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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. How does Mrs. Selby react to the news that Eliza has escaped?

2. By the end of the action of the Chapter 17, what happens to Tom Lokar?

3. Who does the search party actually take orders from?

4. What is it that Mrs. Bird feels is ignored by the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act?

5. Who is Harry?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do black people in the novel freely use the "n" word?

2. What do you think the author's purpose is in having a man help Eliza escape even though he is a friend of Mr. Shelby's?

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

4. How might the modern reader interpret Mr. Shelby's plan to be absent from the plantation when Tom is to be taken away?

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

6. 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?

7. What is the author's intent by contrasting Mr. Haley's sole interest in thinking of slaves in terms of their physical strength and how he will be able to resell them and Tom's continued pondering on the Bible and a "pitying Jesus?"

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

9. How is the theme of religion versus politics explored in Chapter 9?

10. What character speaks about laws and says, "we have nothing to do with them; all they are for is to crush us, and keep us down."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Stowe has the frail, wealthy white child, Eva befriend and defend Topsy, the abused and incorrigible slave child who is with her family. Explain what purpose their contrasting characters and relationship has in furthering Stowe's feelings about slavery, morality, and religion.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Harriet Beecher Stowe was a female writer who was vehemently against slavery. Discuss the female characters, both black and white, whom she created to "speak" for her cause and evaluate how effectively Stowe used each of these female characters furthered the thinking against slavery.

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