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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 was the nameless boy in Chapter 19 (pp. 57-60) putting in pigeons to make it appear that he was shooting them?

2. How many births did the Dumpkeeper's daughters have last summer?

3. Where does Ballard's friend's daughter go when she leaves the house?

4. Which of the following is not a name listed as one of the Dumpkeeper's daughters

5. What does the "Sevier County pocketknife society" do at their meetings outside the police station?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the interchange that Ballard has with the Dumpkeeper's blonde daughter.

2. What statement does the Sheriff make to Ballard after he is released?

3. What changes does Ballard undergo in Chapter 14 (pp. 40-43)?

4. How do the Deputy's plans for the day change in Chapter 17 (pp. 48-49)?

5. Describe the baby of Ballard's friend, Ralph.

6. What does the disfigured child do to Ballard's gift?

7. What news does Darfuzzle give Ballard?

8. Describe Lester Ballard.

9. Describe the scene created by McCarthy at the beginning of the novel.

10. What does Lester Ballard discover in a car outside his shack one night, and what happens?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many critics have charged McCarthy's writing with being nihilistic, beautiful, but ultimately meaningless. They argue that his work evocatively explored man's inclination to destroy, but it takes no sides. Write an essay either in agreement or refutation of this. Use specific examples from Child of God to argue either that McCarthy takes a position on Ballard's actions or that he simply relates the horrific.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the character of Greer and his tenuous relationship with Ballard. Divide the essay into two parts. The first should focus on Greer's actually relationship with Ballard, confined primarily to one meeting on the street. The second and more extensive portion should consist of Ballard's private delusional feud with him How does this culminate? How much do we actually know about Ballard's nemesis?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the following to write an essay:

1.) Analyze the character of Fate. How does he represent both a bygone set of values and an informed and resigned world-weariness? What does he mean both to the people of Sevier County and the themes of the novel.

2.) How is law enforcement viewed in the novel? Is it effective or principled? Using the Sheriff, Deputy, and Fate as frames for your essay, examine the functional purpose of the police in the novel.

3.) When the Sheriff speaks of Ballard and the break-in at the gun shop and Fate speaks of the White Caps, the focus seems to be on order in a wild society. Write an essay about order, and whether it is a reasonable moral system int he novel. Should the goal for principled men merely be the maintenance of order?

(see the answer keys)

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