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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Sarny overhears the mistress of the plantation in Chapter 2, the mistress is complaining that her husband spends too much money buying slaves. What is she concerned that she will not have enough money to purchase due to her husband's overspending?
(a) Livestock.
(b) Farm supplies.
(c) Dresses.
(d) A new house.

2. "Partus sequitur ventrem" was a legal doctrine adopted widely into the laws of slavery in the American colonies. What did this law dictate?
(a) That slaves were forbidden from reading and writing.
(b) That slaves be forbidden from attending church.
(c) That the child of a slave was a slave.
(d) That escaped slaves must be returned to their master.

3. Where has Sarny observed people reading prior to meeting John?
(a) In the white house.
(b) At the slave market.
(c) In town.
(d) At church.

4. What is the name of the slave that raises Sarny?
(a) Margaret.
(b) Alice.
(c) Old Delie.
(d) Alaine.

5. What is Sarny doing when the master arrives with John in Chapter 3?
(a) Watering the flower garden.
(b) Feeding the chickens.
(c) Changing the babies' diapers.
(d) Cleaning the eating trough.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Sarny describe John's back when he arrives in Chapter 3?

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

3. What does Sarny compare the color of John's skin with in Chapter 3?

4. What word from Chapter 3 refers to a person who manages slaves on a plantation?

5. From what device do Sarny and the other slaves eat their meals at the plantation?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Mr. Waller behave toward John as he brings him into the plantation in Chapter 3?

2. How is Sarny's birth and early childhood described in Chapter 1? Are Sarny's experiences common for slaves at this time?

3. What job or jobs does Sarny do around the plantation in Chapter 1?

4. Why were slaves forbidden education historically? How is this depicted in the novel?

5. What does Sarny describe thinking about as the others sleep in the slave quarters at night in Chapter 1?

6. How does Sarny describe the process of meals for the slaves at the plantation in Chapter 3?

7. What imagery and/or symbolism is used in describing the slaves on the plantation in Chapter 2?

8. How is Sarny's character introduced to the reader in Chapter 1? What does Sarny say brought Nightjohn to her?

9. What is foreshadowed by Sarny's description of the penny that she once found in Chapter 2?

10. How does the author describe the regulations and rules regarding slaves and religion in Chapter 2?

(see the answer keys)

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