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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 was another cause of death of the Africans aboard the slave ship?

2. During which months were the slave coffles usually seen?

3. The slave trading was much like today's ____________________.

4. In southern society, a man's status was based upon:

5. What did the slaves call the slave owner's house?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the brief story of the slave named Jake from Chapter 5 and what is its significance?

2. How effective was the Emancipation Proclamation once it was issued in 1863?

3. What was it that kept many slaves from killing their masters? Who is an example of one such slave who demonstrated this?

4. From Chapter 4, discuss how slave owners brainwashed slaves.

5. What were three ways that the Prologue mentions in which slave trading was carried out?

6. What does Chapter 5 say about slave insurrections?

7. Why were many of the former slaves that the Federal Writer's Project interviewed bitter?

8. Did any slaves actually prefer to exist under slavery?

9. Why did the colonists turn to blacks as a means of manual labor?

10. Discuss the reasons why Indians and whites did not work out for the colonists for manual labor purposes.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many people blame the national government for many problems. In the case of slavery, what role should government have played? Should they have intervened years before and if they had, what might have resulted? When the Civil War started, it was not because of slavery. Was this, too, a fault of the government for not making the issue of slavery a primary concern? How did it eventually become a primary concern? And after the war ended, what plans did the government have for the end of slavery, if any? How did President Abraham Lincoln handle things?

Essay Topic 2

The overall feeling slaves had about being enslaved was negative. Most of them did not feel happy in their lifestyles. However, there were some slaves who, in fact, did not mind being a slave. First, discuss the sentiment most slaves had about slavery and why. Were they entitled to these feelings? Then discuss why some slaves were complacent with their situation. Why might they not feel the bitterness or sadness that most other slaves felt? Include in your essay a description of house-servants and how they might tie in with this discussion about slaves' feelings about their lifestyles.

Essay Topic 3

There is a very long narrative about a slave named Paul in the novel. Give a brief summary about the story. Why is it included in the novel? Discuss what Paul symbolizes. What happens to Paul in the end? Discuss the reason for Paul's decision for his own life and how the narrator of Paul's story feels about it. Do you agree with Paul's decision? Why or why not? The narrator notes the iron collar around Paul's neck. What does it symbolize? The narrator also notes the three bells. What do they symbolize?

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