What does Nat describe as being the answer to his request of the Lord?

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. Miss Nell calls Nat "you smart little tar baby" in Part 1. Please explain what is meant by that name, and how it compares to what a white child would be called for the same reason.

6. 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?

7. In Part 2, Nat describes two events: "one causing me the bitterest anguish, the other premonitions of joy." What were these two events, and why might they have been told together?

8. 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?

9. When Nat imagines his grandmother's thoughts as a captured Coromantee slave girl, he describes Marse Samuel's smile as looking to her like "fiendish smirk." Why would he would describe the kindest master he had in this way?

10. Why might Part 3 be titled "Study War"? Is it appropriate?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,179 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample