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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. Who stumbles into Alexander's camp in Part IV, Chapter 54?

2. What is the name of the surgeon who cut off the head of a black soldier and autopsied it?

3. What does Catesby say to a fellow soldier right before he dies?

4. What are Jesse and a group of black men, mostly former slaves, building in Washington?

5. What does Jesse say that the "colored troops broke ranks" for when they see the man coming down the road in Part IV, Chapter 52?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Silas tell Marguerite in a letter in Part IV, Chapter 61?

2. What happens when Duncan meets Confederate President Davis at an event he attends with Sallie?

3. What does Duncan tell Sallie happened when the Union and Confederate troops were camped very closely to each other in Part III, Chapter 39?

4. How does Marguerite take control of the situation when Mingo leaves Kizzy pregnant and distraught on the road out of Wilmington?

5. What happens to the young Union soldier who stumbles into the camp of Alexander and the other renegades in Part IV, Chapter 54?

6. After telling his wife, Leona, in a letter that he has become a Christian, what does Catesby urge his wife, Leona, to do?

7. After being captured, what does Alexander say when one of the officers asks him what happened to make him fall into this group?

8. What does Silas tell his crew before he leaves to Richmond in Part IV, Chapter 57?

9. How does Catesby die after the battle in Spotsylvania?

10. After pulling over the Danzinger family's buggy, what do the renegades order Alexander to do after they question Seth about being a spy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Marguerite and Silas's relationship has quickly changed and grown into something more. In fact, Silas treats Jacob, Marguerite's child, as if he were his own. Analyze Silas and Marguerite's relationship and discuss how it changes throughout the novel. How do Silas and Marguerite meet? How does Marguerite really feel about Silas? Is she just using him for money? How does Silas really feel about Marguerite? Why is Marguerite worried about having a child with Silas?

Essay Topic 2

In Part II, Chapter 26, Jesse and Rufus run away and learn that Abraham Lincoln has made the Emancipation Proclamation. Jesse and Rufus have no idea what they are taking about. Research the Emancipation Proclamation and examine how it affected the Civil War and slavery. How did it affect the outcome of the war? What did it entail? Why would Jesse or Rufus not know anything about it? When was it put into effect?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout "Jacob's Ladder" there are families that grow, families that are torn apart, and families that stick together. Love is what binds these families together and the lack of love is often what tears them apart. Analyze the theme of family and love throughout the novel. How important is the theme of family in the novel? What examples from the book demonstrate how much Samuel's family means to him? What does family mean to Marguerite? Whom does she love?

(see the answer keys)

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