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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. What caused Douglass's first beating on Mr. Covey's farm?

2. What did Mr. Covey do to keep the slaves working all the time?

3. Why did Douglass let his master's horse go frequently, irritating him, in Chapter 9?

4. What did Douglass mainly do with his time off while working for Mr. Covey?

5. How was Douglass's new master in Chapter 9 different than Douglass' previous owners?

Short Essay Questions

1. How would you describe the narrative point-of-view in Chapter 5?

2. Why did Douglass begin to see his learning to read as a curse?

3. Why did Douglass decide to learn to read?

4. What was Douglass's life as a young slave like, as described in Chapter 5?

5. What did Master Thomas find fault in regarding Douglass's work in Chapter 9?

6. Give and explain an example of irony that Douglass uses in Chapter 6.

7. What does Douglass describe having experienced for the first time in Chapter 9?

8. Why did Douglass want to learn to write? How did he go about accomplishing that objective?

9. Who was Mr. Covey and how is he described?

10. What was Douglass's life like at first while working for Mr. Covey?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Douglass describes situations, such as not wanting to put details about his escape route into his story for fear of other slaves not getting a chance to escape, that give the reader an idea about the type of person he is. Write about your impressions of Douglass and the type of character he had. Cite examples from the book to support your answer. To whom might you compare Douglass today? Why? Do you believe he was an honorable man? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Douglass discusses some of his family as well as his masters.What sorts of things did Douglass learn from observing both his family as well as his masters' over the years? Did each 'family' teach him different things, or do they have some of the same lessons? How were these family systems different?

Essay Topic 3

Explain and give examples of how Douglass learned to read and write. How did his learning to read and write affect him both in good and bad ways? Were there any other skills that Douglass learned that both helped and hindered him? How?

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