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

2. How did Mary Murphy feel after her ordeal?

3. Who had given William Eddy the secret gift that he found in his pack?

4. How did the native Americans help the snow shoers?

5. How did they stay warm at night?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How did Virginia deal with the idea of cannibalism?

4. What complications did the group which later became known as Forlorn Hope face?

5. What was happening to the group morale?

6. How did the Donner party story affect emigrants traveling West?

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

8. What did the Miwok Indians do to help them?

9. How many rescue teams were there, and what did they find?

10. What happened to Louis Keseberg?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How has the story of the Donner Party affected people throughout history? Why is it pertinent to today's world?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Was Lansford Warren Hastings qualified to write his book? Why or why not? What did the man do for a living and what was he like?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 583 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample