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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 do Dorothy's parents make her wear for dinner with William Bradford?

2. How many children does Alice have in Part I?

3. How does Alice refer to a woman's first period?

4. What does Pastor Robinson tell William Bradford in his letter about once there has been bloodshed?

5. Why does Governor Bradford initially decline to give John Billington a fourth parcel of land?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does John Billington think it means to be "profane"?

2. Why does William Bradford ask his wife Alice to pay a visit to Eleanor Billington in Part I?

3. What is one of John Billington's biggest frustrations with the leaders of Plymouth?

4. What does the young Johnson man ask John Billington for help with in Part I, and what is Billington's response?

5. In Part I, how do the Billingtons view the leaders of Plymouth, and why?

6. How do most of the settlers feel about Captain Myles Standish?

7. What grief have John and Eleanor Billington recently suffered?

8. What problem did William Bradford have about the way some colonists conducted themselves on Christmas Day one year?

9. What does Billington tell Newcomen when he first meets him?

10. What is one resource that is always scarce in Plymouth and that the women are expected to take less of than the men?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is John Billington's history with the other settlers at Plymouth, and what are the roots of his deep frustration, anger, and discontent? Write a journal entry explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

How do the various mothers in this novel - Dorothy, Eleanor, and many others - deal with the loss of their infants or children, and the grief that follows? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What does the character John Newcomen represent in the early stages of this novel? How does Billington feel almost immediately after he kills Newcomen? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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