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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. After young George Shelby returns from the Legree plantation, what option does George Shelby offer his former slaves as he frees them?

2. What area of his own house does Legree come to believe is haunted?

3. Who on the Shelby plantation offers first to earn extra money in Chapter 21?

4. When a character tries to convince Tom that he should kill Legree, what is the weapon that the person recommends?

5. At the slave auction, what does Emmeline do when Legree examined her?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why might Simon Legree "secretly dislike" Tom and why was it so important for him to get Tom to whip a person?

2. With all the happy endings in the book, why might Stowe have chosen to have Tom, the most beloved character, beat to death?

3. What is Mr. Shelby's objection to Mrs. Shelby having taught religion to the slaves?

4. Explain how the following passage is foreshadowing: "the rays of the sun formed a kind of glory behind her [Eva], as she came forward in her white dress, with her golden hair and glowing cheeks, her eyes unnaturally bright..."

5. Why might Stowe have had the significant black characters who are now free end up going to Africa to do missionary work?

6. What do readers learn about the development of a person from the relationship between Eva and Topsy?

7. What does Stowe insist that Northerners do to truly live by their Christian beliefs?

8. How does the author use color and/or physical characteristics to symbolize the difference between Augustine and his daughter, Eva, and Alfred and his son, Henrique?

9. How do the events on the boat suggest that the novel is nearing a conclusion of a story?

10. How do the physical descriptions of Simon Legree himself and his plantation symbolize his character?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The term "Uncle Tom" has come to have a very disparaging, insulting meaning in our modern society. It has come to describe an African American whom other African Americans consider to be subservient to white people and who treats whites in a way that suggests they are superior. This term comes from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. After reading this novel, decide whether a reader should be empathetic to Tom's treatment of whites or whether this character deserves this reputation. Obviously, to answer this question, the writer must refer to specific deeds or quotations from the novel.

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

Miss Ophelia, Augustine St. Clare's aunt who arrives in New Orleans from New England, is the only fully drawn character from the North. How does the addition of the this character to the antebellum South work to help Stowe further her argument against the inhumane treatment of and beliefs about blacks?

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