Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen

Published in 1993.

CHARACTERSMammy Clel Waller Delie Owner of slaves

Not Sarny’s birthmom Controls with whips, dogs, gun Slave Not respected/loved by slaves

Nightjohn Sarny Is going to arrive? Narrator– girl/slave

Slave? Quiet, always listening, thoughtful

Important questions:1)How does the ‘master’ keep control of his slaves? What is the

most important factor in his control?2)How do the slaves fight against that control? What is their most

important weapon against his control?

Chapter 3 Questions

1. What does Sarny mean when she says Waller “brought him in bad”? Describe

2. What is a day of a field worker like? (she used the eating schedule)

3. Describe Sarny’s first interaction with John

Chapter 4 Questions1. Alice, Jim, and Pawley were three slaves who were treated with

extraordinary cruelty when they broke their master’s rules. Describe your reactions to three specific events in this chapter.

2. How does Mammy react when she catches Nightjohn teaching Sarny? Why? How does Mammy’s attitude change after Nightjohn explains his reason for teaching Sarny?

3. Why did Nightjohn give up his freedom and came back down South?

Ch. 5 Discussion

1) Discuss the events of the chapter and what you thought.2) What is Mammy’s response when asked who taught Sarny to read?

Does this surprise you? What does this action tell you about Mammy? About how slaves fought against their owners?

3) What similarities do you see between how John and Mammy reacted to their punishments? How does this show them fighting against their owner?

4) The master does some pretty terrible things– but does he break Mammy or John? Who ‘wins’ this interaction?