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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 kind of woman is Freydis?
2. Why are the Puritans important, according to the narrator?
3. Who is "beautiful as a cane box"?
4. Why does "she" say that De Soto's men are beginning to hate him?
5. How does De Soto keep his men alive when the maize crop fails?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Williams think that Benjamin Franklin would say are the most important American virtues? Does Williams agree with Franklin? Why or why not?
2. Why does Benjamin Franklin say that manufacturing is not a viable activity in the American economy?
3. What does the narrator of "Sir Walter Raleigh" imply when he exhorts the Muse to sing of "the pursuit of beauty and the husk that remains," or when he says that Raleigh's England became "a mouthful of smoke sucked from the embers of a burnt weed"?
4. Why did De Soto's men try to keep the Indians from finding out about his death?
5. What does William Carlos Williams think of Eric the Red? What kind of person does he think Eric is?
6. Why did the English put a price on Pire Rasles' head? Why did they want him killed?
7. Why does Ponce de Leon send women ashore when he first arrives in Guadaloupe?
8. What was Montezuma's life like in the capital?
9. Gregory says that In the American Grain is not a historical textbook or book of essays. What is it?
10. What was Aaron Burr like, according to Williams?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Does Williams admire Sir Walter Raleigh? Why or why not? Support your answer with evidence from In the American Grain.
Essay Topic 2
William Carlos Williams includes, as part of In the American Grain, several essays about historical figures who served in the military: George Washington, John Paul Jones, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton. How does military life fit into the American Grain? Does military life only affect those who serve in the military, or is it also a part of being American for those who never do any military service? Write an essay responding to this question in which you cite the experiences of these four men as they are depicted in Williams' essays, and also draw upon your own experiences and values in contemporary America.
Essay Topic 3
Do you think Williams blames Cortez for the destruction of Tenochtitlan? Why or why not? Use evidence from the chapter to support your answer.
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This section contains 957 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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