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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. Why do Ponce de Leon and his men travel north?

2. Which of the following statements shows that Eric the Red has accepted his fate?

3. What happens when Ponce de Leon and his men first land among the Caribs?

4. How do the Spanish justify killing so many peaceful islanders?

5. What do Indian envoys bring to De Soto and his men?

Short Essay Questions

1. Gregory says that In the American Grain is not a historical textbook or book of essays. What is it?

2. What is Ponce de Leon's dog doing when he is killed?

3. What does Williams think about Lincoln's assassin?

4. How did Freydis trick her husband? What happened as a result?

5. What kind of person does Williams say that Daniel Boone is?

6. Why does Williams say that Mendelberg is like a woman as he conducts his orchestra? How is Lincoln like Mendelberg?

7. How did Pire Rasles treat the Abnaki?

8. How is "De Soto and the New World" narrated?

9. What happens to Columbus' sailors when the weather is bad and the ships go through violent storms?

10. Why did Williams compare the Puritans to dwarves in fairy tales? What does he mean by this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In "Jacataqua," Williams argues that some kinds of violence are not crimes of passion, but rather are crimes of starvation -- spiritual starvation. Write an essay explaining Williams' views on spiritual poverty and wealth, and spiritual fullness and starvation. Use quotations from In the American Grain to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

In the Introduction, Horace Gregory writes that "History is a humiliating subject for any man to think of knowing...The desire to know history is a near relative of the desire to know truth, and that is where, for most of us, a pit lies waiting." Does William Carlos Williams avoid the pit, or fall into it? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

What does Williams mean when he says that fear drove Benjamin Franklin's curiosity, that he built a nation based on the desire to huddle and protect? Write an essay explaining why you think Williams might feel this way. Support your answer with evidence from the book.

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