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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 kind of flowers is Sarny working on in the flower bed in the beginning of Chapter 2?

2. What word used in Chapter 3 refers to the process of preparing corn for eating?

3. What kind of coin does Sarny describe finding in the dirt in Chapter 2?

4. When did Pennsylvania pass legislation to end slavery?

5. What does Sarny remark about her birth in Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Sarny's relationship with Mammy illustrated in Chapter 1? How does Mammy feel about the other children she cares for?

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

3. What work is Sarny doing on the plantation in the beginning of Chapter 2? How does she feel about this chore?

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

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

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

7. How does the author illustrate Sarny's only encounter with money in Chapter 2?

8. How would you describe the dialect and language style established in Chapter 1?

9. What does Mammy measure on the sticks that she keeps for each child on the plantation? Why?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the poetic elements seen in “Words.” Develop a chart that indicates examples in this chapter of repetition, assonance, alliteration, rhyme, meter, symbolism, metaphor, etc. Why do you think that this chapter differs from the others in its narrative style? What does this change indicate?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Sarny’s growing anxieties when she experiences her first menstrual period in Chapter 7. What does this event signify for Sarny? Why does Sarny hide it, and for how long do you think she will be able to hide it?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the narrative style of Nightjohn. Who is the narrator of the story? Is the narrator involved in the action of the narrative? In what tense is the narrative related? Why do you think that the author chose this narrative style? How would the story differ if it were told from a different point of view?

(see the answer keys)

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