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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 drives the oxen team during the hunting expedition?

2. How does McDonald describe the town of Butcher's Crossing on the day Andrews first comes to see him?

3. Miller states that people with what jobs will come to collect the buffalo bones?

4. Which of Charley's body parts is missing?

5. When the hunting party camps on the open prairie, how much water is left after they allow the horses and oxen to drink?

Short Essay Questions

1. What distinction does Miller make between Boston prostitutes and Butcher's Crossing prostitutes?

2. For what purpose does Andrews immediately seek McDonald when he reaches Butcher's Crossing?

3. What reservations does Schneider share about the prospect of the buffalo hunting expedition?

4. How do Andrews's physical changes over the first few weeks of the expedition indicate psychological changes as well?

5. What is Andrews's true aim in coming to Butcher's Crossing?

6. What do Miller's comments about the dwindling number of buffalo show about his character?

7. What is the main hardship Andrews faces in the first days of the hunting expedition?

8. Discuss how Andrews and McDonald qualify as character foils.

9. When Andrews is unable to explain to McDonald his esoteric reasons for coming west, what does he tell McDonald instead?

10. What is shown about Andrews's character in the passage when he tries to summon the images of the Colorado territory he has seen in books and magazines?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How might John Williams's novel Butcher's Crossing be classified as a coming-of-age story and what elements of the narrative complicate this distinction?

Essay Topic 2

What is the author's message regarding the history of America in John Williams's novel Butcher's Crossing and what themes does the author employ in order to send these messages to the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author's choice to tell the story of John Williams's novel Butcher's Crossing using the third person omniscient point-of-view. What elements of the novel's themes lend themselves to this choice and what is the author's intended effect on the reader?

(see the answer keys)

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