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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did JFK change the line of interception for the blockade?

2. How long before the President's address to the nation did they tell the ambassador of Russia?

3. What was one recommendation from the military action plan?

4. Who told Ambassador Dobrynin about the President's intended speech?

5. What type of non-fiction is Thirteen Days?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Ambassador Dobrynin provide as evidence that USSR would not be a threat to the United States?

2. What was ironic about JFK's meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrea Gromyko?

3. What did the military and JFK do to respond to the submarine situation?

4. Why does RFK slip the President a note saying "I now know how Tojo felt when he was planning Pearl Harbor" (25)? How do the situations compare?

5. What other actions did the U.S. take besides the blockade?

6. How does Berlin factor into the decision making about the Cuban Missile Crisis?

7. What was one argument against a blockade?

8. How did JFK feel about the reaction from Congress when he informed them about the crisis and his plans?

9. What information did the Intelligence Community have about the missiles in September, but did not inform the President about at that time? Why were they not passed on?

10. How did the US obtain their information about Russian activity in Cuba?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The theme of understanding consequences is prevalent in Thirteen Days. Write an essay exploring this theme and its implication to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay examining the importance of peer evaluation. Develop an argument that is either for using groups or against it. Was the group effort successfully used for Ex Comm? Why or why not? What lesson can be learned from this?

Essay Topic 3

The President is only a man but his office is highly symbolic. In an essay, discuss at least three concepts that the President symbolizes. How does he symbolize these concepts? JFK in particular? What did JFK do to reinforce these conceptions?

(see the answer keys)

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