Nightjohn Questions - Warren County Public Schools



Nightjohn Chapter 1 Questions

1. Who is the narrator of this story? How old is this person?

2. What point of view is this story told in? How do you know?

3. Who is Clel Waller? Describe him.

4. Who is mammy? Describe her.

5. How does Sarny feel about Waller? How can you tell?

6. Is Sarny dumb? Explain how you know.

7. Why is Sarny’s mother not around? Who has raised Sarny?

8. What kind of work does Sarny do on the plantation?

9. What does Sarny (the main character) do at night?

10. Who do you think Nightjohn is? What do you think is going to happen?

11. Make a list of words or phrases that you don’t know.

Nightjohn Chapter 2 Questions

1. What was Sarny’s job in the flower garden? What does this job allow her to do?

2. What does Sarny hear the women talking about?

3. How much money did Clel Waller pay when he bought Nightjohn? What does this tell you about Nightjohn?

4. How did Sarny’s mammy pray?

a. Where did she pray?

b. Why did she pray this way?

c. What did she pray for?

Nightjohn Chapter 3 Questions

1. How was Nightjohn brought in to the plantation?

2. On page 26, it talks about the slave Master Waller bought for $1000. What does it mean when it says, “He brought him in bad?”

3. Describe Nightjohn.

4. What were the meals like on the plantation?

5. How did the slaves eat? What did each meal consist of?

6. On page 30, it says “Don’t they do this, don’t they do it right,…the whip comes down.” This is a different dialect of English, called Black English. How would you say “Don’t they” in Standard English?

7. What did Nightjohn do the first night on the plantation? What does this tell you about him?

8. Why did Sarny save some tobacco?

9. What does Nightjohn trade for the tobacco?

10. Why did Mammy tell Sarny that reading was dangerous?

11. What is Nightjohn’s explantion for why the masters don’t want slaves to read?

12. Look at your description of Nighjon from the last reading assignment. Can you add any new details to this description?

13. Do you think Nightjohn is a good reading teacher? How did you learn to read English? Did your teacher give similar advice about the alphabet and the sounds each letter makes?

Nightjohn Chapter 4 Questions

1. Alice:

a. Who was she? What was she used for on the plantation?

b. What happened to her the 1st time she tried to run away?

c. What happened to her the next time she tried to escape?

2. Jim:

a. Why did he run away?

b. What happened to him when he tried to run away?

3. Pawley:

a. Did Pawley really run away? What was he doing?

b. What happened to him?

4. What does Sarny think (what is her opinion) about trying to escape?

5. Name two things that Sarny and Mammy did for Alice.

6. What happens when Mammy finds Nightjohn teaching Sarny to write?

7. What is Nightjohn’s story about his past? How did he become a slave again?

8. Why does Nightjohn think reading and writing is so important?

9. Does Sarny still continue to learn letters from Nightjohn? What does that tell you about her character?

10. Do you agree with Nightjohn? Why is reading and writing so important? Do you think it is the same today, in all cultures?

Nightjohn Chapter 5 Questions

1. Write the 7 letters Sarny learned so far.

_______ _______ ______ ______ _____ __ _______ ______

2. What is Sarny’s first word? How does she feel when she learns to write it?

3. Describe what happens when Waller catches Sarny.

a. What was she doing?

b. What does she tell Waller?

c. What does Waller do?

d. Describe the conflict for Sarny. (Internal or external?)

4. How does Sarny feel about writing after Waller finds her hiding with Mammy?

5. Why do you think Waller decided to punish Mammy instead of Sarny?

6. How does Mammy react when she is taken to the spring house? What does she tell Sarny to do?

7. What does Waller do to Mammy?

8. What does Waller do to Nightjohn?

9. According to the law, what did Waller say was the punishment for a slave learning to read?

10. At the end of the chapter, Sarny is very angry at Waller. How do you feel about him?

Nightjohn Chapter 6 & 7 Questions

1. What does Nightjohn do after Waller punishes him?

2. How does Nightjohn escape? How does Mammy help Nightjohn?

3. What did Nightjohn do that showed his true commitment?

4. What did Nightjohn do to throw off his scent from the dogs?

5. What time of the year did Nightjohn escape?

6. What, if ever, did he return to the Waller Plantation?

7. How long is Nightjohn gone? What does Sarny do while he is gone?

8. Why did Sarny secretly leave the quarters in the middle of the night?

9. Where does Nightjohn have his school? What is it like?

10. Name two other plantations that had child slaves at the secret school.

11. Nightjohn showed the children a book. What was the book and what was in it?

12. How do the slaves know Nightjohn passed through the areas?

13. Why don’t the folks from the white house suspect anything?

Nightjohn Chapter Words Questions

1. What does Sarny tell us in this short chapter?

2. What do you think would happen if the book continued for another chapter?

3. Make a prediction of what you think happens to Sarny when she grows up.

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