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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 iscovers that Grant has not retreated and is moving his army toward the North Anna River with the intent to cross and move farther south?

2. Who contradicts Sheridan's orders by telling Chamberlain to not go over the crest of a hill because he would expose his troops to fire?

3. What army can be split and defeated if Lee can make a rail line that would take his army southward?

4. Which officials, consisting of the vice president, assistant secretary of war, and president of the senate, visit Lincoln?

5. What carries ammunition but no food from Richmond?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the peace negotiations between Lincoln and the Confederate officials go nowhere?

2. How is Lee's desperation evident at Christmas?

3. Why does Appomattox signify the end of the Civil War?

4. Why does Lee fail to attend the surrender ceremony?

5. What is the technique employed to break into the Confederate line proposed by Pleasant?

6. How does the crater become a death trap for the Federal soldiers?

7. How does Grant recognize Lee's hopeless situation after Lee's troops fail to burn the bridges?

8. What is the oddity regarding soldiers who can view their own deaths in the war?

9. What does Lee fear about central leadership proposed in a message from Richmond?

10. How do Confederate troops show their obedience to Gordon in the surrender ceremony?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In "The Last Full Measure", Shaara's Civil War society shows a conscious selectivity about technology. What do you think of the technology employed by the Federal Army as compared to that of the Confederate soldiers? Which aspects do you find more or less appealing? How is technology associated with power and rebellion?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the role of women in the rural South in the 1840s when the women in "The Last Full Measure" are living their lives. What precedents do they feel compelled to follow? What restrictions do they have? What freedoms did they have that 21st century women do not have?

Essay Topic 3

"The Last Full Measure" is particularly effective in conveying meaning through powerful imagery. Powerful imagery to establish connections in the minds of readers with the story's characters and plot. Imagery is the picture we form in our minds of the story we read. It can involve, visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, kinetic, and kinesthetic. Shaara uses these imagery to translate words into a visual story that we can see and participate in within our minds. Describe the use of imagery in this novel.

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