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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 else has Equiano done since the first edition of his Narrative was published?

2. Why does Equiano feel uncomfortable with his shipmates after October 6?

3. What happens to John Annis on the boat to Turkey?

4. When the crew of the Nancy sees another ship, what do they learn from the crew of that ship?

5. Why does Equiano's conversion of the Native American not succeed?

Short Essay Questions

1. Do you think it makes sense for Equiano to believe that he made the ship wreck by cursing it?

2. Why does the episode with John Annis affect Equiano's quest for a religion?

3. Does the manumission of Equiano seem like a high point to this autobiography?

4. What is the significance of Equiano's encounter with Hughes?

5. Is there an implicit argument being made in Equiano's description of the time he spent in Turkey?

6. Why does Equiano choose to go with Dr. Irving to start a plantation in Jamaica?

7. How do Equiano's experiences in Georgia reflect on the conditions for free black men in the U.S. South before the Civil War?

8. How does the episode in which Phillips's crew see a flock of flamingos characterize the crew?

9. Describe and comment on Equiano's experiences with the Sierra Leone settlement.

10. Why do you think Equiano goes back and forth so much between going to sea and other ways of making a living, like hairdressing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Equiano is not the only person in his life story who experiences disappointments and setbacks on a regular basis. Select two disappointments, difficulties, or setbacks experienced by two different people other than Equiano and compare them to at least one of Equiano's setbacks.

Essay Topic 2

One difficulty in The Interesting Narrative is that Equiano's audience is mostly white, and yet it is necessary for Equiano to describe many cases in which white people act cruelly to him or to other slaves or free blacks. Analyze the way Equiano manages this problem. Does he find ways to describe the cruelties of individual whites without alienating white readers?

Essay Topic 3

Since The Interesting Narrative follows Equiano from childhood to adulthood, it is a story of a boy growing up as well as of a man seeking freedom and a spiritual home. How is Equiano's transition from childhood to adulthood affected by the fact that he is taken into slavery as an adolescent boy? How does the book show readers that transition?

(see the answer keys)

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