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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What type of non-fiction is Thirteen Days?
(a) Biography.
(b) Textbook.
(c) Essay.
(d) Memoir.

2. What did Robert suggest JFK do on September 4th regarding the possibility of Russia placing missiles in Cuba?
(a) Threaten Soviet Chairman Nikita Khrushchev.
(b) Issue a statement that it would not be tolerated.
(c) Bomb Cuba.
(d) Issue a statement of good will.

3. What happened around 10:30, October 27th, the first day of the blockade?
(a) The Russian ships stopped.
(b) The Cubans shot down a plane.
(c) The Cubans overran the U.S. embassy.
(d) The Russian ships fired upon a U-2.

4. What book had JFK recently read that had to do with miscalculations leading to war?
(a) The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
(b) Night.
(c) The Guns of August.
(d) The Dangerous Summer.

5. When looking at the first photographs of the missile bases in Cuba, what did JFK say it looked like?
(a) Swimming pool.
(b) Soccer field.
(c) Football field.
(d) Farm.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Secretary McNamara do, despite his dissent to the strategy?

2. Who told Ambassador Dobrynin about the President's intended speech?

3. What did JFK read aloud at a meeting with a Russian representative?

4. What statement did the Russians make public on September 11th?

5. What piece of information caused JFK to favor the blockade?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Adlai Stevenson suggest was a third option for the President to consider? Why was it rejected?

2. What was ironic about JFK's meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrea Gromyko?

3. What other actions did the U.S. take besides the blockade?

4. How did RFK feel about his fellow members of in Ex Comm?

5. What personal insights does RFK provide about JFK when they are waiting for news about the first ships meant to reach the blockade?

6. Why does JFK bring up the book The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman?

7. How did Ex Comm formulate their recommendations to the President?

8. How did the US obtain their information about Russian activity in Cuba?

9. What was one argument against a blockade?

10. What distinguishes Thirteen Days as a memoir (besides the subtitle) and not just an autobiography?

(see the answer keys)

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