The Book of Negroes

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The American title of the novel is Someone Knows My Name. How does this title influence your understanding of the novel?

• How does the theme The Importance of Names and Naming relate to the American title of the novel Someone Knows My Name? (topic sentence)
• What are at least three parts of the story where Aminata’s name is especially significant, and why?
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider how the American title of the novel might emphasize the theme The Importance of Names and Naming.

2. The character of Solomon Lindo is intended to embody the moral dilemma of the “well-meaning” enslaver. Aminata’s feelings towards her former enslaver are initially ones of trust and security until she discovers his involvement in the sale of her baby. Can an enslaver truly be well-meaning, or is Lindo’s character just as vile as the other “villains” in the narrative?

• Does the text show empathy toward Lindo and his “outsider” status, or is he just as culpable as the other traders and enslavers? (topic sentence)
• Using textual evidence, cite instances where Lindo’s hypocrisy stands in the way of his “goodness.” 
• In your concluding sentences, consider how much empathy the text actually allows Lindo. 

3. Aminata maintains some connections to her native land by continuing the usage of holistic medicinal methods. She tends to most maladies using herbs, plants, and tonics. Although many of the Americans she encounters believe holistic methods to be barbaric, the references to them in the novel are important symbols and motifs. How do they exemplify aspects of Aminata’s culture and history?

• How are herbs, plants, and holistic healing used to show cultural differences in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Using textual evidence, explore different ways herbs and plants are used medicinally in the novel. How are they received by white Americans?
• In your concluding sentences, connect the symbolic usages of herbs and plants to cultural stories and histories.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Aminata’s journey takes her across bodies of water a few times in the novel. She uses a lot of figurative language that compares water to her circumstances, as in this passage:

Over to my right...the river flowed fast and wide.... At the shore of this angry river waited many canoes, each with eight rowers. I had never seen so many boats and rowers. To my left, the water expanded into eternity. It heaved and roared, lifted and dropped. It was green in some parts, blue in others, forever shifting and sliding and changing colour. It foamed at the mouth like a horse run too hard. To my left, the water had taken over the world. (Book 1, Chapter 3, Page 49)

How is water used in this novel as an extended metaphor to evoke emotion, portray certain themes, and symbolize important plot points in the narrative? 

2. The meaning of the word “freedom” changes throughout the novel. Characters frequently warn Aminata of the broken promises abolitionists often come with. Does Aminata ever really attain freedom? In what ways does her life mission to ensure the freedom of enslaved people come true?

3. Narratives by enslaved people, although painfully honest and sometimes graphic, are important primary sources from the past. Like the narrative of Olaudah Equiano, they ruptured a lot of prevailing stereotypes at the time of their publication. Why is reading a novel like The Book of Negroes relevant to understanding the events of the past? How can a contemporary work build on and elucidate primary sources?