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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 did John Smith originally name Plymouth?

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

3. What is the word Eleanor and John Billington use most often, privately, to refer to the leaders at Plymouth?

4. Where has Alice's sister traveled to live since having arrived in Plymouth?

5. Who is Eleanor Billington's surviving son?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Dorothy think when she contracts smallpox?

4. Who is one of John Billington's closest friends, and what do the two have in common?

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

6. What is Standish's history with the Indians?

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

8. What does Standish tell Eleanor Billington at the start of Part II about the dinner for the newcomers that is big news?

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

10. Why is the lake that the Billingtons' son discovers named after him?

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

What kinds of challenges and problems do the would-be settlers encounter nearly from the minute they set foot on the ship the Gifte? What do these hardships seem to predict for their futures? Write an essay explaining your answers.

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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