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English Language: Middle School: Grades 6, 7 and 8 Quiz - Reading Comprehension 11 - The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (Questions)

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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a story that follows the life of one woman from her emancipation as a slave in the 1860s up until her initiation into the Civil Rights Movement of the early 1960s.

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Although it is called The Autobiography, it is not a true autobiography. Rather, it is a work of historical fiction that takes place in rural Louisiana. The “editor” in the story is actually the true author, i.e., Ernest Gaines. The “editor” plays the part of a high school history teacher. At the beginning of the story, Miss Jane Pittman is a woman who is about 110 years old. The “editor” wants to use her life’s story to teach his history students.

He wants to bring realism to his classroom by bringing in an actual person who experienced slavery firsthand. The “editor” then narrates the rest of the story through the eyes and view point of Miss Jane Pittman.

Read the summary below and then see how much you can remember about the story by answering the next ten questions.

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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN

By Ernest Gaines (A Summary)

Jane Pittman is born into slavery on a plantation somewhere in Louisiana. She is called "Ticey" during her days as a slave and has no parents. Her mother died as a result of a beating when she was a child and she did not know her father. Until she is nine, Jane worked in the Big House caring for the white children. One day toward the end of the war, some fleeing confederate soldiers arrive, followed soon after by some union soldiers. While being served water by Jane, one Union soldier named Corporal Brown tells Jane that she will soon be free and she can then visit him in Ohio. He tells her to change her name and offers her that of his daughter, Jane Brown. After the soldiers leave, Jane refuses to answer when her mistress calls her "Ticey." The mistress later beats Jane until she bleeds but Jane insists that her name is now Jane Brown. Because of her obstinacy, Jane is sent to work in the fields.

On the day of the Emancipation Proclamation, Jane's master frees them all. On the same day, Jane leaves the plantation with a group of ex-slaves. They have no idea where they are going but a woman named Big Laura leads the way. Jane wants to go to Ohio to find Corporal Brown. The first morning away, a group of "Patrollers," local white trash who used to hunt slaves, comes upon them and kills everyone but Jane and a very young boy Ned, whom they did not find. Jane and Ned then continue on their own, still headed for Ohio. They meet many characters on their trip, all of whom tell Jane that Ohio is too far and that she should go back to her plantation. Jane's obstinacy persists for a few weeks until she and Ned are completely exhausted from walking. Finally they catch a ride with a poor white man named Job who lets them sleep at his house and takes them the next day to a plantation run by Mr. Bone. Mr. Bone offers Jane a job but only pays her the reduced rate of six dollars a month (minus fifty cents for Ned's schooling) because she is so young. Jane and Ned get a cabin and after one month on the job, Mr. Bone raises her pay to ten dollars because she is doing as much work as the other women.

Life on Mr. Bone's plantation initially is good with a colored schoolteacher and a political scene still monitored by Republicans from the north. Then the original owner of the plantation, Colonel Dye, buys it back (with money borrowed from Yankees). Life reverts back to almost how it was before slavery, with segregation and violence against blacks who step out of line. The blacks start fleeing north because of the worsening conditions. Initially the whites do not care but soon they try to stop the flight. Ned, who is now almost seventeen, joins a committee that helps blacks leave. Colonel Dye warns Jane that Ned must stop, but when he will not, Ku Klux Klan members arrive at Jane's house. Ned is not home when they come and is able to flee the plantation later that night. Jane does not want to leave her secure life so they separate with sadness. Ned goes to Kansas, gets an education, and eventually joins the U.S. Army to fight in Cuba. Jane soon marries Joe Pittman (without an official ceremony). Despite Colonel Dye's attempts to keep them, Joe and Jane soon move to a ranch near the Texas-Louisiana border where Joe has found a job breaking horses.

Joe and Jane live at the new ranch for many years but as they age Jane becomes increasingly worried about Joe getting hurt in his work. One of her recurring dreams depicts him being thrown from a horse. Soon after, Jane sees a black stallion in a corral that is the horse from her dream. She tries to get Joe not to ride it, even consulting a Creole voodoo woman, but after the horse escapes (because Jane frees it), Joe is killed trying to recapture it. After a few more years, Jane moves to another part of Louisiana with a fisherman who suddenly leaves and she is left all alone.

Ned soon moves back to where Jane is and he brings his wife, Vivian, and three young children. He buys a house and starts building a school. At the school, he teaches ideas about the political rights of blacks, as well as basic subjects. The local whites fear Ned's rhetoric and, therefore, they hire a Cajun that Jane knows, Albert Cluveau, to shoot Ned, which Cluveau does. After Ned's death, Jane tells Cluveau that the chariot of hell will come for him and Cluveau later dies a fearful, painful death.

Jane then goes to live on the Samson plantation. Robert Samson runs the plantation with his wife, Miss Amma Dean. They have one son, Tee Bob, although Robert Samson had another son, Timmy, with a black woman on the plantation, Verda. Timmy looks and acts more like Robert than does Tee Bob and the two boys are close friends even though Robert and Miss Amma Dean still expect Timmy to be subservient to his brother since Timmy is black. After the white overseer, Tom Joe, severely beats Timmy in response to Timmy's obstinacy, Robert Samson gives Timmy money and tells him to leave the plantation.

Later in life, Tee Bob falls in love with the Creole schoolteacher, Mary Agnes LeFarbre, who appears almost white. His friends and family remind him that a white man cannot love a black woman, but one night he goes to her house and asks her to marry him anyhow. After she tells him that he is not thinking straight, he returns home and commits suicide. Tee Bob's stepfather intervenes after the suicide so that Mary Agnes is not imprisoned or killed in revenge for Tee Bob's death. In a conversation with Jane, he describes that they all killed Tee Bob because of their adherence to racial regulations beyond which Tee Bob could see.

In the final chapter of the book, Jane describes a boy named Jimmy Aaron, whom the whole plantation hopes will become the "one" who will save them all. Eventually, Jimmy gets involved in the civil rights movement. After several years away from the plantation, he returns home and plans an act of civil disobedience followed by a protest at the courthouse. First a young girl is arrested for drinking from a white water fountain. On the day that they all are to march to the courthouse in protest, however, Jimmy is shot dead. The crowd who was planning to march had already gathered when they hear the news. With the assistance of one young black man, Jane bravely encourages the people to march and takes the lead even though Jimmy is already dead.
1. Jane’s slave name was ______.
[ ] Amma
[ ] Ticey
[ ] Verda
[ ] Agnes
2. Until she was nine, Jane worked in _______.
[ ] the fields
[ ] the school house
[ ] Ohio
[ ] the Big House
3. What did Jane’s master do on the day of Emancipation?
[ ] Freed his slaves
[ ] Hid his slaves
[ ] Beat his slaves
[ ] Sold his slaves
4. After being freed, Jane and a group of people head north. All are then killed except for Jane and ______.
[ ] Ned
[ ] Mr. Bone
[ ] Joe Pittman
[ ] Amma
5. Life is good on Mr. Bone’s plantation until _________.
[ ] the Ku Klux Klan members show up
[ ] Ned leaves to move further north
[ ] Colonel Dye buys the plantation
[ ] The U.S. and Cuba start fighting
6. Who killed Ned?
[ ] Colonel Dye
[ ] Albert Cluveau
[ ] Tee Bob
[ ] Joe Pittman
7. Joe is killed trying to _______.
[ ] escape from the plantation
[ ] leave the U.S. Army in Cuba
[ ] break in a new black horse
[ ] recapture a black horse Jane had set free
8. After Ned’s death, Jane goes to live __________.
[ ] on the plantation of her childhood
[ ] on the Samson plantation
[ ] in Ohio with the Brown family
[ ] with a Creole voodoo woman
9. What happened to Tee Bob?
[ ] He committed suicide
[ ] He married a Creole girl named Mary Agnes LeFarbre
[ ] He was imprisoned for a revenge killing
[ ] He was disowned by his parents for falling in love with a Creole girl
10. Who inspired Jane to march in a civil rights protest?
[ ] Tee Bob
[ ] Mary Agnes LeFarbre
[ ] Jimmy Aaron
[ ] Timmy
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English Language: Middle School: Grades 6, 7 and 8 Quiz - Reading Comprehension 11 - The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (Answers)
1. Jane’s slave name was ______.
[ ] Amma
[x] Ticey
[ ] Verda
[ ] Agnes
Jane’s slave name was Ticey. Answer (b) is correct
2. Until she was nine, Jane worked in _______.
[ ] the fields
[ ] the school house
[ ] Ohio
[x] the Big House
Until she was nine, Jane worked in the Big House. Answer (d) is the correct answer
3. What did Jane’s master do on the day of Emancipation?
[x] Freed his slaves
[ ] Hid his slaves
[ ] Beat his slaves
[ ] Sold his slaves
On the day of Emancipation, Jane’s master freed his slaves. Answer (a) is correct
4. After being freed, Jane and a group of people head north. All are then killed except for Jane and ______.
[x] Ned
[ ] Mr. Bone
[ ] Joe Pittman
[ ] Amma
After being freed, Jane and a group of people head north. All are then killed except for Jane and Ned. Answer (a) is the correct answer
5. Life is good on Mr. Bone’s plantation until _________.
[ ] the Ku Klux Klan members show up
[ ] Ned leaves to move further north
[x] Colonel Dye buys the plantation
[ ] The U.S. and Cuba start fighting
Life is good on Mr. Bone’s plantation until Colonel Dye buys the plantation. Answer (c) is the correct answer
6. Who killed Ned?
[ ] Colonel Dye
[x] Albert Cluveau
[ ] Tee Bob
[ ] Joe Pittman
A Cajun by the name of Albert Cluveau shot and killed Ned. Answer (b) is the correct answer
7. Joe is killed trying to _______.
[ ] escape from the plantation
[ ] leave the U.S. Army in Cuba
[ ] break in a new black horse
[x] recapture a black horse Jane had set free
Joe is killed trying to recapture a black horse Jane had set free. Answer (d) is the correct answer
8. After Ned’s death, Jane goes to live __________.
[ ] on the plantation of her childhood
[x] on the Samson plantation
[ ] in Ohio with the Brown family
[ ] with a Creole voodoo woman
After Ned’s death, Jane goes to live on the Samson plantation. Answer (b) is the correct answer
9. What happened to Tee Bob?
[x] He committed suicide
[ ] He married a Creole girl named Mary Agnes LeFarbre
[ ] He was imprisoned for a revenge killing
[ ] He was disowned by his parents for falling in love with a Creole girl
Tee Bob committed suicide after Mary Agnes LeFarbre rejected his marriage proposal. Answer (a) is the correct answer
10. Who inspired Jane to march in a civil rights protest?
[ ] Tee Bob
[ ] Mary Agnes LeFarbre
[x] Jimmy Aaron
[ ] Timmy
Jimmy Aaron inspired Jane, and many others, to march in a civil rights protest. Answer (c) is correct