Jeffrey tells the overseer to take John to be sold before his father can shoot him. As he is leaving, John tells Sarny “
when you lose one hand, the other gets stronger”
, meaning that she must forge the other note and teach other slaves how to read.
What does Sarny think about trying to escape?
What does Sarny think (what is her opinion) about trying to escape? ~She thinks
it’s a surefire way to die because NOBODY escapes
.
What John promises Sarny?
What does Night John promise Sarny?
To teach her to read and write more
.
What has happened to Sarny since Nightjohn left?
What has happened to Sarny since NightJohn left?
Sarny has been thinking of new word with the letters she learned
, but also she has been scared of getting found out.
What does Sarny do at night in Nightjohn?
Twelve-year-old Sarny is willing to learn. So, at night and whenever he has the chance, John
begins teaching Sarny the letters of the alphabet
. After teaching her 8 letters (A to H), Waller catches Sarny writing in the dirt and punishes John for teaching her by cutting off the toes from each of his feet.
How does Nightjohn end?
Thinking she will never see John again, Sarny is surprised when he returns for her one night a few months later. He takes her to a secret camp where he is teaching slaves to read. The story
ends with the knowledge that Nightjohn has returned
. He will bring hope to the slaves.
How old is Nightjohn?
She is
twelve
, and people think she is “dumb”, because she has “a stuck tongue”, and when she was born she “come out wrong…all backwards and twixt-and-twinst”. In reality, however, Sarny is very intelligent, and learns how to read very quickly. Nightjohn is a slave who is brought to the Waller plantation.
How does sarny find out that Nightjohn is coming?
Sarny first sees Nightjohn
when he is brought to the plantation with a rope around his neck
, his body covered with scars from many beatings. Sarny is drawn to Nightjohn when she learns that he had escaped North to freedom, only to voluntarily return to the South.
Why does outlaw get whipped?
As Mr. Waller is about to whip Outlaw, Jeffrey, Clel’s son, asks him to stop because they are friends.
Clel say to Jeffrey that the slaves were made to pick his cotton instead of being his friend
, and Outlaw is whipped. … This angers a slave, Old Man who had had a finger chopped off after he had learned to read.
What happened to Pawley?
After the vicious attack, Waller tied Pawley down and castrated him. However, the crude operation was a botched affair, and
Pawley bled to death in his quarters
.
What did sarny trade NightJohn for letters?
“Nightjohn wants to trade letters for
tobacco
.” “He wants some of the narrator’s (Sarny’s) tobacco, but he doesn’t have anything to give her back. He offers to teach her some letters as trade for the tobacco.”
What were the meals like on the plantation?
Weekly food rations — usually
corn meal, lard, some meat, molasses, peas, greens, and flour —
were distributed every Saturday. Vegetable patches or gardens, if permitted by the owner, supplied fresh produce to add to the rations. Morning meals were prepared and consumed at daybreak in the slaves’ cabins.
Why do they call John NightJohn?
His name comes from
the fact that he must teach at night, in the dark, because educating slaves is forbidden
. But this brave man is determined to bring letters and words, leading to knowledge and freedom, to any of the slaves who want it badly enough to risk punishment. Sarny is the narrator of the story.
What grade level is nightjohn?
| ATOS Book Level: 3.8 | Interest Level: Middle Grades (MG 4-8) | AR Points: 1.0 | Rating: | Word Count: 10801 |
|---|
How does sarny know how old she is?
How does Sarny know she is
12 years old
? She uses a stick with notches cut into it to see her age.
How does sarny feel about Waller How can you tell?
Sarny
witnesses
at first hand just how vicious and nasty Waller can be. The man has no redeeming features whatsoever, and so the only appropriate emotion toward him from any slave is one of hate. And Sarny expresses her hatred of Waller using such colorful insults as “nothing,” “dog droppings,” and “pig slop.”
