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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In whose memory is Nightjohn dedicated by the author in the opening pages?
(a) In Harriet Tubman's memory.
(b) In Frederick Douglass's memory.
(c) In John Brown's memory.
(d) In Sally Hemings' memory.

2. Mammy says in Chapter 1 that Sarny's mother sold for the value of how many field hands?
(a) 6.
(b) 4.
(c) 2.
(d) 3.

3. What European country was the first to engage in the New World slave trade?
(a) Portugal.
(b) France.
(c) Spain.
(d) Great Britain.

4. What does the author assert about the events in the story at the opening of the novel?
(a) The events in the story are loosely based on events that occurred in Cleveland, Mississippi, in 1861.
(b) The events are true except for variation in time and character identification.
(c) The events in the story are satirical.
(d) The events in the story are purely from the imagination of the author and not based on any historical people.

5. How old is Sarny in Chapter 1?
(a) 12.
(b) 10.
(c) 15.
(d) 8.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where are the flower beds described that Sarny tends from time to time in Chapter 1?

2. What historical figure "owned, raised, and subsequently used" the slave that the novel is dedicated to by the author?

3. What euphemism does Sarny use to describe menstruation in Chapter 1?

4. How does Mammy notate the ages of the slave children that she raises?

5. What kind of work does Sarny say she is not yet old enough to do on the plantation in Chapter 1?

(see the answer key)

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