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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. In the Introduction, what two methods did Gray say were used by the slaves to attempt to find safety?

2. What is Nat's execution date?

3. Who does Trezevant compare Nat to?

4. According to Nat's statements, the insurrection was ______.

5. What does Gray state that Nat's confessions demonstrate about the laws?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What do readers know about Gray from the Introduction? What is implied, or what can be inferred from what Gray says? From this information, what kind of person might Gray be?

3. In Part 1, Nat says "a white man's discomfiture, observed on the sly, has always been a Negro's richest delight." Is this true? If so, why? If not, why would Nat think such a thing? Either way, what does that quote suggest about Nat?

4. Describe the world that Nat lived in from a slave's perspective. Now describe it from a white person's perspective.

5. Part 1 is told partly in the court as Nat's sentence is being handed down and partly through flashbacks to earlier times in Nat's life. Why might Styron have opened the book this way? What purpose does it serve?

6. In Part 1, Gray reads back Nat's account of the killings, and Nat yells at him to stop. Why did Nat say that? Did he feel remorse? Nat says, "We done what had to be done!" Was he was talking about his "visions" and what they told him, or what Nat, personally, felt needed to be done?

7. 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?

8. Read Nat's description of Gray when they first meet in Part 1. Read Nat's thoughts about Gray immediately after the description. What does Nat think and/or feel about Gray? Does that have an effect on Nat's decision to confess? What does he think whites expect of him?

9. 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.

10. The Introduction opens in the jail, so the reader already know Nat has been caught. Why might the author have used this technique? Why not choose some other method of telling the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the beginning of Part 1, Gray tells Nat he's going to be tried next Saturday, and "hung by the neck until dead." Give three other, specific examples from the book that show how Nat's fate was decided even before the trial took place. Why do you think Nat did not react to this statement?

Essay Topic 2

1. Based on T. R. Gray's address to the public, how impartial do you think Mr. Gray was in recording the confessions of Nat Turner? What specific examples in the text of the "To the Public" section make you think that?

2. How does William Styron's portrayal of Nat and Mr. Gray compare to the "To the Public" section? Do you think Mr. Styron captured the essence of the confessions accurately Do you think Nat truly confessed? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

The weather is used as almost as its own character throughout the book, as it helps set the tone and mood of many scenes. Describe at least two scenes from the book where the weather plays a part, and analyze how you think the weather has an effect on the characters and/or story.

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