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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. After Jake wakes with a bad hangover, what does he do?

2. Lester Hailey has driven to Clanton from where?

3. When a Memphis TV crew requests to be allowed to film the trial, what does Judge Willard Bullard do?

4. What does Tonya, who suffers from endless nightmares and is certain that her attackers are after her, insist on?

5. Where does Ellen sleep after the jury strategy session is over and Jake is followed home by Deputy Nesbit?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does the reader learn about the Ford County District Attorney in Chapter 7?

3. What does the reader learn in the dialogue between Carl Lee Hailey and Jake Brigance in Chapter 4?

4. What is a significant plot development in Chapter 5?

5. How does K.T. "Cat" Bruster's view of truth and justice compare with Carl Lee's?

6. Why does Judge Noose impose a gag order?

7. Why does John Grisham open his story with such horrific detail of the crime?

8. What illegal methods does Ozzie employ to gain information from the suspected bomber?

9. How does Rufus Buckley make use of the illegally-obtained jury list?

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 way Ozzie Walls performed his duties responsible for the Ford County Sheriff's Department with the manner in which the colonel in charge of the National Guard unit executed his. Consider the number of members and equipment available to each. Address options likely in security of housing and transporting only 14 jury members and the Hailey defense team. Also address lapses in security both within the courthouse and the area outside. What measures should have been taken considering the verdict might have been guilty? Why were potential targets repeatedly exposed? What were the measures taken by Ozzie Walls prior to arrival of National Guard? Who did Barry Acker rely on more?

Essay Topic 2

Once the Ku Klux Klan identifies and kills "Mickey Mouse," they no longer have to worry about being "snitched" on. They now are free to roam and wreak havoc without being reported on. Yet there are signs the KKK plans to permanently leave the county. What are these signs? Why do they not stay when they no longer have a "snitch" amongst the KKK brethren? Are there differences between Ford County from Nettles County that are possibly prompting their departure?

Essay Topic 3

It has been said that "A Time to Kill" is a novel and not a history. It shows that all men and women are not treated equally in the legal system. What specifically in John Grisham's novel causes you to examine the ethics of our society?

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