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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. How does Gray refer to himself in the introduction?

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

3. When did Nat first begin to plan his rebellion?

4. Why does Gray say he published the Confessions?

5. Who does Trezevant compare Nat to?

Short Essay Questions

1. Styron published this book in 1967, 136 years after Nat Turner's rebellion and during a time of unrest in the United States over equal rights and race relations. In the Author's Note he says "the year 1831 was, simultaneously, a long time ago and only yesterday." What might he mean by that?

2. When Gray addresses the court, he blames "pure Negro cowardice" as a partial reason for the rebellion's failure, but then later in that same paragraph, Gray describes devoted slaves fighting "as bravely as any man" against Nat and his band. Why is he saying these things? Is he trying to confuse the justices?

3. Near the middle of Part 1, Nat says that treating blacks badly will make them "your for life", but treat him nice, and "he will want to slice your throat." What does Nat mean by that?

4. 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?

5. In Part 1, when Nat is cleaning rabbits with Hark and Jeremiah Cobb stops to talk after getting a drink, Nat becomes nervous when he feels Cobb's question needs an answer. Nat doesn't want to give away a hint of what he's planning, but there's something else that pulls him in two directions when he considers whether to answer Cobb or not. Describe why Nat is so worried.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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?

9. 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?

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part 1, Miss Nell gives Nat a Bible and says, "Heed this good book, Nathaniel, and happiness shall attend you wherever you go." Nat was, of course, able to read the Bible and eventually became a self-professed minister of the Word. Do you think the Bible brought him happiness? What part did the Bible and religion play in Nat's life from that point on? Did Nat's religious upbringing play a part in his decision to murder?

Essay Topic 2

When Marse Samuel promised Nat his freedom, he couldn't deliver it right then. Eventually, the promise was broken and Nat was sold to different masters. Explore the effect this hope of freedom had on Nat immediately after he realized what Marse Samuel was saying, and later on, as he gradually realized the promise would never happen. Use at least two different examples from the book to back up your essay.

Essay Topic 3

Ethelred T. Brantley was told by Reverend Entwistle that he would never be welcome in the church. Yet Nat told him that he could be saved by baptism in the Spirit. Nat had studied the Bible, and we can assume Reverend Entwistle had, as well. How could two completely opposite statements about the same person come based on the same book? What might have been some reasons for Entwistle telling Brantley he wasn't welcome? What might have been some reasons for Nat to tell Entwistle he could be saved?

(see the answer keys)

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