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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 Gus tell July to do?

2. Who turns out to be the thief?

3. What does Call give the group of Indians that arrive, one of which he knew from before?

4. Who tells Newt and the boys to get drunk before seeing the prostitutes?

5. Who finds Gus?

Short Essay Questions

1. Jake asks the Suggs brothers gang about Blue Duck. What do they tell him?

2. Why does Clara get so mad at July?

3. How does Lorena feel when she hears about Jake's hanging?

4. What does Clara tell July about Elmira?

5. What happens between Dish and Dixon?

6. What does Call do for Deets that surprises everyone?

7. Why does Newt decide not to shoot the Indians that approach him?

8. What does July finally decide about Elmira?

9. What does July tell Peach is his letter to her?

10. What does Clara suggest to Lorena?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Call and Gus have been friends for many years before the start of the novel. Write an essay about the relationship between Call and Gus. Why are they friends? How do they help each other or work as a team? Why does Gus ask Call to take his body to Texas? Why does Call agree?

Essay Topic 2

Gus thinks about the chain of events that Jake sets into motion by not facing the consequences of his accidental shooting in Arkansas. Pick three or four events from the novel. How are these events based on accident or circumstance? How might things have turned out differently if the events you chose did not happen, or happened differently? How are these accidents related to choices made by one or more characters? Use examples from the novel.

Essay Topic 3

The novel includes both lawmen and outlaws throughout the story. The lawmen like Call, Gus, and July try their best to uphold and enforce the law. The outlaws like Blue Duck and Dan Suggs spend their time breaking the law.

Part 1) Pick one lawman and one outlaw and compare and contrast them. What characteristics do they have in common? In what ways are they different?

Part 2) How do the two characters you selected act as if they are above the law, or that laws do not apply to them? Cite examples from the novel.

Part 3) In what ways are the two characters not above the law? Pick events from the story that show how the characters apply the law to themselves.

(see the answer keys)

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