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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 the author claim in the Introduction that, “because of their moisture requirements,” are our physiological counterparts in the kingdom of plants?

2. When did Francisco Vásquez de Coronado set out on horseback from Mexico with a couple of hundred men, driving into the uncharted North, according to the author in Chapter One?

3. How much of the water in California is used for irrigation purposes, according to the author?

4. Who did Charles Rockwood convince to join forces with him in irrigation, according to the author in Chapter Four?

5. What is one of the four major prehistoric archaeological Oasisamerica traditions of what is now the American Southwest which the author describes in Chapter One?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author of Cadillac Desert describe the bureaucratic changes during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Administration?

2. What publication does the author describe which was written by John Wesley Powell?

3. What reaction did the public and lawmakers have to the advice of John Wesley Powell regarding settlement in the West? What was the result?

4. What did Arizona do in response to California’s challenge for the Colorado River?

5. How have historians traditionally spent their focus in regard to the American West?

6. What is significant about the movement toward revisionist history?

7. What ideological dualism is implied by the title of Cadillac Desert?

8. What actions did Franklin D. Roosevelt take following the Dust Bowl in regard to water projects?

9. How was Cadillac Desert received upon its first publication?

10. When was the Hoover Dam constructed? Where is it located?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the settings and environments of the Kings, the Kaweah, the Tule, and the Kern Rivers. How were each of these rivers impacted by the Corps of Engineers?What do the rivers look like today? How have they changed in 100 years?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the explorations of the American West from 1540 through the 1800s. How did perceptions change of the West based upon these explorations?What role did Jefferson have in the exploration of the West? What were Lewis and Clark’s impressions of this rugged terrain?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the themes of ideology and hypocrisy as illustrated in Cadillac Desert. In the author’s point of view, how did political leaning have sway on environmental depletion? How does the theme of the American Dream relate to these concepts?

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This section contains 785 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample