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| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
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 blame for the burning down of his house?
2. Which of the following is not something that Ballard takes with him from the car?
3. Where does Ballard shoot the girl in Chapter 43 (pp. 149-153)?
4. Where does Ballard go the morning after his shack burns?
5. What is the last thing that Ballard carries to his new cave?
Short Essay Questions
1. Where does Ballard settle at the end of Chapter 30 (pp. 106-108)?
2. Describe Ballard's second interview by the police.
3. Describe Ballard's appearance at the end of this section.
4. How were the White Caps run out of Sevier?
5. Describe the inside of Ballard's cave.
6. What imaginary conversations does Ballard have in the woods?
7. In what state is the town in this section?
8. Describe the story Fate tells about the 1899 hanging.
9. How do the police catch Kirby selling jars of whiskey?
10. How does Ballard react to Ralph's daughter's rejection of his advances?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Lester Ballard is a man who feel victimized and put upon by the society around him. He strikes out at individuals whom he views as antagonistic toward him and intent on keeping him under foot. Analyze Ballard's sense of subjugation in an essay:
Part 1) Citing the chapter in which a resident of Sevier County relates Ballard's early life, examine how the cards were stacked against him from an early age. Did Ballard ever have a change for a normal, stable life?
Part 2) Examine the scenes where Ballard comes into contact with law enforcement. What does he believe the police are doing to him? Do you think he knows that he has committed a crime? How does his first trip to the police station in the novel shadow his second?
Part 3) Discuss the grudge that Ballard has for Greer. What has Greer done to him, and how does Ballard react? When does it begin, and how does this relationship typify Ballard's sense of victimization?
Essay Topic 2
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 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?
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This section contains 1,070 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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