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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. Why does Charlotte think all the other slaves ignore her?

2. Who are the field slave drivers beating when Charlotte tries to intervene?

3. What is the word the natives use for Callum to mean white man?

4. How old is Norman when he boards the ship?

5. What do Gbessa's fellow villagers think she is?

Short Essay Questions

1. What refrain does Gbessa say repeatedly to herself?

2. Who takes Norman in after Nanni's death, and how do these people treat him?

3. What happens to Charlotte at Emerson's plantation that she thinks accounts for other slaves shunning her?

4. Why does Khati try to delay Gbessa's birth?

5. What does the Master order to happen to Darlene that traumatizes her?

6. Why is Mistress Emerson so fixated on the skin color of June Dey?

7. Who is the only one in the village that shows kindness to Gbessa, and why does this person do so?

8. What is Gbessa's fate once she reaches a certain age of adolescence?

9. What do the Lai villagers call Gbessa?

10. What is unusual about Charlotte's and Dey's relationship?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do both Norman and June Dey feel after months of fighting together and of helping the tribes in Africa retain and regain their freedom from white men? Why does Norman eventually decide to end their collaboration and strike out on his own? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

At the very end of the novel, Gbessa, Norman, and June Dey are all reunited to fight for the future of Liberia on the beach, and they are outnumbered against the French. Even so, Gbessa is confident of her "resurrection." Write an essay explaining the significance of this battle and of the reuniting of the three protagonists at this moment in the plot.

Essay Topic 3

How does the reader's perception of Darlene Emerson change from when the reader sees Darlene through Charlotte's eyes and when the reader begins to understand who Darlene is more from June Dey's perspective? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 669 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample