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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. What does Sarny say they pour down the trough in the mornings for the slaves in Chapter 3?
(a) Coffee.
(b) Buttermilk.
(c) Tea.
(d) Oatmeal.

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 escaped slaves must be returned to their master.
(b) That slaves were forbidden from reading and writing.
(c) That the child of a slave was a slave.
(d) That slaves be forbidden from attending church.

3. What is foreshadowed by Sarny's story about finding the coin in the dirt in Chapter 2?
(a) Sarny's eventual wealth.
(b) Sarny's education.
(c) Sarny's marriage.
(d) Sarny's death.

4. What term refers to efforts toward procuring economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchised group?
(a) Abolition.
(b) Suffragism.
(c) Emancipation.
(d) Eclecticism.

5. What euphemism does Sarny use to describe menstruation in Chapter 1?
(a) The spots.
(b) Womanhood.
(c) Aunt Mary.
(d) The trouble.

Short Answer Questions

1. How old is Sarny in Chapter 1?

2. What does Sarny describe Mammy putting her head into in order to pray in Chapter 2?

3. What does Sarny recall Mammy telling her to do with the coin that she found in the dirt in Chapter 2?

4. What does the author assert about the events in the story at the opening of the novel?

5. What is Mr. Waller's first name?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Mammy's response when she discovered Sarny copying the symbols from the grain sack into the dirt when she was a child? Why did she react in this manner?

2. What is the significance of John's scars when he first appears? Why do you think Waller chose John despite those scars?

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

4. How does Sarny describe Mammy's method of praying in Chapter 2? Why does Mammy pray this way?

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

6. How is John's appearance described when he first arrives at the plantation in Chapter 3?

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

8. What is the trade that John offers to make with Sarny in Chapter 3? How does Sarny feel about the offer?

9. How would you describe the tone and mood of the novel as established in Chapter 1?

10. How does John behave toward the other slaves after his arrival in Chapter 3?

(see the answer keys)

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