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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. Until what year is Ned's school in operation?

2. Where is Madame Gautier from?

3. Where does Job give Ned and Jane a place to sleep in “Rednecks and Scalawags”?

4. What is Joe Pittman's position when Jane marries him?

5. Who buys the plantation back in “A Flicker of Light; and Again Darkness”?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the narrator influenced by Miss Jane Pittman's funeral in the Introduction?

2. Why does Jane tell the white woman in "Heading South" that she won't return to her home plantation? How does the woman reply?

3. What purpose does the Introduction serve to the plot and/or themes in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman?

4. How do Ned's and Joe's attempts at overcoming oppression differ?

5. How is the theme of self-identification explored in the first chapters of Book 1?

6. How does irony apply to Joe's death in "Man's Way"?

7. How does the narrator describe his relationship with Miss Jane Pittman in the Introduction?

8. What is symbolized through Jane's actions in "Man's Way"?

9. Why does Jane turn down the white woman's offer in "Heading South"?

10. How is the theme of social defiance illustrated in Book 2: Reconstruction?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the setting of the Bone Plantation. Who oversees the plantation? How are the conditions at this plantation, as compared to Jane's experiences prior to Emancipation? What eventually leads many of the blacks to flee Bone Plantation?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the actions of Ned and Joe in relation to the theme of social defiance. How does each of these characters approach overcoming oppression? Whose method is the most effective? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the genre and the narrative style of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. From whose perspective is the story related? Is the book fiction or nonfiction? Why do you think the author chose to narrate the story in this manner?

(see the answer keys)

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