Elijah of Buxton

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-5

Reading Check

1. How does Elijah get back at his mother for shaming his fear of hoop snakes?

2. What does Elijah see coming out of the woods after the “slave catcher” scare?

3. What does Elijah find interesting about the way Mr. Leroy eats fish?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Elijah’s mother mean when she calls him “fra-gile?”

2. Why was Frederick Douglass holding Elijah during a speech at Buxton?

3. Describe “rock fishing.”

Paired Resources

“Escaping Slavery: The Consequences of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 via The Library of Congress Blog” and “Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in The Canadian Encyclopedia”

• These articles provide students with background information on the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which empowered bounty hunters and federal agents to follow enslaved Africans to places that were formerly safe havens and force them back to slavery. The second resource discusses the role that Canada played in pushing back against the law and those who tried to enact it on its soil and other nearby American territories.