View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What was a redoubt?

2. When Isabel and Ruth initially arrived at Curzon's camp, who did some soldiers think that Isabel was?

3. Where were Kate and Elspeth from?

4. How did Isabel and Ruth bury the bodies they found in the woods?

5. Why did Curzon support the Patriot cause?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Isabel mean when she said, "I am my own army" (126)?

2. Why was Isabel cheered by Kate and Elspeth's frustration at the extra work they had to do after the storm?

3. Why did Isabel tell Widow Hallahan that Ruth had been shoveling donkey dung?

4. What kind of person was Miss Marrow?

5. Why did Mister Hallahan not pay Isabel for her work in the tavern?

6. Why did Ruth's worry about Aberdeen increase as time went on?

7. Why did Isabel think digging the trench was a bad idea?

8. Why did Isabel not tell Ruth the truth about Aberdeen?

9. What was Curzon's manner like when he encountered Isabel and Ruth at his company's camp?

10. What did Isabel do in preparation to leave the laundry in Williamsburg?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Isabel often jumps to conclusions about what people are thinking based on their actions. Write an essay describing some situations in which she does this and explaining how it affects the way she interacts with her companions.

Essay Topic 2

How are Isabel, Ruth, Curzon, and other black characters treated by white characters in Ashes? Which white characters treat them with respect? Which white characters treat them poorly? What message is Anderson trying to send about racism?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay exploring the theme of finding one's purpose in Ashes. Where does this theme originate? Which characters have a purpose? How do the characters' purposes grow and change throughout the novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 831 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample