View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Williams say that Americans think they will lose if they were ever to serve another person?
(a) Arrogance.
(b) Self-esteem.
(c) Faith.
(d) Independence.

2. What kind of position is Jones' squadron in when the battle begins?
(a) Jones has 20 ships and is at a strong advantage.
(b) Jones has only three ships left and is at a severe disadvantage.
(c) Jones has fewer ships, but is in a better position geographically than the enemy is.
(d) Jones has the same number of ships as the enemy.

3. What does the narrator say about Washington's attitude toward the presidency?
(a) He felt his terms of office were a failure.
(b) He craved power.
(c) He regretted not having a Parliament.
(d) He felt it was his duty to serve.

4. Why does Franklin recommend against trying to make money in America through manufacturing?
(a) Few ships travel to America, so manufacturers could not market their goods to foreign ports.
(b) America does not have enough raw materials to do well at manufacturing any items of commercial value.
(c) To do well in manufacturing, you need large numbers of poor people who are willing to work for low wages.
(d) There are no cities in America in which to build manufacturing plants.

5. Which of the following adjectives best describes the narrator's experience of Paris?
(a) Productive.
(b) Disorienting.
(c) Disquieting.
(d) Peaceful.

6. What does Jacataqua ask Aaron Burr to do?
(a) Fight. with her.
(b) Eat with her.
(c) Hunt with her.
(d) Sleep with her.

7. What feature does Williams say most shapes Edgar Allen Poe's work?
(a) His education.
(b) His ancestry.
(c) His locality.
(d) His religion.

8. What does Williams say that people of color excel at, more so than any white person?
(a) Singing jazz music and spirituals.
(b) Cooking and planning a gourmet menu.
(c) Cleanliness and picking out beautiful fabrics to wear.
(d) Dancing and playing sports.

9. What virtue does the narrator say that Washington particularly valued in his troops?
(a) Patience.
(b) Honesty.
(c) Obedience.
(d) Hard work.

10. What reason does the narrator give for believing that Americans have trouble understanding their own national character?
(a) Americans think that all Americans are Native Americans.
(b) Americans only like to think about the future.
(c) Americans do not have any character left, only emptiness.
(d) Americans do not like to admit that they have origins and a history.

11. Who does the narrator say was the only American ever to see General Washington in a towering rage?
(a) Thomas Jefferson.
(b) Aaron Burr.
(c) Benjamin Franklin.
(d) General Lee.

12. What happens to the barge that is towing John Paul Jones' ship?
(a) The barge catches fire in the battle.
(b) The barge sinks in a storm at sea.
(c) The bargemen cut the tow rope and steal the barge.
(d) The barge is taken over by mutinous sailors.

13. What event has distracted historians from telling the whole story about Burr?
(a) The duel with Alexander Hamilton.
(b) The American Revolution.
(c) Shea's rebellion.
(d) The French and Indian War.

14. What does Williams say that Lincoln finds no relief from?
(a) Bewilderment.
(b) Debt.
(c) Loneliness.
(d) Madness.

15. What event in Poe's life trapped him in his poetry?
(a) The end of the war.
(b) The destruction of his home.
(c) The death of his wife.
(d) The birth of his child.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Williams say that Africans came enslaved from Africa for?

2. What does the narrator say was the place where Washington most liked to be?

3. Who is the narrator for the first part of "Poor Richard"?

4. Who is the only person in America who can live a life of leisure, like a gentleman, according to an early American saying that Franklin mentions?

5. What famous ship does Williams say that a slave ship is the counterpart to?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 626 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample