Study Questions

1. When does Mrs. Shelby decide to talk to Mr. Shelby about buying Tom?

2. What is Mr. Shelby’s initial reaction to hearing that Tom is being treated well?

3. What is Mrs. Shelby’s first suggestion to her husband for raising money to buy Tom?

4. What is Mrs. Shelby’s second suggestion after Mr. Shelby rejects her first?

5. In what roundabout way does Chloe bring up the subject of working for a baker to earn money?

6. Where is the baker located?

7. How did Chloe learn about working for the baker?

8. How much would Chloe earn from her work?

9. What does Chloe ask Mrs. Shelby about Louisville?

10. When does Chloe decide to go?

Answers

1. Mrs. Shelby decides to talk to her husband when he is smoking his after-dinner cigar.

2. Mr. Shelby initially is glad to hear that Tom is being treated well, but his mood changes when Mrs. Shelby wants to buy Tom.

3. She suggests that Mr. Shelby sell some of his horses and one of his farms.

4. She suggests that she could give music lessons.

5. Chloe first asks about how Mrs. Shelby would like the chicken cooked.

6. The baker is located in Louisville, Kentucky.

7. She learned about the baker from Sam.

8. Chloe would earn four dollars a week.

9. She asks Mrs. Shelby how far Louisville is from where Uncle Tom is. Chloe had hoped to be near enough to visit her husband, but Mrs. Shelby tells her that she would still be too far away to see Tom.

10. She decides to go the next day.