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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 is the Confederate capital under seige?

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

3. What tremendous advantage does the Union forces have over the Confederate ones in delivering supplies?

4. What carries ammunition but no food from Richmond?

5. Who does Lee visit that lost his will to fight at Gettysburg when he led a disastrous charge?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. When Chamberlain rides back to the battle, how does he fool Confederate soldiers through a ruse?

3. Why does Lee believe that the statue of George Washington will remain intact during the war?

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

5. Why is Grant tempted to drink alcohol after Cold Harbor?

6. How does Shaara powerfully convey the death of Hill, one of Lee's leaders through a third-person point of view of an unknown officier?

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

8. How does Lincoln's nomination affect the Federal soldiers and their confidence in victory?

9. What is Lee forced to accept in his leadership after Jackson dies?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shaara uses more than one instance of irony in the novel. Cite at least two examples you can identify in the book and note why they are examples of irony.

Essay Topic 2

Shaara uses more than one iteration on the motif of life-death-life. Identify at least two motifs about life-death-life in the book. Then cite an example to support each answer.

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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