Twelve Years a Slave

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. According to Berlin’s Introduction to Twelve Years a Slave, what makes this text particularly trustworthy?

A) It was the first time a former enslaved person had published their story.

B) It confirms that life for enslaved people was not much better than life for free Blacks in the North. 

C) It revealed for the first time that the condition of enslavement was passed down from mother to son.

D) It is full of detailed, verifiable information about enslaved life on the plantation.

2. Which correctly identifies the offspring of Solomon Northop and Anne Hampton? 

A) 3 children: Sally, Elizabeth, and Laurie

B) 3 children: Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonzo

C) 2 children: Elizabeth and Alonzo

D) 2 children: Margaret and Frederick

3. In Chapter 5, Northup and Arthur abandon their plan to overthrow the brig when Robert becomes sick and dies of what illness?

A) Smallpox

B) Cholera

C) Yellow fever

D) Malaria

4. What instrument does Freeman force Northup to play so that customers can watch the enslaved individuals dance? 

A) he harmonica

B) The piano

C) The violin

D) The drums

5. Why does William Ford sell Northup in Chapter 8?

A) Due to financial hardship

B) He has too many enslaved people and not enough work.

C) His wife dislikes the relationship between Northup and Eliza.

D) Ford’s church requested labor for building a new church.

6. What is the benchmark used at Epp’s cotton plantation to measure how much cotton the enslaved people must pick each day? 

A) They must clear 50 square feet of the plantation.

B) 150 pounds, the minimum bushel amount that cotton buyers will accept at market

C) The amount of cotton the picker picks on their first day on the plantation

D) 125 pounds, the amount that children would typically be able to pick

7. Why is Northup uncomfortable after he is promoted to overseer? 

A) It makes him the object of ridicule among other enslaved people

B) Eliza comes to see him as a traitor because of it.

C) It squanders his opportunity to lay low and find a way to slip away.

D) As overseer, he must whip other captives who break the rules.

8. What is the short period during the year that young members of the enslaved population find romance?

A) The Spring Solstice

B) Easter

C) Christmas

D) Shrove Tuesday

9. How does Armsby betray Northup?

A) He agrees to help Northup mail a letter to his loved ones in New York, but then informs Epps of his plan.

B) He agrees to facilitate Patsey’s escape, but then informs Epps about her plan.

C) He agrees to bring Northup extra rations of food, but then eats them himself.

D) He agrees to help add weight to Northup’s cotton pickings for the day, but then steals Northup’s stash to add weight to his own.

10. What does Lew Cheney do that Northup finds contemptuous?

A) He provides Epps bootleg liquor in exchange for special treatment.

B) He once helped Epps sexually assault Patsey.

C) He fomented a rebellion only to turn in the conspirators.

D) He repeatedly states he is content with his position as captive.

11. Why does Patsey break the rules by traveling to another plantation?

A) To find a bar of soap

B) For an illicit rendezvous with Epps

C) Because Northup tells her to leave the plantation immediately

D) To search for food

12. What larger message does the author hope to communicate by narrating the ritual in which Epps encourages his young sons to berate the enslaved people?

A) Fathers and sons have deeply complex, sometimes disturbing relationships.

B) Epps, like many white men of his generation, was taught to be cruel.

C) Ritual is necessary to keep systems of power and subjugation in place.

D) Pernicious institutions such as slavery are passed down from generation to generation.

13. Who are the men who arrive at the Epps plantation to facilitate Northup’s release?

A) Bass and a local preacher

B) A fireman and a lawyer

C) A local sheriff and a lawyer

D) Bass and an armed soldier

14. Which of the following words best describes the trial against Burch in Chapter 22?

A) Fair

B) Lenient

C) Absurd

D) Stalled

15. When Northup returns home, he finds that his daughter has had a child. What is the child’s name, and whom are they named after?

A) Anne Marie Staunton, named after Northup’s wife

B) Solomon Northup Staunton, named after Northup himself

C) Bass Winston Staunton, named after Northup’s savior

D) Mintus Henry Staunton, named after Northup’s father

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Northup pays especially close attention to Eliza’s separation from her family in Chapters 6-12. What is one example of the detail he provides, and what is its effect on the overall text?

2. Who is Mr. Bass? Why is he a key figure in the text?