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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 Nat encounter Jeremiah Cobb the first time?

2. What does T. R. Gray mean by "this population"?

3. What does Nat wonder about after sentencing?

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

5. In Part One, Nat tells Gray that the Lord told him to confess so that "all nations will know." What was the other reason the Lord gave Nat for confessing?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

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. Gray says that all the other insurgents who were examined tried to exculpate themselves. What does that mean? And why Nat didn't do it?

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

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. 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?

10. 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.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part 2, when Nat observes the interaction of Arnold and Major Ridley's fiancee, we see the first mention of sexual yearning on Nat's part for a woman--and in this case, a white woman. Yet it's not a yearning of love. In fact, Nat's imagery at this point is very violent. Why do you think Styron wrote the scene this way? Describe another way he could have written the scene. How would it have been different if it had been written the way you described? What different points, if any, would have been made with the other method?

Essay Topic 2

How does Nat feel about T. R. Gray at the beginning of the book? Does he feel the same way at the end? How can you tell? Cite specific examples from the text. How does that compare to how Nat feels about other white people throughout the book?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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