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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 is Aunt Chloe's primary responsibility of the plantation?

2. To whom do Sam and Andy tell the story of Eliza's escape?

3. What "happy days" does Eliza think of as she leaves the Shelby house?

4. Who is Augustine St. Clare?

5. Who is Hagar?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's purpose in having Sam tell the story of Eliza's escape and Mr. Haley's failed attempts to catch her?

2. Why is Uncle Tom's loyalty to his master such a subject of harsh criticism and ridicule?

3. What is the significance of John Von Trompe being described as a former "land-holder and slave owner in the state of Kentucky?"

4. How does the treatment of George by his master compare or contrast with how Eliza is treated by her owners.

5. What provides the comic relief in Chapter 6?

6. What is the effect of describing the actual cabin of Uncle Tom as a place where flowers grow and people worship and eat together?

7. What are the two things in this historical fiction that were real and introduced in Chapter 9?

8. Why does the author write that "Sam was in wonderful spirits," when each of his possible sightings of Eliza turn out to not be her?

9. When Mrs. Shelby speaks of this sale of her slaves being a curse from God, her husband accuses her of sounding like an abolitionist. Why is that such a harsh accusation?

10. How is the character of Phineas contrasted with that of Halliday?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The subject of religion, specifically Christianity, abounds in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Discuss how Stowe's characterization of Uncle Tom embodied the principles of Christianity--namely that of faith, forgiveness, compassion, and belief in an afterlife. Refer to specific instances from the novel to illustrate these various components of Christianity.

Essay Topic 2

Uncle Tom's Cabin is one of the most enduring American novels of social protest. Evaluate the novel's strength as a tract for social protest by discussing the characterization of Uncle Tom, Eliza and her family of George and Harry, and the slave owners, Mr. Shelby and Simon Legree.

Essay Topic 3

In Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe pits slavery against Christianity. Explore how she comes to depict the incompatibility of the two institutions, slavery and Christianity by referring to and exploring specific situations throughout the novel.

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