SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

1.  What would be the author’s purpose if an article in your textbook about Billy the Kid included details such as his date of birth, the name of his parents, and how much schooling he had?

a.     to persuade

b.     to entertain

c.     to inform

2.  What is the main idea of the following?  Be sure to include supporting details.

At the turn of the century gunfighters were quickly becoming a thing of the past.  The wild west was becoming more populated and inventions such as the telegraph, the telephone and the general spread of law and order made it difficult for outlaws to hide.

3.  After reading the following two paragraphs, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the life of a cowboy and the life of a buffalo hunter.  Be sure and have at least three comparisons and three contrasting details.

       The word cowboy is from Ireland where it means a hired rider who looks after cattle.  In the United States people became cowboys for many different reasons.  Many men returned home after the Civil War to find that there was no other work, others became cowboys looking for adventure.  The life of a cowboy was dirty, dangerous, sometimes dull, hard and often lonely.

        Many cowboys were also buffalo hunters.  Hunting was not as difficult and was less dangerous than cattle driving.  It was also more profitable and less lonely for the cowboys.

4.  Calamity Jane was born in 1852.  Both her parents died when she was a young girl.  She tried to support herself by cooking and dancing but ended up wearing men’s clothing and doing jobs that were not considered appropriate for women.  She was a mule driver and a scout for the Army during the Indian Wars.  How do you think her life would have been different if her parents had not died?

5.  The clothes that were worn by a cowboy served many different purposes.  His boots kept his feet from getting caught in the stirrups and protected his legs from thorns and snakebites.  His chaps helped to protect his pants and legs.  The cowboy hat protected from the sun and rain and could also be used as a pail.  The neckerchief served many purposes. One thing that it did was to protect the cowboy’s neck from the sun. 

      a.    What other practical purpose could it have had?

      b.    Why was all of this protection important to the cowboy?

6.     The Colt 45 was the weapon of choice for many cowboys.  The hammer had to be drawn back before it would fire and it was able to shoot six times before needing to be reloaded.  It was only accurate, however, at short distances and hitting a moving target at a distance was only fantasy.

     What is the main idea of this paragraph?

a.     The Colt 45 is a good weapon

b.     Cowboys like to shoot

c.     Cowboys like the Colt 45

7.     If you were going to research train robberies, list three questions you could ask to guide your research.

8.    Using your questions above, name three sources to use in your research.

9.    Using the Cornell Note Taking System, make a chart to record important information from the following.

  “The high time of the American cowboy lasted a bare generation, from the end of the Civil War until the mid-1880s, when bad weather, poor range management and disastrous cattle-market prices forced an end to the old freewheeling ways.  In that brief span the number of cowboys who rode the cattle trails across the Great Plains totaled no more than 40,000…most cowboys were surprisingly young (their average age was only 24)…”

10.  When doing your research how do you give credit to others for ideas, images and information?