Answer these questions:

1. What is the date of the document?
2. Who is the author of the document?
3. Who is the author writing to and what does this individual do for the author?
4. What has happened to the author that has delayed his departure?
5. List three things the author said that you think are important.
6. Why do you think the letter was composed?
7. Underline the evidence in the letter that helps you know why it was written.
8. What evidence in the letter would help you make a reasonable deduction in dating the letter had it been undated?
9. List several things the document tells you about life in the author’s time.
10. Write a reply to the author, asking questions for addition information or for clarification of something you do not understand.
11. Make a list of the individuals mentioned in the letter. Can you determine each individual’s occupation or status? Add that information to your list. Where might you find that information if you could not find the evidence in the letter?
12. What inferences can you drawn from this letter about the author ands his time period?
13. The letter mentions lime, sand, and mortar. What would these materials be used for? How would these materials be used?
14. The letter mentions a city near the plantation. See if you can locate it on a Virginia map.
15. Use a dictionary or other resources to determine the meaning of these vocabulary words in the content of the author’s letter:

• fortnight

• plaistering (plastering)

• shorn (swear)

• oznabrigs