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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 did Solomon learn while spending time in the yard outside Williams' Slave Pen?

2. How did Solomon feel about his father?

3. What inspired Solomon to want to help William Ford in the transporting of lumber?

4. What did Solomon believe to be a contributing factor toward William Ford owning slaves despite the fact that he was a Christian?

5. How did Radburn treat Solomon following the beating by Burch?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 2 of the book, how did Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton persuade Solomon to travel to New York with them?

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. What prompted Solomon to want to help William Ford in terms of saving time and raising profits in Chapter 7 of the book?

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

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

6. In Chapter 5 of the story, how could Englishman John Manning be described in relation to Solomon?

7. As Chapter 2 ends, and Chapter 3 begins, how did Solomon discover that he was being held in slavery?

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

9. How did Solomon improve his life in Chapter 1 of the book?

10. How did Solomon feel that the exterior of Williams' Slave Pen in Washington could be viewed in Chapter 3 of the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 20, Author Northrup characterized 20-year-old Norwood Plantation owner, Mary McCoy, as an angelic young lady who treated everyone, including all of her slaves, with extreme kindness.

Identify and discuss the message that Northrup delivered to the reader in comparing Miss McCoy to other Bayou Bœuf plantation owners like John Tibeats and Edwin Epps. What did Northrup say? What may have been his goal in making the comparison? What did he want the reader to understand?

Based on what you believe Northrup’s message to have been, state whether you agree or disagree with him. If you agree with him, explain why. If you do not agree with him, detail the reason(s) why.

Essay Topic 2

In Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup, male slave owners and dealers forced cruel and harsh punishment upon male slaves in direct ways. Punishment however, was not limited to male upon male. Acting discreetly and indirectly, female slave owners also managed to force cruel and harsh punishment upon female slaves.

Choose two women from the book whose lives included events of the type described in the preceding sentence. Who was punished? Who forced punishment upon her? How was her punishment carried out? Why was she punished? Was her punishment reasonable? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Solomon said that he understood why a religious man like William Ford could be religious and yet own slaves at the same time. He stated that the environment that Mr. Ford had been raised in, had led him to believe that owning another man was normal and acceptable.

Taking into consideration the way that William Ford operated -- he owned slaves, but gave them Bibles, explain why either his practice of religion or his practice of owning slaves appeared to be more important to him. Be sure to include reasons in support for the selection that you make.

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