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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. By what order does John teach Sarny to learn letters?

2. What is the first word that Sarny learns to write in Chapter 5?

3. How long does Sarny say it took Waller and his dogs to catch Jim when he ran in Chapter 4?

4. What does Mammy ask John when she sees him teaching Sarny in Chapter 6?

5. What is the last letter that John introduces Sarny to in Chapter 4?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is foreshadowed in Chapter 6? What does the reader expect to happen based on John's actions?

2. What is foreshadowed by Alice's treatment and abuse from Waller in Chapter 4?

3. How does Mammy respond when Sarny runs to her at the spring house in Chapter 5?

4. How does Master Waller punish John after he has stepped forward in Chapter 5? How does John respond to his punishment?

5. How has the relationship between Mammy and John evolved by Chapter 6?

6. How was Pawley's disappearance discovered by Waller, according to Sarny in Chapter 4? Why was Pawley off the plantation?

7. How does Sarny describe the first day of John's recovery in Chapter 6?

8. Sarny describes two slaves that she has heard of that ran away from Waller's plantation in Chapter 4. What story is related of Jim's attempted escape?

9. What does John teach Sarny in Chapter 6? How does Mammy respond when she observes this exchange?

10. What instructions does Mammy give to Sarny while she's at the spring house in Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author’s depictions of violence and sexual assault in Nightjohn. What do you think is the importance of including these details of slave existence? Would the novel be as effective without its depictions of violence and abuse? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Describe and discuss the history, formation, and influences of pit schools in the American South during the era of slavery. What impact do you think that these schools had on the abolition of slavery in the United States? Why is it important to understand this history?

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