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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 does Ballard leave in Ralph's house when he burns it down?

2. Which of the following is not something that Ballard takes with him from the car?

3. What is Ballard approaching a the beginning of Chapter 43 (pp. 149-153)?

4. Which of the following does Ballard not lose while crossing the creek?

5. How many daughters are still living with the Dumpkeeper?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the police catch Kirby selling jars of whiskey?

2. Why does Ballard go to Blount County?

3. Describe Ballard's appearance at the end of this section.

4. Why does Ballard decide to move the dead girl's body to an upper room?

5. What wakes Lester Ballard the night after his shopping spree in town?

6. Where does Ballard settle at the end of Chapter 30 (pp. 106-108)?

7. What imaginary conversations does Ballard have in the woods?

8. What crime problem is the Sheriff facing in this section?

9. What does Ballard realize about the Ralph's idiot baby?

10. How is Ballard spooked by his own footprints?

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

Cormac McCarthy is widely renowned for his evocative descriptions of the power of nature. His work seems to invoke a cruel God that allows human beings to hurt each other and then punishes them with the elements. Write an essay about two of the major natural events in the novel and how they coincide with the personal evil of Lester Ballard:

Part 1) How does the fire in Ballard's shack reflect the destruction of his soul within the context of his personal actions? Examine this event and the events surrounding it.

Part 2) How does the flood and torrential rain coincide with Ballard's complete degeneration into madness? Describe both the effects of the flood and the personal toll it takes on Ballard.

Essay Topic 3

Choose one of the following to write an essay:

1.) Near the beginning of the novel, Ballard has an exchange with the Dumpkeeper's blonde daughter. He is infatuated with the girl, and she teases him incessantly. How does this coquettish girl typify Ballard's understanding of woman? What is her essential allure and danger? How does Ballard respond to it?

2.) Compare the dead girl in the car with Ralph's daughter, from Ballard's point-of-view. How do they reveal, respectively, what he wants from a companion and what he can never understand? Chart his interaction with both as indicative of this desire.

3.) Analyze the state that Ballard is in as he lives in the caves. Why do you think he collect so many women and takes to wearing their clothes and hair? What essential desire has he achieved and how has he done it?

(see the answer keys)

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