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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator's interlocutor, Valyry Larbaud, admire about the Puritans?

2. Who is the only person in America who can live a life of leisure, like a gentleman, according to an early American saying that Franklin mentions?

3. Which of the following adjectives best describes the narrator's experience of Paris?

4. What does Williams say that Africans came enslaved from Africa for?

5. Who is the narrator for the second half of "Poor Richard"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Williams regard America's Founding Fathers? Find the chapters in which Williams writes about some of the Founding Fathers and determine what characteristics of these men Williams admired, and what characteristics he regarded as pernicious. Then, write an essay describing Williams' attitude toward the Founding Fathers, drawing on the evidence that you collected to support your work.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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