Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House

What does the word servitude mean as used in this excerpt?

• slavery

• freedom

• a waitress or waiter

• labor as punishment for a crime

Which statement best describes a claim the narrator makes about slavery?

• Slavery is evil, and it should be eliminated immediately.

• Slavery is in the past. People should focus on the future.

• People don't know anything about slavery unless they have been a slave.

• It will take time for people's opinions about slavery to change and new ideas to be put into practice.

Which of the following quotes best supports the claim: It will take time for people's opinions about slavery to change and new ideas to be put into practice.

• "If I have portrayed the dark side of slavery, I also have painted the bright side."

• "God rules the Universe. I was a feeble instrument in His hands, and through me and the enslaved millions of my race, one of the problems was solved that belongs to the great problem of human destiny . . ."

• "Principles may be right, but they are not established within an hour. The masses are slow to reason, and each principle, to acquire moral force, must come to us from the fire of the crucible . . ."

• "When the war of the Revolution established the independence of the American colonies, an evil was perpetuated, slavery was more firmly established . . ."

Based on the excerpt, what claim does the author make about slavery?

• The custom of slavery was cruel and inhuman.

• Slaves were often seen as robbers because they were not trusted.

• When slaves rebelled against the evils of slavery, they did not accomplish anything.

• Slavery takes away human beings' most important rights and slaves were right to fight against it.

What does this excerpt reveal about the narrator's attitude toward Sarah?

• The narrator fears that Sarah will fall.

• The narrator admires Sarah's bravery.

• The narrator is happy that Sarah is able to escape.

• The narrator is envious that Sarah is able to escape.

Which quote best supports that the narrator is happy that Sarah is able to escape?

• "The young woman lifted one foot on the air. Then the other."

• "She flew clumsily at first, with the child now held tightly in her arms."

• "The Overseer rode after her, hollerin."

• "Tall trees could not snag her. Nor could the Overseer. She flew like an eagle now, until she was gone from sight."

Think about the texts Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Keckley and "The People Could Fly" by Virginia Hamilton and answer the question that follows.

Which two of the following statements best describe a purpose for writing that both writers share?

• to describe what life as a slave was like

• to chronicle the lives of both slaves and slaveholders

• to provide basic facts about the practice of keeping slaves

• to highlight how slaves saw the human kindness of their masters

• to communicate that slavery was a practice that was cruel and unjust

Which of the following phrases from "The People Could Fly," has a negative tone?

• secret magic

• hard lump of clay

• cracked his whip

• light as a feather

• a slice-open cut of pain

Which of the following phrases from "The People Could Fly," has a positive tone?

• light as a feather

• flew like an eagle

• a hard, glinty coal

• black, shiny wings flappin against the blue

• cracked his whip