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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. On Saturday morning, the day after Jake was shot at, the rumor in Clanton is that the shooters claim to be whom?

2. At 5:00 a.m. Harry Rex arrives with biscuit sandwiches sent by Jake's favorite waitress at the Coffee Shop, and he discusses with Jake:

3. Where does Deputy Nesbit take Ellen to sleep the night before the trial opens?

4. On the evening before the trial begins, Ellen arrives at Jake's office suite carrying a thick, professional brief regarding the rape admissibility issue and begins to do what?

5. The firebomb that ignites Mississippi KKK Imperial Wizard Stump Sisson is thrown from where?.

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the twelve jurors and two alternates sequestered?

2. What happens when Jake requests a change of venue from Judge Noose following the riot and cross-burnings?

3. What does the reader learn was key to the jury being swayed to finding an innocent by reason of insanity verdict?

4. What happens between Jake and Ellen on the balcony of Jake's office?

5. What does Jake when the National Guard arrive?

6. Shortly after midnight, following the riot in the courthouse square, what do five teams of the KKK do?

7. What issues did Lucien face in bringing thousands of black protesters to Clanton?

8. What transpires when Jake requests a change of venue in chambers on Monday, the first day of court?

9. Why is Jake essentially lost in court the day he returned after being shot at?

10. What transpires as the forty Ku Klux Klansmen arrive to demonstrate at the courthouse where the black protesters held their vigil?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is identified at "Mickey Mouse" in the Ku Klux Klan? What has this individual attempted to do secretly? Provide several examples of "Mickey Mouse's" success. When did "Mickey Mouse" fail?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,149 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample