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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 meal does William eat at the Retreat House with the monks at the end of "Eastward"?

2. What does Mr. Watkins call his dog?

3. How long does William drive without seeing a single town west of Eldorado, Texas?

4. What story does Noel tell William when they are standing by the location of an old spring?

5. What does William name his truck for his journey across America?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Barbara Pierre and William talk about over lunch?

2. Does William enjoy the open landscape of New Mexico?

3. What happens when William sleeps in his van on the campus of East Carolina University?

4. Why does William name his van "Ghost Dancing"?

5. Who surprises William in Portal Paradise?

6. What does William learn from Claud Tyler in Dime Box, Texas?

7. Describe William's dinner at Swamp Guinea's Fish Lodge.

8. What history does William learn when he visits Ninety Six, South Carolina?

9. What is Portal Paradise?

10. What does William discover in Nameless, Tennessee?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why is Portal Paradise a surprise for William? What does he like and dislike about his stay in this place? What unsettles the peacefulness he originally finds there?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of food in this travel experience. What is his most memorable eating experience on this trip? Where does he like to stop to eat? What advice does he have about cafes?

Essay Topic 3

Alice Venable Middleton of Smith Island says that she never got her "curiosity cured." Discuss how Alice shows her interest in the world and its changes. Do you agree or disagree that she is the perfect person for William to interview? Provide specific examples to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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