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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 lie did Dr. Samuel Mudd tell the soldiers in an attempt to lead them on a wild goose chase and throw them off the trail of John Wilkes Booth?

2. Who was sent to fetch Thomas Jones in hopes that he would help John Wilkes Booth and David Herold in their next escape step?

3. What story did John Wilkes Booth tell Richard H. Garrett about his predicament?

4. When John Wilkes Booth told the Garrett family where he was planning to go next, what town did he mention?

5. What was the reason that Captain Samuel Cox told John Wilkes Booth and David Herold not to make a fire in the forest?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the first major break in the manhunt for the assassins and why was it significant?

2. What action did Dr. Samuel Mudd take that sealed his position as an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth's?

3. What was Dr. Samuel Mudd's response when he learned that Abraham Lincoln had been killed and that John Wilkes Booth had been the assassin?

4. What did Dr. Richard Stuart do to earn the ire of John Wilkes Booth and how did John Wilkes Booth make his feelings about the matter known?

5. Why was the decision made to shoot the healthy horses belonging to John Wilkes Booth and David Herold?

6. What damning evidence did investigators find inside the boarding house of Mary Surratt?

7. What type of tone does James L. Swanson use in describing the actions of Lafayette Baker and his men as they surrounded the barn in which they knew John Wilkes Booth was hiding?

8. What is James L. Swanson's purpose in including the detail, "He was too far from Washington to hear the ringing bells of the city's churches tolling in mourning," (60) when describing John Wikes Booth's arrival at the farm of Dr. Samuel Mudd?

9. How did the transportation of Abraham Lincoln's body from the Pedersen boarding house to the Executive Mansion belie Abraham Lincoln's modest personality in life?

10. What was it about Thomas Jones' role in helping the fugitives John Wilkes Booth and David Herold put Thomas Jones' own life in such grave danger?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that discusses the connection between the decision by the U. S. government to make sure John Wilkes Booth's grave remained unmarked and the modern controversy over the media's coverage of mass shooters. Write a specific, clear claim and back it up with both concrete details from the book and concrete details from your research.

Essay Topic 2

What is the author of Chasing Lincoln's Killer's message regarding fame and infamy? Create a clear and specific claim and prove it using concrete details from the narrative.

Essay Topic 3

What is the book's message regarding the tendency for humans to be fascinated with macabre subjects? Create a strong, specific, arguable claim and back it up with quotes from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,684 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample