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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. Why didn't Virginia join the group that went off for help?

2. What happened to the food that the rescuers had stashed along the journey?

3. What happened when Mrs. Reed first saw her husband?

4. Why was sitting difficult for them?

5. How did Margaret and Elizabeth Graves get along?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the group do when they realize that they couldn't reach a summit?

2. What did they decide to do for food in order to survive?

3. What troubles did they face as they waited out the winter?

4. How did the members of the Donner Party interact when they reached California?

5. Why couldn't all the survivors get rescued at once?

6. What happened to Louis Keseberg?

7. How did Virginia inadvertently help the world hear about what happened to the Donner Party?

8. What did William Eddy and William Foster find when they went to rescue their families? Who did they rescue?

9. Why didn't the Donner families camp with the others?

10. Why didn't Tamsen Donner allow herself to be rescued for a second time?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe what the rescuers found when they came across the survivors. What condition were the people in? Use specifics.

Essay Topic 2

What happened at the campfire that led to Patrick Dolan's death?

Essay Topic 3

Why was Virginia so concerned about Indians? Were her worries valid? What was the Donner Party's experience with Indians the first time they came across them?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 540 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample