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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do bows and arrows, corn meal, and belief in a second life all have in common, according to the narrator of "Sir Walter Raleigh"?
(a) They are things all people can do without.
(b) They are necessary to colonization.
(c) They are found in all villages.
(d) They are invented by all peoples.

2. What author does Gregory say is never accused of being insincere?
(a) William Carlos Williams.
(b) Benjamin Franklin.
(c) Alexander Hamilton.
(d) Homer.

3. Why does Columbus count fewer leagues than he knows he has traveled?
(a) He is trying to reassure the crew that they have not traveled as far without seeing land as they think they have.
(b) He is trying to test a new system of measurement to see which is most accurate.
(c) He is trying to check his navigational instruments to be sure that they are working properly.
(d) He is trying to trick the King and Queen by giving them false information in his letters.

4. What is the moral of the story about the rough sailor who falls sick, dies, and is thrown overboard?
(a) God smites those who use profanity.
(b) What happens to the body is not important.
(c) The sea can hide any secret.
(d) Good hygiene was the key to survival on ships.

5. Which of the following names does the narrator call Raleigh?
(a) The planter who never planted.
(b) Explorer of the Orinoco.
(c) The new King.
(d) James' man.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do many of the Indians react when the Spanish begin to enslave them?

2. What does Gregory say about the way in which the reputation of In the American Grain grew?

3. What explanation does the narrator give for the Puritans' lack of imagination?

4. How does De Soto keep his men alive when the maize crop fails?

5. What is the overall tone of Williams' remarks about the Puritans?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was Eric the Red exiled from Iceland?

2. Why does George Washington not especially want to be President?

3. Why does Ponce de Leon send women ashore when he first arrives in Guadaloupe?

4. What does Cotton Mather say went wrong before the witches appeared?

5. What was Montezuma's life like in the capital?

6. Why does Williams describe the New World as a white flower that was to turn into a poisoned apple?

7. Why does Gregory not fully appreciate the chapter on Cotton Mather?

8. How does Poe respond to his critics?

9. How does Williams think the rest of the world reacts when the United States sends aid overseas?

10. Why did Ponce de Leon travel around the Caribbean? What was his business there?

(see the answer keys)

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