View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Martha began to keep a diary because ___________________________.

2. In what town are the Ballards living in 1787?

3. Were marriages arranged in the 18th century?

4. How many young women did Martha employ in her home between the years of 1785-1800?

5. How many times in 27 years of midwife practice did Martha ever call a doctor?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Martha get started as a midwife in Hallowell?

2. Explain the metaphor of the community as a blue-checked cloth.

3. During what years did Martha keep her diary?

4. Where did Martha Ballard grow up and when did she marry her husband/

5. Explain the community's position on premarital sex and how Martha's own family was embroiled in a situation regarding premarital sex.

6. How does Martha's diary show the male-dominated society in which she lived?

7. In general, how was the business in the community divided between men and women?

8. Which of Martha's relatives were married by 1792?

9. Explain how courtship and marriage during Martha's life were very different from popular perception of the time period.

10. What was the pattern of new births in the year 1793?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sexual relations between unmarried people was considered a crime and labeled "fornication" in 18th century New England yet by all accounts it was widely practiced. Explain the ramifications for those who engaged in unmarried sex and were discovered.

Essay Topic 2

Describe Martha's husband, Ephraim. What is known about him from Martha's entries? What were his professions?

Essay Topic 3

Describe in as much detail as possible the process Martha would go through to deliver a baby--from being notified by the father of the imminent birth to leaving the new mother and child with their family.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 876 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample