View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Rufus live?

2. What do people in the 1800s often comment about regarding Dana's appearance?

3. What body part does Dana lose on her last trip home?

4. Who cannot speak at the Weylin household?

5. What are whites who "police" Blacks called in Rufus's time?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Margaret Weylin treat Dana and why?

2. What does Dana lose on her last trip through time?

3. What does Tom Weylin ask Dana to do in Part II for him that surprises her?

4. How does Dana save Rufus the first time she meets him?

5. Why are white slave-owners so afraid of slaves learning to read?

6. What is one way Kevin tries to convince Rufus he and Dana are really from the future?

7. Why is Carrie the only one of Sarah's children not to be sold?

8. What does Dana witness when she goes to see Alice for the first time?

9. Who do the police think might have injured Dana in the Prologue?

10. Where does Dana say she is from to most people in the 1800s, and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does "freedom" mean to different characters in this novel? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

Why do you think Butler chooses to describe the abuse and inhumanity of slavery - especially the beatings, killings, rape, and family separations the slaves endure - in such graphic terms? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay exploring the meaning of the title Kindred in the entire context of the novel's action.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 519 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample