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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. Who do the characters wager will kill each other?

2. Who asks the Kid and Toadvine where the Kentuckian has gone?

3. What does the Kid's father use to bury his grief?

4. Where does the Kid spend the night?

5. Where does the company store the antelope meat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the sergeant want from the Kid?

2. Describe the gang's time in Carralitos.

3. What does the company find at the hut?

4. How does the Kid get to Nacogdoches?

5. How does the kid get robbed?

6. Describe the landscape in this chapter.

7. Why does the Judge walk around the ruins of the village?

8. How did the Judge help the gang massacre the Indians?

9. What do the Kid and Sproule find in the carreta?

10. Describe the Kid's time with the Hermit.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the novel's chronological setting.

1) What were the main concerns during the 1850s. How does McCarthy express these concerns?

2) In what ways do you think the novel's meaning would change if it were set in today's society?

Essay Topic 2

Look at the racism portrayed in Blood Meridian. Do you think it stops just at the African American or are people like the Kid wronged against? Is the Glanton gang's battles against the Indians and the Mexicans racially motivated? Why do you think the Glanton gang accepts Black Johnson even going so far as telling the proprietor he had the right to be served? Was racism mostly restricted to the middle and upper classes in the 19th century? If so, why was this the case?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the novel's dialogue. How does McCarthy's dialogue contribute to the following areas:

1) Character

2) Setting

3) Plot

(see the answer keys)

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