Collections Grade 8 Guiding Questions
Collection 3
“from Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad” by Ann Petry
Read the selection from the biography Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the
Underground Railroad by Ann Petry. Then, reread the lines indicated with each
question below. Answer each question, citing text evidence.
1. Lines 1–6: What is revealed about the subject in these lines? How does the
structure of the paragraph show the masters’ illogical reaction to Moses?
2. Lines 33–46: Summarize Tubman’s action in “running off slaves.” What do
those actions show about her character?
3. Lines 42–46: What is the effect of the author’s choice to describe Tubman’s
voice in this vivid way?
4. Lines 71–78: How does Tubman seem to deal with feelings of fear? How
does the author compare Tubman’s possible fate to that of the runaway?
5. Lines 74–76: What sentence fragments are in these lines? What effect do
these fragments have on the reader?
6. Lines104–108: What example of parallelism is in these lines?
7. Lines 132–148: Explain the connection between Thomas Garrett and
Tubman. What details suggest Tubman’s view of Garrett?
8. Lines 133–135: Examine the sentence that begins on line 133, and pay
special attention to word order. Why do you think the author chose that
syntax?
9. Lines 157–160: Read aloud softly to yourself the sentence that begins on line
157. Listen for word order, repetition, and pauses. Describe the impact of
these techniques.
10. Lines 216–221: What information in these lines connects to earlier events?
What does this comparison to an earlier event suggest about Tubman?
11. Lines 225–239: Based on Tubman’s words and other details in these lines,
tell whether you think Tubman would have killed the “despairing slave.”
12. Lines 240–243: Which words describe the Middle Passage? What is the
impact of the word choices in this paragraph? How does the first sentence
develop the text’s key idea: that the escape from slavery was terrifying?
13. Lines 261–268: Which sentence expresses the fugitives’ changed attitude?
What is the impact of the author’s use of the synonyms implicitly and totally?
14. Lines 273–285: Explain what is suggested about the author’s research.
15. Lines 300–316: Which words show the author’s reasoning?
16. Lines 321–331: What can you tell about Tubman from the information
provided in these lines?
17. Lines 332–335: Which details develop the contrasts between Canada and
Maryland? What is the impact of the author’s word choices and use of
parallelism and repetition?
18. Lines 352–357: What comparison is the author making? Explain how it
develops the concept of freedom. How do word choices such as “bone-biting
cold” impact the tone of the paragraph?