logo

65 pages 2 hours read

Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2017

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Essay Topics

1.

Ona Judge lives in four different states during her life: Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. What is each state’s policy toward slavery, and how does this contribute to Judge’s ease or difficulty in navigating the state? What key life lessons does Judge learn in each of the states?

2.

What role does speculation play in Dunbar’s text? What does she make educated guesses about, and for what purpose?

3.

According to Never Caught, in what ways is Ona Judge’s experience representative of the conditions of slavery at that time? In what ways is her situation different? What accounts for these differences?

4.

Discuss an enslaved individual mentioned in the text who makes a different choice than Judge. Why might an enslaved person choose to remain in bondage instead of seeking their freedom? How does the text present individuals who make this choice?

5.

Identify and discuss three literary devices found in Never Caught. How does Dunbar employ literary devices more typical of fiction than nonfiction? What do these devices help emphasize in the narrative?

6.

Never Caught includes an Epilogue that goes in a different direction from much of the rest of the text. Why does Dunbar end with the Epilogue, instead of with Judge’s death in Chapter 13? What does this section add to the text?

7.

Compare and contrast Never Caught with another biographical or autobiographical narrative about someone who escaped slavery. How do the accounts differ, and how are they similar? What factors contribute to each individual choosing to run away when he or she does?

8.

Never Caught includes stories and background information about a variety of both Black and white minor characters. Why does the text devote so much space to these individuals’ stories? Choose three of these individuals and discuss how they help to put Judge’s story in perspective.

9.

Discuss the text’s treatment of gender among Black men and women. How did Black men's and women’s experiences differ? Did these differences hold true for enslaved and free individuals?

10.

Compare and contrast Never Caught with a well-known biographical work on George Washington. How is Dunbar’s portrayal of Washington similar to more well-known accounts of Washington’s life, and how is it different? How does the other text treat the subject of Washington as an enslaver?

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text