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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 material does Mammy make John's pants from in Chapter 3?
2. "Partus sequitur ventrem" was a legal doctrine adopted widely into the laws of slavery in the American colonies. What did this law dictate?
3. To whom does Mammy pray when Sarny witnesses her in Chapter 2?
4. What term refers to efforts toward procuring economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchised group?
5. When did the U.S. Congress outlaw the importation of slaves?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is foreshadowed by Sarny's description of the penny that she once found in Chapter 2?
2. How is Sarny's character introduced to the reader in Chapter 1? What does Sarny say brought Nightjohn to her?
3. What does Mammy measure on the sticks that she keeps for each child on the plantation? Why?
4. What job or jobs does Sarny do around the plantation in Chapter 1?
5. What is significant about the animal imagery that is seen in Chapter 3?
6. 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?
7. What is the trade that John offers to make with Sarny in Chapter 3? How does Sarny feel about the offer?
8. Why were slaves forbidden education historically? How is this depicted in the novel?
9. What does Sarny overhear from the white house while she works in Chapter 2?
10. How would you describe the tone and mood of the novel as established in Chapter 1?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the author’s dedication in the beginning of the novel and the lives of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. What was Jefferson’s stance regarding slavery in the U.S.? Why did Gary Paulsen dedicate Nightjohn to the memory of Sally Hemings? Why is Sally Hemings significant in American history?
Essay Topic 2
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 3
Analyze the character of Sarny as the protagonist and narrator of Nightjohn. How does Sarny describe her role in the story in Chapter 1? What aspects of Sarny’s character stand out for you as a reader? How old is Sarny’s character when she is first introduced? How does Sarny’s character evolve in the course of the story?
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This section contains 971 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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