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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 animal are the hounds chasing in Chapter 22 (pp. 68-69)?

2. Where does Ballard look at wanted posters?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 9 (p. 25), what does Ballard fail to shoot in the woods?

4. Which of the following is not one of the terms townspeople assign to Ballard at the end of this section?

5. What is the Dumpkeeper's name?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Lester Ballard.

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

3. What does Ballard do on his way to visit his friend?

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

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

6. Explain how the boy that came through town could always shoot birds in the air.

7. What happened to Lester Ballard's parents?

8. Describe Lester's new home.

9. Why does Ballard tear the head off of Squire Helton's cow?

10. How does Ballard win three prizes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

As Ballard recedes deeper into madness, he also recedes farther from society. Write an essay on the topic of his descent into an animalistic state:

Part 1) How does Ballard transition from the land he sees auctioned to the dwelling he inhabits in the first book of the novel. What changes does he undergo during this time?

Part 2) After the shack burns down, where does Ballard go? Detail the nature of his existence in his new home. What does he have and how does he have things arranged? How does he pass his days?

Part 3) Describe Ballard's final descent into a subhuman state, digging his way in pitch blackness in a cave tunnel. In what state are his body and his mind at this point?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about Ralph's disfigured child. Is this child a kindred spirit to Lester Ballard? How does Ballard relate to the grotesque toddler? Compare the child's destruction of the playpretty with Ballard's destruction of the child's mother.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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