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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. How many miles away from St. Joseph have the narrator and his brother traveled by the end of Chapter IX?

2. Where does the narrator's mining crew decide to visit after they stop digging their tunnels?

3. How many days have the travelers been riding in the stage coach when they encounter the Goshoot Indians?

4. As they are having breakfast, what does Slade offer the narrator?

5. What causes the driver to lose the road one night?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the limitations of the stage coach that is going to Carson City, Nevada, and which items does the narrator take with him?

2. How does the narrator discuss the Mormon religion?

3. What warning is the narrator and his party given as they approach the Honey Lake Smith's Inn, and what is their response?

4. Why is Slade feared and what happens between him and the narrator?

5. What are the details of the court case between Hyde and Morgan, and what is the outcome?

6. What is the myth of the Pony Express Riders?

7. How does the narrator's party claim their mining areas along the mountains in Unionville, and what happens as they try to work in them?

8. How do the narrator and his crew respond to the prospect of freezing to death?

9. What is the story of Bemis and the buffalo, and how do the other passengers respond to it?

10. How does the narrator describe the coyotes he sees?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The beginning of the narrator's trip is a preview of the events that lie ahead for him as well as the overall tone of the book.

1) Describe the events that cause the narrator to travel to the West, including the anticipated length of the trip.

2) Explain the limitations of space and amenities on the mail coach that the narrator rides on and how that parallels one of the story's themes.

3) Describe some of the ironic situations or setbacks that the narrator encounters in the initial chapters and how they establish the author's tone in the book.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the court case between Hyde and Morgan. Include the events leading up to the case and each side's arguments. Also, explain the significance of the referee, his decision, and the message the narrator is delivering with the outcome of the case.

Essay Topic 3

Mr. Whiteman is the elusive subject of another plan to strike it rich by the narrator.

1) Describe the background of Mr. Whiteman and why it is believed that he can lead people to a gold mine.

2) Describe Mono Lake and the narrator's experiences there. Include what the lake represents in the theme of the narrator's quest for fortune.

3) Explain how the author successfully introduces events surrounding a character that never appears.

(see the answer keys)

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