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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 the barrels on the Speedwell contain that worries Alice about her sons' safety on the ship?

2. When is the only time Alice is thankful to see Myles Standish with his gun ready?

3. What kind of flowers had Dorothy wanted for her wedding bouquet?

4. Who does John Billington ask to speak with privately at the very start of Part III?

5. What letters does William Bradford write to his investors in London from the boarding house?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does John Billington shoot Newcomen?

2. What happens to a nameless young girl in Part III?

3. What does Standish ask Billington when Billington shows him the beaver pelts he means to use to buy his last piece of land?

4. What is Eleanor Billington worried about her husband John and Thomas Morton doing in Part IV?

5. What promise does Alice Bradford make to Dorothy in Part III?

6. What problem does William Bradford have with the flowers Dorothy wants for her wedding bouquet?

7. What is William Bradford angry with Thomas Weston about in Part IV?

8. What fear does Alice develop about her husband for the first time while they are waiting for the ship's repairs?

9. What challenges and struggles does Dorothy have before she ever leaves for Plymouth?

10. What kind of story is Thomas Morton writing in Part IV?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the murder of John Newcomen and the subsequent trial and hanging of John Billington affect Plymouth's reputation for years afterwards, at least in Alice Bradford's eyes? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

At the end of the novel, and in much older age, how do both Eleanor Billington and Alice Bradford seem to view both the future and the past of Plymouth? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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