Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. What does Harriet’s grandmother sell?

2. Who purchased William?

3. When is hiring day in the antebellum South?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How are the enslaved people treated in Dr. Flint’s household?

2. How is Martha able to gain her freedom?

3. Why does Harriet describe the age of 15 as “a sad epoch in the life of a slave girl?”

Paired Resource

“‘A Chosen Exile’: Black People Passing In White America”

• This article chronicles the experience of families who participated in racial passing in America.
• Why do some feel the need to pass as white? Why is life difficult for those who made the decision to pass in American society? What are some of the experiences of those who were racially passing? How is this article related to the book’s themes of Slavery and Maternity?

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Who proposes to Harriet while she is in Dr. Flint’s care?

2. Where does Harriet’s lover go after she refused to marry him?

3. What does Mr. Litch’s brother train to find enslaved people?

4. Who is the father of Harriet’s child?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How is Harriet able to evade Dr. Flint’s advances after moving her room closer to his?

2. How do enslavers attempt to dissuade enslaved people from going North?

Chapters 11-15

Reading Check

1. What recent event provokes a group of white people to harass and attack enslaved people indiscriminately?

2. Why is Harriet concerned about her second child?

3. What is given to Harriet’s second child at her christening that Harriet dislikes?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1.  What is one difference between Mr. Pike and the nobler clergyman?

2. Why does Dr. Flint refuse Mr. Sands’s offer, even to his own detriment?

Paired Resource

“Nat Turner”

• This biographical entry from History.com provides context for understanding Nat Turner’s Rebellion.
• How did Nat Turner’s background lead him to become the leader of a rebellion? What event motivated Nat Turner to begin this rebellion? What was the effect of this rebellion in the South? How does this article relate to the memoir’s themes of Female Relationship Between Enslaver and Enslaved and Slavery and the Christian Church?

“How Literacy Became a Powerful Weapon in the Fight to End Slavery”

• This article explains how the ruling planter class maintained power over enslaved people by restricting their access to literacy.
• What new laws were enacted as a result of Nat Turner’s Rebellion? Why were many opposed to educating enslaved persons? How is this article connected to the memoir’s themes of Slavery and the Christian Church?

Chapters 16-20

Reading Check

1. What does Harriet believe Mr. Flint is doing to Ellen when he shows her kindness?

2. What does Dr. Flint offer to any citizen who finds Harriet and returns her to him?

3. Where does Dr. Flint plan to go to find Harriet?

4. Who purchases Benny, William, and Ellen?

5. Which friend does Harriet’s mistress arrange to take her north?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is the arrival of Mrs. Flint ultimately disappointing for the enslaved people on Mr. Flint’s plantation?

2. What further injustices does Dr. Flint commit in attempting to recapture Harriet?

Chapters 21-25

Reading Check

1. Where does Martha hide after being in the swamp?

2. What bites Benny?

3. What political seat does Mr. Sands acquire?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Who does Martha invite to her house on Christmas day, and why is this dangerous?

2. How does Dr. Flint attempt to fool Martha after receiving Harriet’s letter?

Paired Resource

“Jonkonnu: The Holiday When Black Revelers Could Mock Their Enslavers”

• This article from The Seattle Times describes the celebration of Jonkonnu and its purpose in the United States.
• What is the purpose of Jonkonnu? What do participants do during this celebration? What are the theories surrounding the enslavers regarding Jonkonnu? Where is Jonkonnu practiced today? How is this article connected to the memoir’s themes of Female Relationships Between Enslaver and Enslaved?

Chapters 26-30

Reading Check

1. Who has convinced William to leave Mr. Sands?

2. Who grows fond of Benny and decides she wants to raise him in her household?

3. Where is Ellen sent to school?

4. What does Ellen report to her mother that her role is in Brooklyn?

5. How long has Harriet been hiding when Aunt Nancy dies?

6. Where does the vessel Harriet and Fanny board take them?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does William leave Mr. Sands?

2. Why does Grandmother Martha change her mind about sending Harriet North?

Chapters 31-35

Reading Check

1. What family does Harriet stay with while she waits for the train?

2. To whom does Harriet write to inquire about her own freedom?

3. Who becomes Harriet’s employer?

4. With whom does William stay after he is taken to New York?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How has Ellen been treated in her Brooklyn home, and what conclusions does Harriet draw from this treatment?

2. Why does Harriet reject her employer’s offer to provide Ellen with a place to live?

Paired Resource

“Race-Based Legislation in the North”

• This article describes the legal discrimination that African Americans encountered in the “Free States” of the North.
• What forms of discrimination were present in the North in the 1800s? What was the response of Black people and their allies to racism in the North? How is this article connected to the memoir’s themes of Female Relationships Between Enslaver and Enslaved?

Chapters 36-41

Reading Check

1. What was Mr. Thorne’s reason for writing to Dr. Flint to inform him of Harriet’s location?

2. Where does Harriet agree to go following the death of Mrs. Bruce?

3. What law was passed that made Harriet cautious about agreeing to work with the Bruces again?

4. Who purchases Harriet and emancipates her?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is it ironic that Benny is mistreated by the other apprentices when they learn of his origins?

2. Why does Harriet determine not to pay for her freedom?

Recommended Next Reads

Life and Times of Fredrick Douglass by Fredrick Douglass

• This autobiography describes the experiences of a famous enslaved man who escaped his enslavers, joined the abolitionists, and became a leading anti-slavery figure in the United States.
• Shared topics include enslaved persons, racism, and emancipation.
• Shared themes include Slavery and the Christian Church.
• Life and Times of Fredrick Douglass on SuperSummary

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

• This memoir details the life of Solomon Northup who was born free before being kidnapped and sold into slavery.
• Shared topics include racism, enslavement, and education.
• Shared themes include Slavery and Maternity and Slavery and the Christian Church.
• Twelve Years a Slave on SuperSummary