Vocabulary
Define the word "articulating" as used in line 15.
What is "expressing" or "putting into words?
The phrase "the butte wore me smooth, my fingers and toes, my patience and my temper" (23) is an example of this device that gives human qualities to non-human things.
What is personification?
What is the significance of the narrator reaching "a blank, red wall" (57-58) with no handholds?
What is this moment represents the narrator's point of no return—he cannot climb back up, forcing him to make a desperate leap that changes his life and his perspective on the swoops.
In what city does Solomon wake up after being drugged?
Answer: What is Washington, D.C.?
What does Solomon's kidnapping reveal about the dangers facing free Black people?
What is that they could be easily captured and enslaved despite their legal status?
In line 29, this word describes something that is required beforehand or as a condition.
What is prerequisite?
The description "like she'd tasted something bitter" (7) when the grandmother looks at the boy is an example of this type of comparison.
What is a simile?
Why is the moment when the narrator says "Thank you" (78) and touches the swoop's chest important?
What is this moment signals the resolution of the narrator's internal conflict—he moves from hatred and fear to gratitude and connection, showing his transformation and acceptance of the swoops as equals.
What does Solomon discover when he wakes up in captivity?
Answer: What is that he has been chained and his free papers are gone?
What is Solomon's primary goal during the first hour of the film?
What is to escape and return to his family in New York?
Define "chastising" as used in line 44.
What is "scolding" or "expressing disapproval," and is used to describe how the butte seems to treat the narrator?
The narrator's initial hatred of the swoops transforming into gratitude and connection by the story's end is an example of this literary device.
What is characterization?
How does the author's description of the narrator falling (63-66) create meaning?
What is as the narrator falls, he experiences wonder and beauty rather than pure terror, showing his shift in perspective. The "swift darkness" that follows represents both danger and transformation, preparing readers for his rescue and rebirth.
What name is Solomon forced to take by his captors?
What is Platt?
How does Solomon's education and skills affect his treatment in the slave system?
What is that his abilities make him valuable but also a target for exploitation?
Define " alien" as used in line 63.
What is "exotic" or "foreign," and is used to describe the shrubs the narrator sees while falling?
Explain the metaphor in these lines: "I wove the new name into a tapestry of curses under my breath." (13-14)
What is the narrator's curses are compared to threads in a tapestry, suggesting that his hatred is carefully constructed, intentional, and woven into the fabric of his daily thoughts and speech.
What is the purpose of the line, "Every time I looked at a swoop, whether I was on the highest cliffs or in the lowest caverns, I felt my world shrink a bit more" (24-25)?
What is this line reveals that the narrator's resentment grows constantly and inescapably; no matter where he is, his awareness of the swoops' freedom makes him feel more trapped and limited?
Who is the slave trader that holds Solomon captive in Washington, D.C.?
Who is Theophilus Freeman?
: What does the film suggest about the legal system's protection of free Black citizens?
What is that the legal system fails to protect them from being kidnapped and sold into slavery?
Define "resonating" as used in line 80.
What is harmonizing" or "vibrating together," and describes how the narrator feels connected to the swoop's heartbeat?
Why does the author use the simile "the water making the red dust shine like blood"? (41)
What is the comparison creates a vivid, slightly unsettling image that emphasizes the harshness and danger of the environment the narrator is entering, foreshadowing the difficult journey ahead.
What is the purpose of the line, "It was like the butte itself was chastising me for my childishness, my odd ways. Tutting at me in my grandmother's voice"(44-45)?
What is this line shows the narrator internalizing his grandmother's values and wisdom. Even as he rebels, her voice guides him, suggesting that her teachings have shaped his conscience despite his resistance?
What does Freeman do to Solomon to prepare him for sale?
What is beat him and force him to learn to act like a slave?
What is the irony of Solomon's situation at the beginning of the film?
What is that he is a successful, educated, free man whose freedom is stolen from him in an instant?