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

2. Who said this in their account of slavery: "They never got nary a lick of labor and nary a red penny for any of them babies."?

3. Slave traders chained slaves together in a line in what was called a _________________.

4. The cotton picking season began when?

5. Which of the following is NOT a reason a slave owner might sell a slave?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did slave owners attempt to be nice towards children on the auction block before purchasing them? And did this attempt usually work?

2. What was Julius Lester's purpose for writing "To Be a Slave" and did he accomplish it?

3. What was one of the big problems that arose after slaves were emancipated?

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

5. Discuss the story of Lev Cheney.

6. What usually happened with slave families during the slave trades?

7. What was the reason that the Federal Writer's Project interviewed so many blacks?

8. What was the story of Powhatan Mitchell and what did it signify?

9. How does Ball describe his first encounter with white people in the Prologue?

10. What were some ways that the slaves celebrated and had fun?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

In attempts to further control the slaves, slave owners used various methods of brainwashing and dehumanization. What did they do to try to break the spirits of their slaves? Did it often work? If so, how? If not, then how did blacks put up a resistance to the dehumanization? How did they manage to continue living on the plantations and what tricks did they develop to make their lives just the slightest bit more bearable?

Essay Topic 3

Fear is universal. It was a feeling that ruled the slaves and the slave owners used to rule. What is fear? How was fear instilled within the slaves and why did it rule them? What did this fear prevent them from doing and how did it keep them this way? Slave owners themselves also held fears. What were they and how did they attempt to hide it from their slaves? Discuss also how fear and power go hand in hand.

(see the answer keys)

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