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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 Hud reply when Granddad asks Hud's opinion of the situation?

2. Who is Newt Garrett?

3. What was life like before the arrival of mass communication?

4. What does Hud say about Halmea when Lonnie asks?

5. How does Lonnie feel after hearing Hud and Granddad's conversation?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the boys do after returning to Thalia?

2. Who is Jesse and when does he arrive at the ranch?

3. Who is Newt Garrett and why does he come to the ranch?

4. Where does Lonnie want to go and why does he say he wants to do so?

5. What is Granddad's response to Newt's suggestion?

6. How does Mr. Burris reassure Granddad?

7. What happens when the state vet arrives the next day at the ranch?

8. How does Granddad come to marry his second wife?

9. What happens to Lonnie while helping test the cattle and what does he do?

10. What does Halmea think Jesse needs and what is his response?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the Prologue, Lonnie reminisces about his childhood on his family ranch in Texas, and how times have changed. He remembers how much slower life was before the arrival of mass communication. Discuss one of the following:

1. Using details from the book, compare/contrast life on the Texas ranch in the mid-1950s with how you would project life would be in the early 21st century on a Texas ranch.

2. Many people, especially as they go into their middle and senior years, idealize childhood. Do you think Lonnie is idealizing his childhood? Why or why not? Why do you think many people idealize their past? Do you think Lonnie's childhood is ideal?

3. Lonnie says that technology has pushed aside the rural way of life, changing things forever. Do you believe that technology and the rural way of life are incompatible? Discuss using details from the book and from other sources.

Essay Topic 2

There are a number of interesting questions raised by this book -- questions that McMurtry may have wanted readers to consider and think through carefully. Discuss the following:

1. What does the term author agenda mean?

2. Name one idea/concept you think may have been a part of the author's agenda. Analyze that idea throughout the book and discuss McMurtry's probable agenda concerning that idea.

2. Do you think writers who have an agenda for writing should point it out in a preface?

3. How often do you think fiction is written with a clear agenda in mind by the author?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the following:

1. What do you think are the characteristics of a successful novel?

2. Analyze and discuss Horseman, Pass By based upon the criteria you decide upon in #1 and judge if Horseman, Pass By is a successful novel. Explain your rationale with specific examples.

3. Do you think the fact that Horseman, Pass By is set in the mid-20th century changes the criteria upon which its success should be judged? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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