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"Mars Jeems's Nightmare": Study Questions

Compiled by John Brooks and the students of UNIV 101, Freshman Seminar I

The Text
The Story

  • Who is Tom, and how did the narrator come to hire him?
  • What situation prompted Julius to tell his story?
  • How did Mars Jeems treat his slaves?
  • What happened when Mars Jeems found out about Solomon and his woman?
  • What did Solomon do in response to Mars Jeems's action?
  • What were Mars Jeems's instructions to Nick Johnson, and how did those instructions affect the slaves?
  • How did Nick come to have a new slave to break in?  How successful was he?
  • What did Aunt Peggy do when she found out that the new slave had been sold?
  • How was Mars Jeems changed when he returned to the plantation, and why?
  • What was the moral of the story, according to Julius, and how did the story affect Tom?

Characters

How would you describe the following characters in the story?

  • The narrator
  • The narrator's wife
  • Julius
  • Tom
  • Jeems McLean
  • Solomon
  • Nick Johnson
  • Aunt Peggy