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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 did the Murphy clan and the Reeds and Donners get along?

2. When did they think the summit would be snowed in?

3. How deep was the snow by the time they reached Truckee Lake?

4. What happened to the letters that Bryant sent Reed?

5. Where did the United States end?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Charles Stanton helped the traveling party?

2. Why did Virginia's father choose to take his family to California?

3. How did Virginia feel about her traveling clothes?

4. How many miles a day did the Donner Party plan to go, and what with their actual pace?

5. How were tasks divvied up on the wagon train?

6. How did the Native American treat William Eddy?

7. What happened to James Reed after he killed Snyder?

8. What did Clyman talk to Reed about?

9. How did the Reed wagons do on the journey?

10. What did the Donner party find when they emerged from the Cutoff?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the political situation in the United States when the Reeds decided to go to California. Where did the United States officially end and who had control of California?

Essay Topic 2

Describe in detail why James Reed was banished and what the team promised to his family. Then comment on how they treated the family in actuality.

Essay Topic 3

Address the issue of cannibalism. What was it and who resorted to it. How did they feel about it, and what rules did they have concerning it?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 556 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample