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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. What is the gang crossing when they stop?

2. How long does the fire last?

3. Why can Glanton go no further than Presido?

4. What do Sproule and the Kid find at the rim rock?

5. What would people give the prisoners?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the kid get robbed?

2. Describe the Kid's time in town with the other recruits.

3. How does Toadvine persuade Glanton to let him, the Kid and the Kentuckian soldier to join?

4. How does the Kid find his donkey again?

5. What is the business of the Glanton gang?

6. What horrors do Sproule and the Kid see on their walk?

7. What does the Judge do with the dead Indian?

8. What problems does the company face from the very beginning?

9. Describe the Kid's early life.

10. What do the prisoners see when they are let out of their cells?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the impact of good and evil within our culture. Have representations of good and evil had a negative impact on society? Does the division of good and evil make things seem simpler than what they are? Does McCarthy subvert any ideas of good and evil in Blood Meridian?

Essay Topic 2

Blood Meridian is part of the Western genre.

1) What are the conventions of the Western genre in terms of character, language and plot?

2) In what way has Blood Meridian helped to set the template for similar novels? Do modern novels still use the ideas used in Blood Meridian?

Essay Topic 3

Pick a character from the novel and discuss his goals and motives. Does he achieve his motives? Why? Does he share similar goals and motives with other characters? Do his goals clash with other characters? How do the characters' goals and motives affect their interaction with each other?

(see the answer keys)

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