Quiz: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

10 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. 1. How did Douglass get lessons from the white boys in the street?

   He did their chores He gave them bread in exchange He paid them with money from his wages Sophia Auld arranged it
2. 2. Whose whipping does Douglass describe as his first sight of slavery’s violence?

   Demby’s, by Mr. Gore Old Barney’s, by Colonel Lloyd His mother’s, by Mr. Stewart His Aunt Hester’s, by Captain Anthony
3. 3. What task led to Douglass’s first whipping by Covey?

   Feeding the horses in the stable before daybreak Fanning wheat in the treading-yard Ploughing a stubble field with a borrowed horse Fetching wood with a team of unbroken oxen
4. 4. Who chose the name “Douglass”, and from what?

   J. W. C. Pennington, from a hymn Anna Murray, his bride, from a branch of her own family Nathan Johnson, from Scott’s The Lady of the Lake David Ruggles, after a Scottish abolitionist he admired
5. 5. Which fable does Wendell Phillips use to welcome the Narrative?

   The lion and the mouse The wolf and the lamb The fox and the grapes The man and the lion
6. 6. What reason did Master Thomas give for refusing to take Douglass away from Covey?

   The law forbade a master to break a hiring contract Douglass had not shown him any injury Covey had already bought Douglass from him He would lose the whole year’s wages for Douglass’s hire
7. 7. How did Mr. Gore justify shooting Demby?

   Unpunished defiance would spread and free the slaves Colonel Lloyd had ordered it beforehand Demby had attacked him with a knife in the cornfield Demby had stolen from Colonel Lloyd’s storehouse
8. 8. Where did Douglass learn his first written letters?

   From marks on timbers in a shipyard From the Bible at a Methodist Sabbath school From a newspaper Sophia Auld left out From The Columbian Orator
9. 9. How did Douglass’s mother visit him?

   On Sundays, with her master’s permission Never; he did not know who she was On foot at night, after work twelve miles away Every Christmas, during the week of holidays
10. 10. Why did Thomas Auld send Douglass to Edward Covey?

    To be “broken” by Covey, a known slave-breaker To learn a trade as a caulker in the St. Michael’s shipyard To pay off a gambling debt Because Covey offered a high price to buy him outright