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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What famous ship does Williams say that a slave ship is the counterpart to?

2. What does William Carlos Williams say is the most important thing to remember about people who are descended from Africans who were brought to the Americas in slavery?

3. What characteristic does Boone have to have in order to live the kind of life that he lived?

4. What does Jacataqua ask Aaron Burr to do?

5. Who does the narrator say was the only American ever to see General Washington in a towering rage?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Are the American Grain and the character of the New World identical, or are they different? Write an essay in which you explain how William Carlos Williams might answer this question. 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

Compare Williams' essay on Abraham Lincoln with his essay on George Washington. How are these two famous presidents similar? How are they different? Is there a difference in the way that Williams approaches writing about each of them? Draw on evidence from In the American Grain to support your answer.

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