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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 does Eric the Red say that his life is like now that he has been exiled?

2. What incident "greatly annoys" Champlain and delays the construction of Quebec?

3. After Champlain picks out the site for the city and the men start working, what new complication arises to delay the progress of the building?

4. Which of the following names does the narrator call Raleigh?

5. How does the narrator describe the coastline of North America?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Benjamin Franklin say that manufacturing is not a viable activity in the American economy?

2. Why did De Soto's men try to keep the Indians from finding out about his death?

3. Why does Houston leave the Cherokees after they have raised him? Why does he return to them?

4. What proof does Cotton Mather offer to show that witches can make themselves invisible?

5. What are De Soto's relations with the Indians like?

6. How is Morton treated by his captors?

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

8. Why does Gregory think that history is important?

9. What was Aaron Burr like, according to Williams?

10. What was shocking to the Puritans about slave society?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

In "Descent," Williams remarks, "There is nothing for a man but genius or despair." At the time, Williams was writing about Sam Houston. However, he makes the remark more generally. Consider the other historical figures who are included in this book. Can it be said of each of them that there was nothing for them but genius or despair? Pick three historical figures from In the American Grain. Write an essay reflecting on whether or not Williams' statement about genius and despair is true for each of the people you choose. Support your arguments with evidence from In the American Grain.

Essay Topic 3

Williams writes about three historical figures who admired Indians and who preferred living with Indians to living with white settlers. Who are those three figures? Write an essay in which you draw on details from each of their stories to explain why Williams so idolizes men who made this kind of choice.

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