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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. What was Aberdeen's real job in Williamsburg?

2. How did Isabel learn that Curzon was lying when he said he had been hired as a blacksmith?

3. What did Aberdeen say he was going to do after the war was over?

4. In Chapter XXXIV, why did Curzon take Isabel for a walk?

5. Why did Isabel think it was a bad idea for Aberdeen and Ruth to marry?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was Isabel angered when she heard the minister's sermon at Bruton Parish Church?

2. How did Isabel's feelings towards Aberdeen change by the time she encountered him hiding in the bushes?

3. Why were many of the men in Curzon's company from Rhode Island?

4. How did Missus Serafina's advice help Isabel mend her relationship with Ruth?

5. Why was the British soldier in the woods deserting his army?

6. Why did Isabel think that Ruth burned the free papers?

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

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

9. Why did Isabel decide that she and Ruth could not travel with the women of the army?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout this book, Isabel and other characters grapple with a difficult question: Are the Patriots fighting for freedom for all? Write a persuasive essay taking a side in this issue. Support your argument with research in addition to statements made in the book.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout Ashes, we learn about Isabel's inner world through her self-talk as narrator. What does the reader learn about Isabel by being able to witness her thinking? How does Anderson's choice of a first-person limited narrator affect the plot and mood of Ashes?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay exploring the theme of love in Ashes. Be sure to touch on familial love as well as romantic love.

(see the answer keys)

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