Vocabulary
After days of grueling travel through swamps and woods, the freedom seekers looked messy, untidy, and completely this.
disheveled
Symbolizing the ultimate destination of safety and true liberty, this British territory was where Harriet had to lead her passengers after the Fugitive Slave Act made the Northern U.S. unsafe.
What is Canada?
Harriet demonstrated this trait by physically risking her own freedom nineteen times to return to the South and rescue strangers and family members alike.
What is courage?
Petry emphasizes the vast network of people involved in helping slaves escape by consistently capitalizing this two-word transport metaphor.
The Underground Railroad
As a biography, this book is written in this narrative perspective, using pronouns like she, he, and they to tell Harriet's story.
Third person
Harriet had to gently but firmly do this to a sense of courage and hope into the hearts of the runaway slaves when they wanted to give up.
instill
Harriet used the specific hooting call of this nocturnal bird as a secret audio symbol to let runaway slaves know it was safe to leave their cabins.
What is a whipporwill?
By meticulously planning her winter escapes, arranging safe houses, and memorizing secret trails, Harriet showed an incredible amount of this practical trait.
resourcefullness, cleverness, or intelligence
Rather than saying the runaway slaves simply walked, Petry uses this dynamic three-word idiom—meaning to run away quickly or flee—to describe their sudden departure from the plantation.
"took to their heels"
To prove the book is a factual biography and not fiction, Ann Petry relied heavily on these historical items, such as Harriet’s own quotes, letters, and real newspaper advertisements for runaway slaves.
primary sources
Fearing discovery by slave catchers, the group could not afford to stay or do this at any one hiding spot for too long.
linger
This weapon carried by Harriet served as a dual symbol: protection against slave catchers, and a warning to any passenger tempted to turn back and risk the safety of the group.
Rifle or gun
Despite suffering from severe, lifelong pain and sudden sleeping spells from her childhood injury, Harriet pushed through physical agony to walk hundreds of miles, showing immense this.
resilience/endurance
To make the plantation owners and slave catchers sound unfeeling and cold, Petry states that a full day was lost before this industrial-sounding phrase "of pursuit could be set in motion."
"machinery of pursuit"
Unlike a simple timeline of facts, Petry's book is a "narrative biography," meaning she uses this literary device—complete with suspense, pacing, and sensory details—to make the true history feel like a story.
plot
When the runaways became cold, exhausted, and hopeless, they often grew silent, gloomy, and this.
sullen
Representing the absolute constant guiding force for escaping slaves, this celestial body in the Ursa Minor constellation pointed the way north through the darkest nights.
The North Star
Harriet displayed this deep quality when she carried a crying baby, rationed food for her passengers, or gently comforted those who were too weak to keep up.
compassion/empathy
When describing how the runaways had to communicate in absolute secrecy, Petry uses this word to describe sounds that were "barely more than a murmur borne on the wind."
husky or whispered
This is the specific literary term for the author's primary reason for writing this biography—which was not just to inform readers of dates, but to inspire them with Harriet's enduring legacy.
Author's purpose
Harriet used powerful, moving speech and this quality to convince the exhausted group that freedom was worth the pain of the journey.
eloquence
This biblical figure's name became the symbolic code name for Harriet herself, representing a leader sent to deliver people out of bondage.
Who is Moses?
When runaways became paralyzed by fear and wanted to turn back, Harriet’s absolute unshakeable resolve to finish the journey demonstrated this iron trait.
determination/persistance/grit
When the group finally reaches a safe, clean house, Petry contrasts their previous fear by repeating this specific word to describe the physical and mental peacefulness of the kitchen.
serenity
At the end of many chapters, Petry intentionally shifts away from Harriet to give a broader look at this type of factual information, detailing what was happening in the anti-slavery movement across the rest of the world.
historical context