Special Sub-Topic: The Known World Authored by: zeroun Sub-topic of: J

What phrase does Fern Elston constantly say in her conversations?

I have been a dutiful wife.. She constantly says this either in thoughts or in words that show a type of trance in her thinking. She isn't exactly the greatest thinker of them all for that reason.

Why does Counsel burn down his ranch?

He lost his family and he was depressed.. This was an odd scene, but later it makes sense that Counsel was deep into depression long before his family passed away.

Many times in the book the characters mention Manchester County. What state was Manchester County located in?

Virginia. Of course, later in the book it explains the removal of the county due to a split of opinions. Makes you wonder if Edward P. Jones was trying to send a message...

Elias and Moses were not good pals in any way, especially after the death of Celeste's newborn baby. After Moses disappears, what does Elias say about Moses?

He will see how the world has gone on without him.. This is one of the MANY references about the world going on even when things go horribly astray. I feel that of everyone who is angry, Elias has the most justifiable anger.

On what day were the slaves forbidden to work on Henry's plantation?

Sunday. Henry was a very religious man, and he treated his slaves with respect. This kindness gained him both respect and contempt.

When Anderson comes to the United States in order to write about its oddities, he finds a great one at Henry's plantation. What was the amazing oddity?

Henry was a Negro slaveowner who once was a slave himself.. Fern ends up telling Anderson most of the information he needs to write his pamphlet. Henry's "oddity" makes for a very interesting conflict in the novel.

Augustus Townsend was thrust back into slavery by Harvey Travis. What did Travis say as he put Townsend into slavery?

This is a nigger who didn't know what to do with his freedom. Thought it meant he was free.. I hate Harvey with a passion. Augustus worked so hard to free himself, and Harvey throws him back in by ripping up his papers.

Speaking of "The Known World", there actually is an object in the novel that is called just that. What is the object?

A jigsaw puzzle of the world.. The odd part about the puzzle was that America was not labelled on it. Considering that France got recognition, it seems sad that America didn't.

Every chapter in the book has three phrases, each in response to one particular phrase. What is this phrase?

My soul's often wondered how I dealt with.... The phrase is the first one you read in the book, and each chapter adds three phrases to that. The whole result is a poem that loosely summarizes the novel. Hopefully you got this one right...the phrase is in bold letters after all.

Alice is quite possibly the most unpredictable of the characters in "The Known World". Throughout the novel she acts as if she is mentally impaired, but at the end of the novel Calvin sees something that Alice did that no one expected. What did Alice do?

She had painted a picture of the plantation.. The picture had everybody both dead and alive together in front of the plantation. This is very significant as it shows that Alice benefitted from her time there, and thus when she went to see the rest of the unknown world, she knew that her home would always guide her. I told you I loved this book, and I hope you did as well.