View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the "Poor Richard" narrator say is a common misconception that Europeans have about America?
(a) Americans place a high value on leisure time and do not like to work.
(b) They can move there and quickly be elected to political office.
(c) It is very hard to earn a living by farming in America.
(d) It is a dangerous place because there are so many Indian raids.

2. Who raises Sam Houston during the early years of his life?
(a) The Cherokee.
(b) The Winnebago.
(c) The Abnaki.
(d) The Tuscaloosa.

3. What adjective does the narrator use to describe Boone's character?
(a) Brave.
(b) Mild.
(c) Temperamental.
(d) Strong.

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

5. What do you think that Williams means when he says that Lincoln's assassination shows the "brutalizing desolation of life in America up to that time"?
(a) Williams is referring to the fact that few Americans lived to reach old age during Lincoln's day.
(b) Williams is referring to the violence of American life.
(c) Williams is referring to the desolate landscape that was left after many cities were burned during the Civil War.
(d) Williams is referring to the personal depression of many Americans during the Civil War.

6. What part of Poe's reputation does Williams say is undeserved?
(a) His reputation for criticizing other writers.
(b) His reputation for the strange and macabre.
(c) His reputation for eccentricity.
(d) His reputation for poetic braggadocio.

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

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

9. What does Williams say that many American crimes are caused by?
(a) Passion and anger.
(b) Spiritual starvation.
(c) Cultural hatred.
(d) Religious intolerance.

10. Why does John Paul Jones write to Benjamin Franklin in "Battle Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis"?
(a) To explain the circumstances leading up to the loss of a ship.
(b) To explain why he feels that naval policy should be changed.
(c) To explain how ships could be better maintained so that they are more resistant to fires.
(d) To explain the outcome of a recent battle.

11. What does Williams say that Africans came enslaved from Africa for?
(a) Hope.
(b) Racism.
(c) Nothing.
(d) Agriculture.

12. What category of people does Williams say that Houston fits into?
(a) Those who never struggle or try to succeed.
(b) Those who tread water their entire lives.
(c) Those who come up from under.
(d) Those who go under and then drown.

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

14. 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?
(a) The President.
(b) A housewife.
(c) A child.
(d) A hog.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Lincoln say he owes everything he is or ever will be to?

2. Who is the narrator for the second half of "Poor Richard"?

3. What area does Boone discover, along with his brother, just before the American Revolution?

4. What quality does Williams admire in the woman who lives in the "ramshackle castle" by the railroad tracks?

5. What event has distracted historians from telling the whole story about Burr?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 666 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample