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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 Catesby tell his wife, in a letter, that he has given up?

2. What does the young Danzinger boy ask Alexander to do for him after it becomes evident the renegades are going to kill him?

3. 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?

4. In Part IV, Chapter 63, Sallie writes a letter describing her wedding. To whom does she write her letter?

5. After one of her servants leaves her on the road, what does Marguerite use to carry a small ham and some other small belongings?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why have the renegades stopped the Danzinger family and Alexander's buggy in Part IV, Chapter 44?

2. How does Jesse describe Abraham Lincoln after he sees him coming down the road in Part IV, Chapter 52?

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

4. While leading the A Company near Fairfax City, Virginia, what does the surgeon named Potts remind Jesse to have his men do?

5. What do the Union soldiers take when they stop Marguerite and her servants on the road as they leave Wilmington?

6. What happens at the Appomattox Courthouse that Duncan and Thomas Byrd are present at in Part IV, Chapter 68?

7. What does Sallie realize about her Cousin Molly's attitude in Part IV, Chapter 50?

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

9. What does the army recruiter say that convinces Jesse to join the Union army?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Duncan and Midge have a tumultuous relationship, which is a very important conflict in "Jacob's Ladder". Analyze Midge and Duncan's relationship and its overall effect on the story. Where are they from? How did they meet? What do they look like? How do they feel about each other? Do they trust each other?

Essay Topic 2

The book, "Jacob's Ladder: A Story of Virginia During the War", is set during the Civil War in the South. Several of the main characters are slaves, some characters are slave owners, and a few are even against slavery. Research and examine slavery before and during the Civil War. Where was slavery dominant in America? How were slaves treated? Was slavery the reason for the Civil War? How did slavery end? Did those for slavery accept the end of slavery right away?

Essay Topic 3

Many of the characters in "Jacob's Ladder" have an air of desperation about them and perform desperate acts. Examine the concept of desperation and discuss how it pertains to the characters in the novel. How could someone become desperate during times of war? What characters in the novel seem desperate at this point in the story? Who does not seem desperate? How can this desperation be brought on by some characters having to do uncharacteristic things?

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