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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 does Will do before leaving Watertown?

2. What is Robert Feake's condition?

3. What does Jack tell Bess about Robert Feakes?

4. To where do Thomas and Joan move?

5. What does Bess do after the birth of her son two days before Christmas?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the letter from George Baxter represent to Bess?

2. Under what conditions is Bess' divorce from Robert granted?

3. In addition to England, what other countries are claiming territory in the New World?

4. What spiritual experience does Bess have in Chapter 24?

5. What occurs in Chapter 18 which is a mixed blessing for Bess?

6. What is the final symbolic representation of Bess' marriage to Robert?

7. How does Bess disrupt Thomas' attempt to take her land away from her in the name of Robert Feake?

8. How does Telaka prove her loyalty to Bess in Chapter 16?

9. What surprising statement does the harsh John Winthrop make just prior to his death?

10. Where do Will, Bess and the children settle into a new home?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the purpose of Bess' punishment by her Uncle John. Should the intolerance for anything outside the Puritan religion be extended to the children? Does Uncle John succeed in teaching Bess the lesson he had hoped to or does she take away something completely counter to his purpose? Explain the use of humiliation as a form of punishment and whether or not it accomplishes anything other than inciting hatred toward the one administering the punishment.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the wedding between Robert Feake and Bess. What is the symbolism in the joyless ceremony? What could Bess expect from married life after such a somber beginning? Why did Bess go through with the marriage in spite of her distaste for Feake?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the irony of John Winthrop's restrictive religious views in the New World. People had fled England for the New World in order to escape religious persecution. Why do religious issues follow them in the person of John Winthrop? What lessons are they being taught? Do you think God wants them to suffer even more for what they believe? Does all religion come at a price?

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This section contains 945 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample