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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 does Alice throw to the floor at Eleanor Billington's house?

2. What does Myles Standish reveal to Eleanor Billington about the dinner for newcomers that she did not previously know?

3. Whose head sits on a stake above the meeting house in Plymouth?

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

5. Which Indian chief does Bradford strike a treaty with?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is John Newcomen's motivation in coming to Plymouth?

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

4. Why did William used to scold Dorothy for the treatment of their son John?

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

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

7. What did John Billington's letter to the colony's investors say?

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

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

10. What does Pastor Robinson tell Dorothy about her desires?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What characteristics, failings, and traits does Thomas Weston embody, and what do you think Nesbit uses his character to communicate to the reader about the workings of British society and the Plymouth colony? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 692 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample