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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 did Solomon trust Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton when he first met them?

2. How did Freeman's customers view the idea of buying slaves from the same family?

3. How did Arthur's life change when the Orleans reached the dock in New Orleans?

4. What was an important factor to the slaves at the time that they were sold?

5. What was the likely reason that Tibeats went off and returned with a couple of men following his fight with Solomon?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 7 of the book, how was Solomon's new master, John M. Tibeats different from William Ford?

2. In the opening Chapter of the book, what did Solomon Northrup acknowledge as a contributing factor in his decision to write his book?

3. How was the slaves' departure from Washington City carried out in Chapter 4 of the book?

4. In Chapter 7 of the book, how could Solomon's new master, William Ford be characterized?

5. In Chapter 10 of the story, why did Solomon fear for his life during his trek through the Great Pacoudrie Swamp?

6. In Chapter 3 of the book, what type of role did Jacob Brooks play in the life of Eliza?

7. In Chapter 7 of the book, how was Solomon rewarded after his lumber-transporting efforts prove to be successful in getting William Ford's lumber to its destination a lot faster?

8. In Chapter 6 of the book, who suffered during the sale conducted at Freeman's Pen?

9. In Chapter 7 of the book, what set William Ford apart from the way that other slave owners treated their slaves?

10. In Chapter 1 of his book, how was Author Solomon Northrup able to depict his early years in life as normal?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Instead of treating them with the dignity and respect that human beings deserved, the slave dealers in the book treated the slaves whom they intended to sell at various slave pens, quite similar to the way that ordinary shopkeepers treated the merchandise that they intended to sell in their stores.

What were some of the similarities that the slave dealers shared with shopkeepers as they prepared to conduct their respective sales? Were there any similarities between the slave dealers and shopkeepers as they conducted their respective sales? If there were, please describe them. How did the slaves feel about themselves in relation to the sales-related actions that the slave dealers would take as they went about conducting their business?

Essay Topic 2

As Author Northrup told his story, he introduced plantation owners and their wives. First, there was William Ford, and his wife, Mistress Ford. Then there was Edwin Epps and his wife, Mistress Epps.

Compare and contrast the demeanor and behavior of Mistress Ford and Mistress Epps. Was it possible that the demeanor and behavior of their respective husbands toward the slaves had anything to do with the ladies' demeanor and behavior toward the slaves as well?

Discuss the interaction between Solomon and Mistress Ford, as well as Mistress Epps and Patsey. Was there a similarity or difference in the manner that they interacted with one another that perhaps influenced by the manner in which their respective husbands treated those particular slaves? If yes, explain. If no, why not?

Essay Topic 3

From time to time, Solomon planned to escape from the clutches of slavery, and sought out ways to carry it out in a physical sense. Even with the help of others, none of the ways that Solomon encountered resulted in placing a physical escape within his reach. Within his reach however, was Solomon’s violin, that provided other avenues of escape for him as a human being. Select an instance in the book in which Solomon reached for his violin for escape from his misery, and discuss how such escape type(s) were carried out, the duration of such type escape(s), and their overall effectiveness in helping Solomon feel better.

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