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. On the morning of the day he first meets Ellen, what is it Jake recalls Carla could tell during their phone conversation the night before?

2. The Sunday after Jake gets fired, he and Carla skip church and take Hanna where?

3. Where did K.T. "Cat" Bruster lose his eye?

4. When does Agee agree to get the "love offering" funds for the Hailey family to Gwen?

5. Lester Hailey has driven to Clanton from where?

Short Essay Questions

1. What sort of a lawman is Sheriff Ozzie Walls?

2. What is the trajectory of Judge Omar Noose's career that has led him to his current status?

3. How are the key characters depicted as selfish and self-centered in Chapter 24?

4. What are the positions taken by Jake and Carla when he suggests he will contact Lester, Carl Lee's brother, after the latter fires him?

5. Why is Carl Lee reluctant to rehire Jake?

6. What sort of a lawyer is Jake Brigance?

7. What sort of an attorney is Harry Rex Vonner?

8. What transpires between Carl Lee and Deputy Looney while the latter is still hospitalized, and how does Jake respond?

9. In what ways does John Grisham show that Jake relishes being back on center stage once he is Carl Lee's attorney?

10. What is Ellen Roark's response to Jake when he quizzes her on her credentials?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare the Coffee Shop and Claude's. Who do they cater to? Who are the key figures related to these establishments? Elaborate on the function they serve in John Grisham's story. When does Jake Brigance patronize them and why?

Essay Topic 2

Carl Lee Hailey clearly murdered two men who gang raped his ten-year-old daughter. While he did so in retaliation, it was not in the heat of the moment, but the result of well-planned and orchestrated maneuvering. Why don't Jake and Sheriff Ozzie Walls make make an effort to stop it before it will happen? Why is Deputy Looney, who Carl Lee shoots accidentally in the leg and which is amputated, able to forgive him, much less defend him in court? Why do Klansman in Nettles County believe the victims of the murder got what they deserved, but only retaliate given the racial differences? Explain why Carl Lee is treated and viewed with respect by the deputies, but feared by the other prisoners in the jail? Why does the jury find Carl Lee "not guilty by reason of insanity" when he was not? In delving deeper into these questions, what is the overall theme of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Provide examples from the text where John Grisham utilizes the language and culture of the south to place the reader in the small, Mississippi town of Clanton.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,097 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample